ADMIRAL McHARDY WAY

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Is about 10 miles long and commemorates 150 years of the Essex Police force. Admiral McHardy who was referred to as being 'the terror equally of pirates and of slavers in the West Indies. He was a acting lieutenant

aboard the Lcarus an was involved in the capture of Havana of a pirate schooner Diableto.

Later in 1829 he was the captain of The Pickle and  famously captured a slave ship called Boladora. After leaving the navy he became the first and longest-serving Chief Constable of Essex Police from 1840-1881

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DANBURY PALACE

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Occupies a site near a earlier 15th century house called Danbury Place. It was built in the 1830s and the mansion its within the historic landscape of Danbury Park, a former medieval deer park. It was sold to the church as a home for the Bishop of Rochester and since then it has

been known as a palace.

 

When the Wigan family owned it  during the second world war they used it as a Maternity hospital. It was then sold to the County Council in 1946 and used as a educational establishment. But now a property developer is restoring it and turning it into apartments which is a shame but at least it keeps some of its character that way.

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ST JOHN BAPTIST CHURCH

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Medieval grade 1 listed building and sits at the second highest point in south east Essex, 365 ft  above sea level.Its spire rises a further 112 ft. The 16th Century tower contains 8 bells. The earliest part of the stone boulder construction is the base of the north aisle which dates from the 13th century.

 

The rest of the church was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. It was extensively restored by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1866. The church suffered bomb damage in 1941, not being fully repaired until 1968.