Did you know?

• In the eleventh century, Edward the Confessor banished nightingales from the royal palace at Havering-atte-Bower because their singing disturbed his devotions.

• In 1913, Benny Hucks of Stansted Mountfitchet was the first person to perform a loop-the-loop in an aircraft.

• On Boxing Day 1946, Hatfield Heath villagers challenged local German and Italian POWs to a football match – and lost 11–0.

• Brentwood was the first town in Britain to install CCTV.

A compendium of frivolity, a reference book of little-known facts and a wacky guide to one of England’s most colourful counties, The Little Book of Essex is packed full of entertaining, bite-sized pieces of historic and contemporary trivia that come together to make essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Dip in randomly, or read consecutively – there are no rules. Be amused and amazed at the stories and history of Essex’s landscape, heritage, buildings and, above all, its people.