[7] The majority of people live in the small rural villages, many of which have their origins in connections with the coast or agricultural economy.

[18] The original building was previously an orphanage called "The Retreat", which had been purchased in 1939 by the Maldon Rural District Council for £4,500.

The first evidence of a settlement to the north of Maldon at Elms Farm is from the Middle Bronze Age 3500 years ago.

From 500 BC onwards the red hills of the Crouch and Blackwater show us that there was a continuous and extensive activity in the salt making which still prospers today.

Later, during the Iron Age, about 100 BC, there was a port, set among the marshlands at the junction of the Blackwater and Chelmer rivers.

This settlement may have been of regional religious significance, and there is evidence that it traded luxury goods with Europe.

Recent changes in the coastline have revealed the remains of extensive Saxon 5-7th century fish traps.

In 991 AD there was a major battle between the pillaging Danes led by Olaf Trygvassen who had already attacked Ipswich, and Earl Byrhtnoth’s men who were defending Maldon on the instruction of the Saxon King Æthelred the Unready.

The famous Battle of Maldon took place beside the River Blackwater on 10 August 991, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready.

The district has a rural character ranging from the tidal salt marshes to farmland and rolling wooded ridges.