Beacon End

The Stanway School is a mixed secondary school located in Stanway in the English county of Essex.The school was converted to academy status in May 2013, and used to be a community school under the direct control of Essex County Council. The school continues to coordinate with Essex County Council for admissions. The Stanway School offers the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs), Business and Technology Education Council (BTECs) and OCR Nationals as programmes of study for pupils. The school has a Humanities, Maths & Computing specialism, and offers additional courses in these subjects. The school is part of the Stanway Federation Academy Trust with the Thomas Lord Audley School and is also part of the Sigma Trust.

Stanway Pegasus Football Club is a football club based in Stanway, England. They are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Division One North and play at Stanway School, Stanway, Colchester, Essex.

Stanway Rovers Football Club is a football club based in Stanway, near Colchester, in Essex, England. They are currently members of the Essex Senior League and play at the Hawthorns.

Iron Latch is a 4.3-hectare (11-acre) nature reserve in Eight Ash Green, west of Colchester in Essex.The site consists of areas of species-rich grassland and ash woodland. Bird's foot trefoil provides food for common blue butterflies, and other butterflies include purple hairstreaks. Nightingales nest in the trees and hedges.There is access from Iron Latch Lane.

Lexden Gathering Grounds is an 8.9-hectare (22-acre) nature reserve in Lexden, a suburb of Colchester in Essex. It is owned by Anglian Water and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.The site was formerly a "gathering ground" for water from springs and was used as a water source until the 1970s. It is mainly woodland with some marsh, meadow and open rides. One area has semi-natural birch and ash woods, and the marsh has moschatel and mature hazel and alder coppice. There are badgers and foxes, and butterflies including common browns and small coppers.There is access from Cooks Lane, off Cymbeline Way.

Eight Ash Green is a village and civil parish in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England. It is on the A1124 road, near Junction 26 (Eight Ash Green Interchange) of the A12 road. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,730. The parish was formed on 1 April 1949 from Copford, Fordham, Stanway, and Aldham.

Stanway is a village and civil parish in Essex, England near Colchester and within Colchester Borough. 'Stanway' is an Anglo-Saxon name for the 'stone way' of the Roman road, now the A12. Stanway is about 3 miles (5 km) west of Colchester city centre on the B1408 (former A12), near the junction of the A12 and the A1124 at Eight Ash Green. Colchester Zoo, The Stanway School, Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn, founder members of Blur, met at the local school, The Stanway School. Stanway is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.The £4.3m A12 bypass opened in 1970. Local pubs include the Princess Charlotte (the first pub in the UK to be named after Princess Charlotte of Wales) and the Swan on London Road, and Live and Let Live on Millers Lane. There are five schools – three primary schools,Lexden Springs School and The Stanway School which has academy status, and describes itself as a "Humanities and Maths & Computing College". Four of the five schools are close together, on adjacent roads with the third primary behind the Tollgate shopping centre. An ever-expanding shopping district comprising The Tollgate Centre and Stane Park occupies an area close to the A12, these centres are home to national retailers such as B&Q, Sainsbury's, Homebase, Next and Marks and Spencer (having closed its city centre store in 2022). Further shops and businesses such as the Co-op, Halfords and Hatfields occupy the Peartree road area,

Colchester Zoo is a zoological garden situated near Colchester, England. The zoo opened in 1963 and celebrated its 60th anniversary on 2 June 2023. It is home to many rare and endangered species, including big cats, primates and birds as well as many invertebrates and fish species.

Lexden Park is an 8.1 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Lexden, a suburb of Colchester in Essex. It is owned and managed by Colchester Borough Council.The site has grassland with a wide variety of plant species such as lady's bedstraw, lesser stitchwort and greater bird's-foot-trefoil. There is also oak woodland and an ornamental lake with wildfowl.There is access to the site from Church Lane. It is open to the public apart from the lake and wildlife areas.

Spring Lane Meadows or Lexden Springs is a 2-hectare (4.9-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Lexden, a suburb of Colchester in Essex. It is owned and managed by Colchester Borough Council.The site has wildflower meadows which are grazed by cattle. Birds include kingfishers, snipe and nightingales, and there are mammals such as otters and noctule bats.There is access by a footpath from Lexden Road. The main meadow is surrounded by a rabbit-proof fence.

Lexden is a suburb of Colchester and former civil parish, in the county of Essex, England. It was formerly a village, and has previously been called Lessendon, Lassendene and Læxadyne. In 2011 the ward had a population of 5,549. Lexden is approximately one mile west of central Colchester. It is home to a public house, the Crown; and St Leonard's Church (Church of England). The Leonard in question is Saint Leonard of Noblac, the patron saint of prisoners. Lexden's original name, Læxadyne, is Old English for "Leaxa's valley". It is referred to as the "Hundred of LASSENDENE" in the Domesday Book. It is now cut into two-halves by a modern bypass, Cymbeline Way, constructed in 1933. Within the space of a few hundred yards there are two 400-year-old watermills, (both now private residences), a 100-year-old iron bridge over the River Colne, two local nature reserves and several walks. The area is covered by the Lexden ward and elects 2 councillors to sit on Colchester Borough Council.

West Bergholt, formerly known as Bergholt Sackville, is a large rural village and civil parish in Essex, England, lying near the border with Suffolk, close to the ancient town of Colchester. With a history going back to medieval times the village is now part of the Colchester Borough Council seat of West Bergholt and Eight Ash Green. In 2008 the village won the Class 2 category, and was placed third overall in the "Best Kept Village in Essex" competition.