Layer de la Haye

Roman River Valley is a 17.8-hectare (44-acre) nature reserve north of Layer de la Haye in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.This wetland site along the Roman River has ancient woodland and marshes. Aquatic plants include the uncommon small teasel, and there are flowering plants such as yellow archangel and moschatel.There is access from the B1026 road north of Layer de la Haye.

Abberton Reservoir is a pumped storage freshwater reservoir in eastern England near the Essex coast, with an area of 700 hectares (1,700 acres). Most of its water is pumped from the River Stour. It is the largest body of freshwater in Essex. Constructed between 1935 and 1939, Abberton Reservoir is owned and managed by Essex and Suffolk Water, part of Northumbrian Water Group, and lies 6 km (3.7 mi) south-west of Colchester near the village of Layer de la Haye. In World War II, the reservoir was mined to deter invading seaplanes, and it was used by the RAF's No. 617 Squadron ("The Dam Busters") for practice runs for the bombing of the German dams in the Ruhr. A project to increase the capacity of Abberton Reservoir to 41,000 megalitres (9.0×109 imp gal) by raising its bank height was completed in 2013, along with a new link to transfer water from Norfolk's River Ouse to the Stour. The reservoir is important for its breeding cormorants, wintering and moulting waterfowl, and migrating birds. It is an internationally important wetland, designated as a Ramsar site, Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Area, and is listed in A Nature Conservation Review. A small part of the site is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.

Alderman Blaxill School was a secondary school with academy status in Colchester, Essex, and was the town's smallest secondary school. It closed in 2014.

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.

Birch is a village and civil parish in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England. It is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Colchester and 17 miles (27 km) north-east of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the parliamentary constituency of North Essex. There is a parish council.The parish incorporates the hamlet of Heckfordbridge. It is only 2.5 miles (4 km) from Abberton Reservoir. The parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a Grade II listed building, but has been derelict since it closed in the late 20th century. In 2023 it is threatened with demolition as the Church of England cannot afford to repair it. According to the 2001 census, Birch had a population of 817, increasing to 873 at the 2011 Census.

Heckfordbridge or Heckford is a hamlet in the civil parish of Birch, in the county of Essex, England. The settlement is on the B1022 road, between Colchester and Tiptree. near to Colchester Zoo.

Roman River is a 275.6-hectare (681-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south of Colchester in Essex. Two areas, Friday Wood and Donyland Wood, were formerly separate SSSIs.The site is in two separate areas. The Roman River, after which the site is named, runs along the southern boundary of both of them. There are areas of woodland, grassland, fen, scrub and heath. The woodland it mainly ancient, and there are more than a thousand species of moths and butterflies, and nearly seventy of breeding birds, including hawfinches, tree pipits and yellow wagtails.Footpaths and tracks runs through the site, including Cherry Tree Lane.

St Michael's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Berechurch, Essex, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church stands on the south side of Berechurch Hall Road south of the town of Colchester.

Layer Breton is a village and a civil parish in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England. According to the 2011 census there were 144 males and 143 females. Layer Breton is part of the Layer parishes with Layer de la Haye being the neighbouring village to the west and Layer Marney neighbouring Layer Breton to the East. Layer Breton also touches parishes Birch and Great and little Wigborough. The village has a church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, rebuilt in brick in 1923 on a new site nearly a mile to the north of the old one. The village was among those which suffered damage from the 1884 Colchester earthquake.

Philip Morant School and College (originally known as Norman Way School) is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located within the Prettygate suburb of Colchester, Essex. The school is named after Philip Morant, a local 18th-century historian and archaeologist who was chosen as the school's eponym a few months after its achieving technology college status in 1994. In November 2011 the school became an academy. After Sue Cowan's retirement, Roger Abo Henrikson became Headteacher for two academic years. During the school's 50th year, Rob James was appointed Acting Headteacher and is largely credited for returning the school to a 'good' OfSTED rating, which took place two terms after Catherine Hutley's appointment as Executive Headteacer. Philip Morant School joined the Sigma Trust in 2018, moving from the then defunct Thrive Partnership, which it co-founded.

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.

Great and Little Wigborough is a civil parish in the City of Colchester district of Essex, England, about 6 miles (10 km) from Colchester. The parish includes the villages of Great Wigborough and Little Wigborough and the hamlet of Stafford's Corner on the B1026 road. In 2011 the parish had a population of 246. The parish touches Layer Breton, Layer-de-la-Haye, Layer Marney, Peldon, Salcott, Tollesbury, Tolleshunt Knights, Virley and West Mersea. The civil parish forms part of the Winstred Hundred Parish Council. There are 18 listed buildings in Great and Little Wigborough.