The town of Harwich in Essex, whose …

Years: 1319 - 1319

The town of Harwich in Essex, whose name means "military settlement," from Old English here-wic, had received its charter in 1238, although there is evidence of earlier settlement—for example, a record of a chapel in 1177.

One of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east, Harwich receives its first royal charter in 1319.

Its position on the estuaries of the Stour and Orwell rivers and its usefulness to mariners as the only safe anchorage between the Thames and the Humber leads to a long period of maritime significance, both civil and military.

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