Summary (by AI): Visiting the quiet village of Tillingham and the nearby Dengie Peninsula, which is the dramatic setting for a battle in H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, was a lovely and engaging way to explore the landscape.
Blog: Tillingham appears right there on page 174 of the H.G. Wells novel, The War of the Worlds.
I have to admit, I’ve never actually read the book. In fact, I’d never even seen the film. But I eventually looked into the story and found out it follows two brothers who are essentially escaping the extraterrestrials that have taken over the world. As they flee London, they make their way through the Essex landscape.
There aren't many specific locations actually mentioned by name in the book, but Tillingham is one of those rare spots. It’s a quiet, unassuming little village. When I turned up there, I realized there isn't really anything to signify its literary fame; no plaques or signs to mark its role in the story.
Still, visiting the village gave us a reason to head out and look at the Estuary in more detail—specifically the Dengie Peninsula. In the book, the narrator’s brother reaches the coast near Tillingham and finds a massive, diverse fleet of boats—an "amazing crowd of shipping"—waiting to ferry refugees away from the Martian advance. It’s right off this stretch of coastline where the ironclad HMS Thunder Child makes its famous last stand, battling the Martian tripods to protect the escaping paddle steamers. It turned out to be a really lovely place to spend some time and explore the landscape, especially knowing the scale of the drama Wells set right there on the water.
The Map: