HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Indeed. I used to live within chucking distance of the former county ground in Brentwood. I think I even went to a nursery there which was in the old pavilion.The funny thing is for many years, Essex didn't have a home ground. They used to rotate all around the county. Chelmsford only became the permanent home in 1967, much later than other counties.
List of Essex County Cricket Club grounds - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
As of today, Leyton has still hosted more first class matches than Chelmsford (albeit by only a single match now).