The parish of Black Notley is to the south of
Braintree.
John Ray was born here in 1627 and set himself to put in order
man's recordings of his natural surroundings, especially the field
of botany. Scholars from all over the world sent
specimens for his opinion and advice as he worked on his great book
on the history of plants which was published in three volumes
between 1686 and 1704, covering some 11,000 species. His
system of classification was so good that it continued in use for
over 200 years.