Long before this land became a country park, the low-lying ground south of Pitsea formed part of a much wider landscape of marshes, creeks, grazing land and tidal waterways beside the Thames estuary. Pitsea Creek and the neighbouring marshes shaped how people could use the area.
During the Saxon and medieval periods the marshland of south Essex was valuable agricultural ground. Marsh grazing was particularly useful for livestock, while creeks provided natural routes through a landscape that could otherwise be difficult to cross.
Over centuries people altered the natural marshland by constructing sea walls, drainage channels and fleets. Historical research records seventeenth-century reclamation work around Pitsea and Vange marshes.
The creeks were practical transport routes as well as natural features. Their connection towards the Thames later became important when industry arrived on this isolated marshland.
The modern park lies within the South Essex Marshes environment. Grassland, scrub, reedbed, fen, ponds and saltmarsh create varied habitats in and around the park.