Essex have won their first County Championship title since 1992 after challengers Lancashire crumbled to a seven-wicket defeat to Somerset.
Somerset v Lancashire scorecard
Lancashire had to win at Taunton on day four to delay Essex's celebrations for another week after Ryan ten Doeschate's side romped to victory over Warwickshire by an innings and 56 runs inside three days at Edgbaston.
The odds were against the Red Rose county after they began the final day on 247-8 in their second innings with a lead of just 45 runs having followed on and Somerset wasted little time wrapping up the innings - Craig Overton (3-39) taking the two remaining wickets as Lancashire were bowled out for 269.
That left Somerset needing just 68 runs for victory - a target they knocked off for the loss of three wickets in 13.3 overs to move out of the bottom two in Division One.
The home side lost Ed Byrom for 12 - the opener bowled through the gate on the drive by Matt Parkinson's fifth ball - before Marcus Trescothick (21 off 23) and James Hildreth fell to the spinner in consecutive deliveries to make it 46-3.
Captain Tom Abell steadied the ship in partnership with George Bartlett (27no) after striking his first ball for three runs before sealing victory by sweeping Stephen Parry for four.
Earlier, Overton was quickly into his work on the final morning, bowling Kyle Jarvis (12) in the second over of the day with a delivery that knocked off stump out of the ground.
The seamer followed up by trapping Tom Bailey lbw with a full, low delivery - the number nine's patient 17 off 51 deliveries only delaying the inevitable.
Speaking after Essex's team bus had arrived at Chelmsford from Edgbaston, skipper Ryan ten Doeschate said: "It will probably take a few days to appreciate the scale of what we have achieved.
"I think without a doubt it's the proudest moment of my career. All the years of struggle, all the years of being nearly-beens, this makes up for it.
"If you look back over the history of the championship and the yo-yo effect of teams coming up and going straight back down - and we are a small club with limited resources - I know what it means to me and everyone at the club.
"For us it feels like the World Cup. We won't have a better feeling than this."
Head coach Chris Silverwood added: "The aim at the start of the season was to make our presence felt in Division One.
"We view every game as must win and try to do that all the time.
"It's been a team effort. They all love to see each other do well. The number of times we have bowled a side out in a session you can see that energy on the field. If you can harness that then the sky's the limit for these guys."