Braintree, Essex

It is located at the junction of two Roman roads: one coming from the county town of Chelmsford, about ten miles or so to the south-west, and the other (known as Stane Street) running westwards to Great Dunmow, and eastwards to Colchester. Stane Street was a main road (the A120) until the bypass system was built in the late 20th century.

In fact, there are two contiguous towns here: Braintree proper lies to the south of Stane Street, and Bocking lies to the north. The two together can be referred to as "Braintree and Bocking", although most people just lump them together as "Braintree".

Braintree has two railway stations, Braintree and Braintree Freeport next to the Freeport shopping area. Trains depart from Braintree station to Witham, where the Braintree branch line joins the Great Eastern Main Line to London Liverpool Street. Service frequency is approximately once an hour during the daytime. Nowadays the track terminates at Braintree. However, it used to continue westwards, through the village of Rayne, to Great Dunmow, but this section of the route has been disused for decades.

Braintree is twinned with the French town of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine.

The town of Braintree, Massachusetts, United States, was named after Braintree, Essex in 1640.

1 Physical geography
2 Things in Braintree
3 Freeport
4 Newspapers
5 Neighbouring villages
6 Notable people from the area
7 Source Materials on Bocking
8 External links

[edit] Physical geography

Braintree lies about 50 metres above sea level [1]. Essex is rather flat on the whole, and the Braintree area is no exception; however, there is a general downward trend in the height of the ground from the northwest towards the coast to the southeast. Two rivers flow through Braintree in this direction. Pod's Brook approaches the western side of the town, forming a natural boundary between Braintree and the neighbouring village of Rayne about two miles (three kilometres) to the west. Pod's Brook becomes the River Brain as it passes under the Roman road, before running through the southern part of Braintree. The River Pant (or Blackwater) runs roughly parallel to it, through the north of Bocking, and away to the east of the town. The Brain eventually flows into the Blackwater several miles away, near Witham.

[edit] Things in Braintree

Braintree has its own museum, which contains displays relating to the history of the town.

On the outskirts of the town, there is a fairly new Cineworld cinema. Before that opened, Braintree had been without a cinema for several years. There used to be one in Fairfield Road, opposite the bus park, but that building is now a Wetherspoons pub. The original cinema was located in the high street (now forming part of the 'Townrow' department store). Opposite the cinema there is also a bowling alley and various restaurants.

[edit] Freeport

Freeport is a new shopping area on the outskirts of Braintree, described as a "designer outlet village". It has roughly 80 shops where designer brands sell surplus stock for lower than normal prices. Freeport also has its own railway station, namely Braintree Freeport station, which is the second stop on the journey from Braintree to London Liverpool Street.

[edit] Newspapers

Braintree's local newspapers are the Braintree and Witham Times and the Essex Chronicle.

[edit] Neighbouring villages

Villages in the Braintree area include Black Notley, White Notley, Great Notley Garden Village (a recent construction), Cressing, Felsted, Rayne and Panfield.

[edit] Notable people from the area

Lawrence D Hills originally founded the Henry Doubleday Research Association headquarters and test site at Bocking, and also developed the Bocking 14 strain of comfrey, which has properties of particular interest to organic gardeners.
The naturalist John Ray (1627 - 1705), born in nearby Black Notley, is perhaps the most talked about local person, among historians.
The Courtauld family were one of the most prominent families of Braintree and Bocking during the 19th century. Their highly successful silk business made them very rich, and provided much employment in the area.
Sir Evelyn Wood, (1838-1919), British field marshal
Katherine Parnell, younger sister of Sir Evelyn Wood, and wife and downfall of Irish Nationalist leader, Charles Parnell.
The Prodigy, a famous dance music group, are probably Braintree's best known export in recent years. The band's leader Liam Howlett was the cause of much indignation among some residents when he criticised the town in an interview for the music magazine Q. He reportedly used "an abusive term" (see [[2]]). He and fellow band member Keith Flint moved out of the town around 1998, to live in seclusion in a small village five or six miles to the west.
Avant-Garde / experimental composer & musician Barry Douglas Lamb,lived in Braintree following the demise of the insane picnic from 1989 - 1993. Although this appears to have been a period of very little musical output on his part, there is an unofficial recording from the period called "Braintree - the concubine harvester".
The writer Dorothy L Sayers lived in nearby Witham for the last years of her life. Witham Library houses an exhibition of related memorabilia.