Bustling Market Towns

Braintree (and neighbouring Bocking) the largest of our towns has a long and fascinating history – emerging from a Bronze Age valley settlement as an important and flourishing market town located at the crossroads of two Roman roads.

 

The 14^th century woollen cloth trade brought prosperity to the area leaving a legacy of fine architecture and listed buildings whilst the 18^th century heralded the arrival of silk weaving and the famous Huguenot name of Courtauld. Generations of this generous family not only provided the increasing population with work and housing but also donated many public buildings including the magnificent former Town Hall. The grand central tower with striking clock dominates the Market Square whilst inside murals by Maurice Greiffenhagen depict scenes of Braintree’s history. A bronze fountain of a young boy with shell and fish, designed by John Hodge, standing alongside St Michael’s Church was yet another gift to the people of Braintree. By the mid 19^th century the opening of a railway line offered the opportunity to transport bulk materials, which led to the establishment of large engineering firms such as Crittall’s metal window company and Lake & Elliot iron foundry. A full story of Braintree’s diverse industrial heritage and traditions is told at the District Museum in the town centre. 

 

Newly opened in 2005 is the lottery funded Warner Textile Archive. This nationally important archive is a unique record of the history of textile manufacture since the 18^th century and includes examples of woven and printed fabric produced by Warner’s as well as examples produced by other companies.

 

In 1199 King John granted the town a charter to hold a weekly market. Today the market is held twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when the streets abound with colourful stalls and friendly faces. Discerning shoppers are attracted to the town throughout the year by the traditional and specialist smaller shops while bargain hunters are well served by the discounted designer village on the outskirts of the town at Freeport.

 

Braintree offers a warm welcome to all visitors throughout the year, with a variety of street festivals, a carnival, busy events diary and traditional lights and celebrations over the Christmas period.

 

Local website addresses:

www.braintreetwinning.co.uk

Just east of Braintree lies Coggeshall, a lovely ‘olde worlde’ village with a lot to offer. Coggeshall’s attractive centre is made up of numerous timber-framed buildings, some dating back to the 14th century. Paycockes, owned by the National Trust, is a fine example of a 16th-century wealthy wool merchant’s house. The National Trust also owns Grange Barn, which in the Middle Ages belonged to Coggeshall’s Cistercian abbey. 

Coggeshall had a cloth trade, the wealth of which built Coggeshall’s magnificent ‘wool church’. The industries of silk and velvet weaving, tambour lace making, brewing and seed growing also played an important part in Coggeshall’s prosperity. Discover more by visiting Coggeshall Museum.

 

Today it is a thriving community and in 2003 won the title of East of England & Home Counties “Village of the Year” in national competition. There is a market on Thursday morning and with colourful streets, specialist shops, fine eating places and historic buildings, Coggeshall has a unique charm. The Parish Council website is full of information about Coggeshall, visit it at www.coggeshall-pc.gov.uk.  The Parish Council website is kept up to date and includes details of events on a ‘Monthly Diary’.

 

The Directory page has details of schools, health care, library, clubs and societies as well as details of Coggeshall’s Community bus – in fact almost everything! The site also includes a shopping page and a ‘services’ page and links to other useful and interesting local sites. The site covers many aspects of Coggeshall life, but is designed to be very user-friendly (as comments to the webmaster have proved).

 

Each year Coggeshall holds its Carnival on the 3^rd Saturday in July. The parish church of St Peter-ad-Vincula has a 4-day Flower Festival at August Bank Holiday weekend and this is usually combined with an evening concert, a local Art Show and extra openings at the museum. The church, which has very fine acoustics, hosts musical and choral events throughout the year. The Coggeshall Chamber of Trade usually organise a Christmas shopping event – the date is variable but can be found on the website.

 

Local website addresses:

www.geocities.com/coggeshall2003 (this site has an historic guided walk)

Wool and weaving provided the mainstay of business over the centuries and the surviving Townsford Mill, which straddles the River Colne, was built in 1788. The mill is a picturesque reminder of the towns’ industrial past and now holds one of the largest Antiques Centres on the Essex/Suffolk border and is the perfect location for shopping and lunching.

 

Halstead is a friendly place to visit with a wide variety of individual shops and a market, which was granted in 1251, is held on Fridays and Saturdays, all set on a steep High Street. 

 

Local website addresses:

Witham

Welcome to the historic town of Witham set in the heart of the Essex countryside. Witham has two shopping centres and numerous retail outlets and many restaurants and pubs within the town centre. If you enjoy detective stories you will know Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the Lord Peter Wimsey books was a resident here. A fine statue of Dorothy still watches over her former home in Newland Street. The Tourist Information Office is located in the Town Hall in Newland Street.

 

After you leave the town centre, why not enjoy a stroll along our beautiful River Walk that leads to historic Chipping Hill, a settlement since the Iron Age and the main site of occupation until the 12^th century when the Knights Templar moved to the present town centre.

 

Local website addresses: