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 its own railway station. Trains depart from Braintree to London Liverpool Street approximately once an hour during the daytime, and similarly in the other direction. The track terminates at Braintree. It used to continue westwards, through the village of Rayne, to Great Dunmow, but this section of the track has been disused for decades.
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2 History 3 Things in Braintree 4 Freeport 5 Neighbouring villages 6 Notable people from the area 7 External links |
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.
The origin of the name Braintree is obscure. It is believed by some scholars that the name of the River Brain came later, and so was named after the town, rather than the other way round. One theory is that Braintree was originally Branoc's tree, Branoc apparently being an old personal name. Another theory is that the name is derived from that of Rayne, which was actually a more important settlement in Norman times. Braintree was called Branchetreu in the Domesday Book.
The wool industry was important to the town for centuries, but silk manufacture became the dominant industry in the 19th century, thanks to George Courtauld's silk mill, which he opened in 1809.
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.
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, which is the first stop on the journey from Braintree to London Liverpool Street.
Villages in the Braintree area include Black Notley, White Notley, Great Notley Garden Village (a very recent construction), Cressing, Felsted, and (of course) Rayne.
Physical geography
History
Things in Braintree
Freeport
Neighbouring villages
Notable people from the area
External links