Braintree, Essex

When the Romans invaded they built two roads; a settlement developed at the junction of these roads, but was later abandoned when the Romans left Britain.[5] The town was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was named "Branchetreu", and consisted of 30 acres (12 hectares) in the possession of Richard, son of Count Gilbert.[7] Pilgrims used the town as a stopover and the size of the town increased, leading the Bishop of London to obtain a market charter for the town in 1190.[5]

As early as the 14th century, Braintree was processing and manufacturing woollen cloth, a trade it was involved with until the late 19th century. The town prospered from the 17th century when Flemish immigrants made the town famous for its wool cloth trade.[5] They took the then current manufacturing methods to a finer detail, and the main markets for the production in the Braintree area were mainly abroad, notably in Spain or Portugal. In 1665, the Great Plague killed 865 out of the population of just 2,300 people.[5]

The wool trade died out in the early 19th century and Braintree became a centre for silk manufacturing when George Courtauld opened a silk mill in the town.[5] Others followed, including Warner & Sons.[8] By the late 19th century, Braintree was a thriving agricultural and textile town, and benefited from a railway connection to London.[5] The wealthy Courtauld family had a strong influence on the town, supporting plans for many of the town's public buildings such as the town hall[9] and public gardens established in 1888.[5] The town's influence on the textile weaving industry is remembered today in the Warner Textile Archive and at Braintree Museum.

Braintree played its part during World War II, providing men for battle in Britain's armed forces, but also recruiting women into the town's engineering works or munitions work at Crittalls. Braintree and its surrounding areas were also the drop-zone for excess bombs that were left over from raids on London. One particular bomb hit the corner of Bank Street and Coggeshall Road, near the White Hart Inn. The inn stayed intact, but on the opposite side of the road, two buildings were demolished by the bomb. It opened up the town and provided what you see today, with the building that houses the Lloyds Bank, built in 1958.

Since the end of the Second World War, Braintree has seen many changes. The town centre itself is more pedestrianised than it used to be, with a one-way system moving around the town. Local shops have come and gone, some in recent years with historical ties to the town. A larger outlet-style shopping centre nearby (once named Freeport Designer Village) Braintree Village Outlet resides just outside of town and plans have been made for the relocation of the entrance to Braintree Village outlet along with a carpark.

Braintree's museum, containing displays relating to the history of the town, is named after the local naturalist John Ray and has a number of relatively famous patrons, including the Essex-born artist Jennifer Walter, who was also the youngest ever female Bard of Bath. a The associated Warner Textile Archive contains the second largest collection of publicly owned textiles in the UK (after the Victoria & Albert Museum).[11]

The Braintree Arts Theatre opened in 2009 on the Notley High School campus.

The Bocking Arts Theatre is based at The Literary and Mechanical Institute at the top of Bocking End, and promotes pantomimes, drama and a range of live entertainment events. It is also used extensively for local Community activities including regular NHS Blood Donor Sessions, Record and Stamp/Coin Collectors Fairs, and Charity Fundraising Events. The management of the building is now reliant on unpaid volunteers under the auspices of the Bocking Arts Theatre Charitable Trust. Built in 1863, this Grade II listed building was bequeathed to the citizens of Braintree by George Courtald and his family and celebrated its 150-year anniversary in 2013.

The Braintree and Bocking Carnival takes place each June. The event starts with a procession of floats through the town centre, finishing at Meadowside. Events, including a fair and sideshows, continue throughout the afternoon at Meadowside until around 10 pm.

Braintree Town Football Club is known as "The Iron", and was promoted to the Conference South as champions of the Isthmian League in 2006. The 2006–2007 season saw them just miss out on a second successive promotion to the Conference National. Having finished in third place, they went down 1–0 in the Conference South play-off final. Braintree continued this form during season 2007–2008. After a slow start and a change of first team manager, they took 60 points from their last 30 games to finally secure fifth place and another tilt at the play-offs.

This fine form continued in the 2010/2011 season when they won promotion to the Conference Premier as champions. The Football conference is a national competition and the most senior level of non-league football. The Iron in their third season at this level achieved their highest ever season finish in 6th place and just short of a play-off position. Two seasons later 2015/16 saw the "Iron" again reach the first round proper of the FA Cup when they drew Oxford United to Cressing Road and held them to a 1–1 scoreline before bowing out in the replayed match at Oxford. The club also excelled in the league finishing a very credible 3rd place in the 24 club league, this put the team into the play-offs for promotion to the Football league but despite winning the first leg versus Grimsby Town (the eventual winners and promoted team)in North Lincs 1–0, Iron lost 0–2 in the home leg. The match was played in front of 3,200 spectators, the clubs best for 60 years. In their most recent season Iron after losing their very successful management duo, Danny and Nicky Cowley to fellow leaguers Lincoln City saw their form dramatically fall away to be relegated. Season 2017–18 saw a rebuilt Iron compete in the South Division of the Football Conference. For the most part of the season the team held a play-offs position, eventually finishing 6th. The play-offs were successfully negotiated with wins at Hemel Hempstead, Dartford and in the play-offs final itself against opponents Hampton & Richmond FC. The promotion qualified Iron to again compete at the top tier of non-league football for the 2018/19 season. Iron's fortunes couldn't match that of their earlier stint at Premier level and were relegated back to the Conference South Division after one season. The Iron have played at the Cressing Road Stadium (off Clockhouse Way) since 1923 when it started out life as Crittals Sports and Athletic Stadium complete with running track.

Braintree Rugby Union Football Club was formed in 1963 by a group of old boys from Margaret Tabor Secondary School and celebrated its 50th anniversary in May 2013. The club is run on a community basis and has a policy of not paying first team players as well as bringing through its own new players from the Minis and Colts Section.

Greyhound racing in Braintree was held at three different venues, at Cressing Road from 1967, at Coggeshall Road from 1930-1932 and at Notley Road during 1932. The racing at all three tracks was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) known as flapping tracks, which was the nickname given to independent tracks.[12] The Coggeshall Road site opposite the junction with Marlborough Street opened on 6 September 1930, while the Notley Road site opposite the Angel public house (on land now covered by Kenworthy Road) raced every Monday and Wednesday at 7pm and Saturday at 3pm. The track was operating on 20 February 1932 with races over 475 yards, the proprietor was T H Mooring.[13]

Braintree's local newspaper is the Braintree and Witham Times, whose office is based on High Street. The East Anglian daily times is a regional daily newspaper.

There is a multiplex cinema – Cineworld located alongside the Braintree Village designer centre on the outskirts of the town. Opposite the cinema, there's also a bowling alley and various restaurants and shops. The Town also has numerous public houses and bars both in and around the town centre.

Braintree Musical Society perform two shows a year (in April and October). For 61 years these were performed at The Institute at Bocking End, but in 2012 they moved to a new venue at the Braintree Arts Theatre, part of Notley High School.

The English electronic music band The Prodigy originated in Braintree, and still live in the area, in nearby Harlow.

A local radio station for the Braintree area – Leisure FM 107.4 commenced broadcasting on 10 July 2009.

Braintree has two railway stations, Braintree and Braintree Freeport next to the Braintree Village 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, as the Bishop's Stortford-Braintree Branch Line, through the village of Rayne, to Great Dunmow, but this section of the route was closed and has been disused for decades (it has now become part of a country walk and cycle route, known as the Flitch Way). The original station in Braintree was a timber frame building, built as early as 1848, but it was later removed when the Victorian station (originally named Braintree and Bocking station) we see today was built in 1869, as a two platform station. The second platform was removed in the 1950s when the rail line was discontinued further than Braintree.

Regular bus services run within Braintree and services also include routes to neighbouring towns and cities, including Chelmsford, Colchester, Halstead and Witham. These bus services are all run by First Essex, however, there are other services in the area, including Arriva Shires & Essex, Hedingham and the occasional service from Stephensons of Essex. There is a shuttle bus service to Stansted Airport that runs regularly through the town also. The bus depot at Braintree has been changed several times, with the return to the current depot a few years ago.

The main roads into and out of Braintree include the A120, which serves as the town's main bypass. It provides a quick link to the M11 and Stansted Airport, situated almost 16 miles (26 km) away from the town to the west. It also leads to the town of Colchester and the A12 to the east. A regular bus service between Colchester and Stansted runs frequently through Braintree. Other routes include the A131, which serve people between Sudbury and Chelmsford, and the B1018, which links Braintree to Witham.