Approximate Population: 42,393

Braintree lies in north Essex, about 40 miles from London, with factories and housing to the south and rural areas to the north, where arable crops are grown.

Braintree dates back over 4,000 years when it was just a small village. When the Romans invaded, they built two roads; a settlement developed at the junction of these two roads but was later abandoned when the Romans left Britain. The town was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1085 when it was called Branchetreu and consisted of 30 acres in the possession of Richard, son of Count Gilbert.

Pilgrims used the town as a stop-over, the size of the town increased and the Bishop of London obtained a market charter for the town in 1190. The town prospered from the 1600s when Flemish immigrants made the town famous for its wool cloth trade. In 1665, the Great Plague killed 865 of the population of just 2,300 people.

The wool trade died out in the early 1800s and Braintree became a centre for silk manufacturing when George Courtauld opened a silk mill in the town. By the mid 1800s, Braintree was a thriving agricultural and textile town, and benefitted from a railway connection to London. 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 and public gardens established in 1888.

Chartered Surveyors Braintree Essex

Related posts

• No related posts.