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Braintree Town and City MemoriesSelected extracts and photosReturn to Book | Search for another Book | View all photos for Braintree | Braintree homepage |
8 captions found: Showing captions 1 to 8 | |
 Braintree, High Street c1960 (ref. B178033A) | The Bank Street/Great Square corner was rebuilt in the 1930s with a building capped by a stylish cupola (centre, at the end of the street). Foster Brothers Ltd occupied the ground floor; although the official name of the property is London House, it became known as 'Foster's Corner'. The Pearl Assurance Co and Denis Keen, the optician, used the majority of the first floor. In 1959 Foster's moved to new premises in Great Square, and the building became the Braintree branch of the Midland Bank. |  Add your own Memory Add to your Album |
 Braintree, Market Place 1903 (ref. 50560) | We are looking eastwards along Manor Street. The three-storey building to the left is the Nag's Head Inn, and buildings with the finial on top are the Manor Street School. The area with railings and the two low buildings is the site of the new cattle market, which was opened by George Courtauld on 1 October 1902, in time for the October Fair. It was on this site that the Town Hall was built in the 1920s. The open space beyond is the Fair Field, which was used for the two annual fairs. During the First World War it was in use as a field kitchen, baking bread for the troops billeted in the town. Manor Street was developed from 1847 to provide a link road from the centre of town to the new railway station, which was situated on a new road - Railway Street; the railway line to Witham opened in 1848. In the far distance is Manor Works, the factory of the Crittall Manufacturing Company. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Braintree, Bocking End c1955 (ref. B178032) | The Co-operative's elegant range of buildings with a clock tower was another victim of 1960s development in the town. The Society was formed by a group of silk workers in 1864. The first shop was in a house in South Street, and then new premises were found in Swan Street, to the left of the island site. As business grew, it moved in 1875 to this site in Bocking End. The photograph shows the rebuilt premises of 1907. The resplendent clock tower was a landmark feature of the townscape. The Society merged with the Chelmsford Star Co-op, and now occupies a prestigious site in the George Yard shopping centre. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Braintree, South Street 1909 (ref. 62117) | The large weather-boarded buildings on the left are the silk mills of Warner & Sons, who had taken over the business of Walters & Co in 1894. Daniel Walters came to the town in 1822, and these mills were built in 1856. Behind these is another range of buildings constructed in 1869. Both firms produced silk products for the royal family, and Warners have woven velvet for every coronation since that of Edward VII. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Braintree, Courtauld Road 1923 (ref. 74837) | This road runs between Coggeshall Road and Bradford Street; it replaced the old road, which ran 30 or 40 metres back from the left-hand side of this picture, when Sydney Courtauld built Bocking Place in 1885. Houses started to be built on the right-hand side of the road from the turn of the 20th century, and provided housing for the up-and-coming professional and business people. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Braintree, Coggeshall Road 1923 (ref. 74836) | Continuing the development of houses along the main Dunmow to Colchester Road, these fine houses, dating from the turn of the 20th century, were also built for the growing middle class. They were known locally as 'The Villas'. Mr Leonard Alden, who ran a tailor and outfitter's business, had one of these houses. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Braintree, Public Gardens 1900 (ref. 46246) | One of the features of the gardens is the way in which the visitor is met with different views and layouts, from open spaces to densely planted areas, or along wide pathways with narrow winding pathways off to the sides. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Braintree, the Fountain and Church c1955 (ref. B178024) | Prior to 1935, all that would have been seen from in front of the church would have been the top of the church spire. In the foreground would have been a collection of dilapidated shops, and a large wooden maltings out of shot to the right. In 1935 the buildings, including the maltings, were demolished as part of a road improvement scheme. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
