92-515: Great Notley is a village to the south-west of Braintree, Essex in England . It has an approximate population of 7,845 and became an independent civil parish on 1 April 2000 as a result of The Great Notley Parish Council Order 2000. Excavations in Great Notley revealed the remains of Iron Age and Roman settlements with a series of enclosures overlaid with a Roman development on the site of
184-636: A DAB station. Braintree Town Football Club is known as The Iron . They have played at the Cressing Road Stadium (off Clockhouse Way) since 1923, when it started as Crittals Sports and Athletic Stadium, with a running track. In the 2010–2011 season, they won promotion to the Conference National division as champions. In the 2015–2016 season, the team reached the first round of the FA Cup when they played Oxford United . In
276-486: A baron's possessions; and it also showed to what extent he had under-tenants and the identities of the under-tenants. This was of great importance to William, not only for military reasons but also because of his resolve to command the personal loyalty of the under-tenants (though the "men" of their lords) by making them swear allegiance to him. As Domesday Book normally records only the Christian name of an under-tenant, it
368-415: A definitive reference point as to property holdings across the nation, in case such evidence was needed in disputes over Crown ownership. The Domesday survey, therefore, recorded the names of the new holders of lands and the assessments on which their tax was to be paid. But it did more than this; by the king's instructions, it endeavoured to make a national valuation list, estimating the annual value of all
460-562: A designer shopping outlet, historic houses and gardens. The town has grown contiguously with several surrounding settlements. The original settlement and parish of Braintree lay on the River Brain and was bounded on the north by Stane Street , the Roman road from Braughing to Colchester. North of that road was the parish of Bocking . The two parishes were united in 1934 as the parish and urban district of Braintree and Bocking , which
552-465: A field called Becker's Green), Mark's Farm residential estate (based at the site of an old farm where a Tesco store is now situated), and Fairfield Road (directly in the centre of the present town, named after Fair Field at the same site.) The town grew in size and received a market charter in 1190. When the Romans invaded, they built two roads ; a settlement developed at the junction of these roads but
644-523: A great political convulsion such as the Norman Conquest, and the following wholesale confiscation of landed estates, William needed to reassert that the rights of the Crown, which he claimed to have inherited, had not suffered in the process. His Norman followers tended to evade the liabilities of their English predecessors. Historians believe the survey was to aid William in establishing certainty and
736-572: A mill for every forty-six peasant households and implies a great increase in the consumption of baked bread in place of boiled and unground porridge . The book also lists 28,000 slaves , a smaller number than had been enumerated in 1066. In the Domesday Book, scribes' orthography was heavily geared towards French, most lacking k and w, regulated forms for sounds / ð / and / θ / and ending many hard consonant words with e as they were accustomed to do with most dialects of French at
828-634: A number of relatively famous patrons, including the Essex-born artist Jennifer Walter, who was also the youngest ever female Bard of Bath. The associated Warner Textile Archive contains the second largest collection of publicly owned textiles in the UK, after the Victoria & Albert Museum . The Braintree Arts Theatre opened in 2009, on the Notley High School campus. The Bocking Arts Theatre
920-502: A seventh circuit for the Little Domesday shires). Three sources discuss the goal of the survey : After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land; how it was occupied, and by what sort of men. Then sent he his men over all England into each shire; commissioning them to find out 'How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon
1012-642: 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. The town's influence on the textile weaving industry is remembered today in the Warner Textile Archive and at Braintree Museum. During the Second World War , production of Bailey bridges and other war equipment took place at Crittalls . Braintree lies in north Essex, about 46 miles (74 km) from London, with factories and housing to
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#17328007845031104-402: A subject of historical debate. Sir Michael Postan , for instance, contends that these may not represent all rural households, but only full peasant tenancies, thus excluding landless men and some subtenants (potentially a third of the country's population). H. C. Darby , when factoring in the excluded households and using various different criteria for those excluded (as well as varying sizes for
1196-548: A time after the Great Fire of London . From the 1740s onwards, they were held, with other Exchequer records, in the chapter house of Westminster Abbey . In 1859, they were transferred to the new Public Record Office , London. They are now held at the National Archives at Kew. The chest in which they were stowed in the 17th and 18th centuries is also at Kew. In modern times, the books have been removed from
1288-540: A town, where separately-recorded properties had been demolished to make way for a castle. Early British authors thought that the motivation behind the Survey was to put into William's power the lands, so that all private property in land came only from the grant of King William, by lawful forfeiture. The use of the word antecessor in the Domesday Book is used for the former holders of the lands under Edward , and who had been dispossessed by their new owners. Domesday Book
1380-564: Is a country park for its entire length. It is named after the Dunmow Flitch Trials , a ceremony in which couples can win a side of bacon if they can convince a jury that they have not wished themselves unwed for a year. Bocking Windmill , technically a part of Bocking, the windmill overlooks the countryside at the north end of Braintree & Bocking, having been restored to a degree by the Friends of Bocking Windmill. Although
1472-497: Is also the location of the Braintree Sixth Form ) and Tabor Academy . Post 16 education is provided by Gosfield School , Notley High School , The College at Braintree , Braintree Sixth Form and Tabor Academy . Braintree has a special needs school called The Edith Borthwick School . Braintree has two main market areas that link throughout the town, which run on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They are based outside
1564-413: 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
1656-431: Is cited as an example of Countryside's design philosophy of 'instant maturity' and 'instant community'. The parish also includes the older estate of White Court , now in the centre of the village; a business park , 'Skyline120', and a 40 ha (100 acres) country park . Due to the size of Great Notley, there is little in the way of indoor entertainment facilities. Outdoor entertainment includes various playgrounds and
1748-401: Is devoted to the somewhat arid details of the assessment and valuation of rural estates, which were as yet the only important source of national wealth. After stating the assessment of the manor , the record sets forth the amount of arable land , and the number of plough teams (each reckoned at eight oxen) available for working it, with the additional number (if any) that might be employed; then
1840-462: Is examined more closely, perplexities and difficulties arise." One problem is that the clerks who compiled this document "were but human; they were frequently forgetful or confused." The use of Roman numerals also led to countless mistakes. Darby states, "Anyone who attempts an arithmetical exercise in Roman numerals soon sees something of the difficulties that faced the clerks." But more important are
1932-414: Is located 10 miles (16 km) north-east of Chelmsford , 15 miles (24 km) west of Colchester and 35 miles (56 km) north-west of Southend-on-Sea . According to the 2021 Census , the town had a population of 43,492; the urban area, which includes Great Notley , Rayne , Tye Green and High Garrett , had a population of 55,793. Braintree district has four market towns, picturesque villages,
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#17328007845032024-552: Is not possible to search for the surnames of families claiming a Norman origin. Scholars, however, have worked to identify the under-tenants, most of whom have foreign Christian names. The survey provided the King with information on potential sources of funds when he needed to raise money. It includes sources of income but not expenses, such as castles, unless they needed to be included to explain discrepancies between pre-and post-Conquest holdings of individuals. Typically, this happened in
2116-506: Is of great illustrative importance. The Inquisitio Eliensis is a record of the lands of Ely Abbey . The Exon Domesday (named because the volume was held at Exeter ) covers Cornwall , Devon, Dorset , Somerset, and one manor of Wiltshire . Parts of Devon, Dorset, and Somerset are also missing. Otherwise, this contains the full details supplied by the original returns. Through comparison of what details are recorded in which counties, six Great Domesday "circuits" can be determined (plus
2208-557: Is provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia . Television signals are received from the Sudbury TV transmitter. 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. Local radio stations are BBC Essex on 103.5 FM, Heart East on 96.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio East (formerly Dream 100 FM ) on 100.2 FM and Actual Radio ,
2300-644: Is that the name means "settlement by the river Bran or Braint". The name "Braint" is well attested as a river name in Britain; there is a river of that name in Anglesey , and the Celtic name "Bran" is also used widely for rivers. The suffix to either Braint or Bran is the Common Brittonic word tre for a farm or settlement. Braintree dates back over 4,000 years when it was just a small village. People in
2392-525: Is the oldest 'public record' in England and probably the most remarkable statistical document in the history of Europe. The continent has no document to compare with this detailed description covering so great a stretch of territory. And the geographer, as he turns over the folios, with their details of population and of arable, woodland, meadow and other resources, cannot but be excited at the vast amount of information that passes before his eyes. The author of
2484-564: The Braintree branch line , with regular services to Witham operated by Greater Anglia ; some services continue on to London Liverpool Street , via Chelmsford and Stratford on Mondays–Saturdays. At Witham, connecting trains run northbound towards Ipswich , Clacton-on-Sea , Walton-on-the-Naze and Colchester . Bus services in Braintree are run by Arriva Herts & Essex , First Essex , Hedingham & Chambers and Stephensons of Essex . Key routes include: Roads in Braintree are
2576-511: The Great Plague killed 865 out of the population of just 2,300 people. 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. Others followed, including Warner & Sons . By the late 19th century, Braintree was a thriving agricultural and textile town and benefited from a railway connection to London. The wealthy Courtauld family had
2668-644: The Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of King William the Conqueror . The manuscript was originally known by the Latin name Liber de Wintonia , meaning "Book of Winchester ", where it was originally kept in the royal treasury. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 1085
2760-640: The United Kingdom . Domesday Book encompasses two independent works (originally in two physical volumes): "Little Domesday" (covering Norfolk , Suffolk , and Essex ), and "Great Domesday" (covering much of the remainder of England – except for lands in the north that later became Westmorland , Cumberland , Northumberland , and the County Palatine of Durham – and parts of Wales bordering and included within English counties). Space
2852-479: The geld , and the framework for Domesday Book was geld assessment lists. "Little Domesday", so named because its format is physically smaller than its companion's, is more detailed than Great Domesday. In particular, it includes the numbers of livestock on the home farms ( demesnes ) of lords, but not peasant livestock. It represents an earlier stage in processing the results of the Domesday Survey before
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2944-420: The hundred or wapentake in which they lay, hundreds (wapentakes in eastern England) being the second tier of local government within the counties. Each county's list opened with the king's demesne, which had possibly been the subject of separate inquiry. Under the feudal system, the king was the only true "owner" of land in England by virtue of his allodial title . He was thus the ultimate overlord, and even
3036-450: The military service due, markets, mints , and so forth. From the towns, from the counties as wholes, and from many of its ancient lordships, the crown was entitled to archaic dues in kind, such as honey . The Domesday Book lists 5,624 mills in the country, which is considered a low estimate since the book is incomplete. For comparison, fewer than 100 mills were recorded in the country a century earlier. Georges Duby indicates this means
3128-810: The 19th century. They were held originally in various offices of the Exchequer : the Chapel of the Pyx of Westminster Abbey ; the Treasury of Receipts; and the Tally Court. However, on several occasions they were taken around the country with the Chancellor of the Exchequer: to York and Lincoln in 1300, to York in 1303 and 1319, to Hertford in the 1580s or 1590s, and to Nonsuch Palace , Surrey, in 1666 for
3220-598: The 2023-24 season, they were promoted back to the National League (the Conference ) for a third occasion via the play offs. 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 developing its own new players from
3312-512: The 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book. In August 2006, the contents of Domesday went online, with an English translation of the book's Latin. Visitors to the website are able to look up a place name and see the index entry made for the manor, town, city or village. They can also, for a fee, download the relevant page. In the Middle Ages, the Book's evidence was frequently invoked in
3404-487: The Blackwater several miles away, near Witham . There are two tiers of local government covering Braintree at the district and county level: Braintree District Council and Essex County Council . Since 1974, the town has not been part of a civil parish . Braintree District Council has its headquarters at Causeway House on Bocking End in the town. Braintree's first elected council was a Local Board of Health which
3496-526: 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
3588-456: The Braintree area. There are two schools in Great Notley; White Court Primary School and Notley Green Primary School, which was opened in 1999. The main secondary school for the area is Notley High School, which is located in the neighbouring town of Braintree, Essex . Braintree, Essex Braintree is a town in Essex , England, and is the principal settlement of Braintree District . It
3680-647: The London area only rarely. In 1861–1863, they were sent to Southampton for photozincographic reproduction . In 1918–19, prompted by the threat of German bombing during the First World War , they were evacuated (with other Public Record Office documents) to Bodmin Prison , Cornwall. Likewise, in 1939–1945, during the Second World War , they were evacuated to Shepton Mallet Prison , Somerset. The volumes have been rebound on several occasions. Little Domesday
3772-584: 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 to 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 ) and known as flapping tracks , which was the nickname given to independent tracks. The Coggeshall Road site, opposite
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3864-493: The Open Domesday site made the manuscript available online. The book is an invaluable primary source for modern historians and historical economists . No survey approaching the scope and extent of Domesday Book was attempted again in Britain until the 1873 Return of Owners of Land (sometimes termed the "Modern Domesday") which presented the first complete, post-Domesday picture of the distribution of landed property in
3956-564: The Sheriff had one hundred and seventy-six manors in Devon and four nearby in Somerset and Dorset . Tenants-in-chief held variable proportions of their manors in demesne , and had subinfeudated to others, whether their own knights (often tenants from Normandy), other tenants-in-chief of their own rank, or members of local English families. Manors were generally listed within each chapter by
4048-476: The Skyline Business Park, where it is thought that there was a series of occupations on the site from the late Iron Age onwards, which included brewing, farming and the production of textiles. Great Notley was designed as a suburban development, a self-sustainable garden village composed of three distinct hamlets linked via a spine road: It was built mostly by Countryside Properties , and
4140-597: The Town Hall in Market Square, and also run along Bank Street and the High Street. The High Street is mainly a pedestrianised area, which allows only buses to drive through the town. Braintree Village, formerly known as Freeport , is a shopping area on the outskirts of the town, described as a "designer outlet village". It has approximately 90 departments where designer brands sell surplus stock for lower than
4232-475: The aforementioned country park (known as the 'Discovery Centre'), which includes outdoor play equipment, a café and water features. There are various small businesses operating in Great Notley, including a veterinary centre, a public house (the Prince Louis ), an estate agents and a tanning salon. There is also a Tesco supermarket located in the garden village, making it the third Tesco to be built within
4324-627: The afternoon at Meadowside until around 10 pm. 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 . Regional TV news
4416-421: The alternative spelling "Domesdei" became popular for a while. The usual modern scholarly convention is to refer to the work as "Domesday Book" (or simply as "Domesday"), without a definite article. However, the form "the Domesday Book" is also found in both academic and non-academic contexts. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that planning for the survey was conducted in 1085, and the book's colophon states
4508-635: The area during the Bronze and Iron Ages built houses in the lower part of the town, near the River Brain, known as the Brain Valley. When the Romans invaded, they built two roads and the settlement grew at the junction of these roads. The town was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, where it was noted as a small village consisting of 30 acres. This area was later inhabited by the Saxons, who occupied
4600-476: The article on the book in the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica noted, "To the topographer, as to the genealogist, its evidence is of primary importance, as it not only contains the earliest survey of each township or manor, but affords, in the majority of cases, a clue to its subsequent descent." Darby also notes the inconsistencies, saying that "when this great wealth of data
4692-489: The average household), concludes that the 268,984 households listed most likely indicate a total English population between 1.2 and 1.6 million. Domesday names a total of 13,418 places. Apart from the wholly rural portions, which constitute its bulk, Domesday contains entries of interest concerning most towns, which were probably made because of their bearing on the fiscal rights of the crown therein. These include fragments of custumals (older customary agreements), records of
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#17328007845034784-600: The drastic abbreviation and rearrangement undertaken by the scribe of Great Domesday Book. Both volumes are organised into a series of chapters (literally "headings", from Latin caput , "a head") listing the manors held by each named tenant-in-chief directly from the king. Tenants-in-chief included bishops, abbots and abbesses , barons from Normandy , Brittany , and Flanders , minor French serjeants , and English thegns . The richest magnates held several hundred manors typically spread across England, though some large estates were highly concentrated. For example, Baldwin
4876-473: The expansion. Braintree and Bocking Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , merging with four other districts to become Braintree District . No successor parish was created for the former Braintree and Bocking Urban District. Braintree's museum, containing displays relating to the history of the town, is named after the local naturalist John Ray and has
4968-763: The gardens opened. Churches of interest in Braintree include St. Michael's along South Street/High Street, St. Mary's Church along Bocking Church Street, St. Peter's church along St. Peter's Road, just off of Bocking End, and Our Lady Queen of Peace Church . Villages in the Braintree area include Bocking , Black Notley , White Notley , Great Notley (a recent construction), Cressing , Felsted , Rayne and Panfield . Published histories of Braintree & Bocking include: East of England (United Kingdom): Settlements in Counties and Unitary Districts - Population Statistics, Charts and Map Domesday Book Domesday Book ( / ˈ d uː m z d eɪ / DOOMZ -day ;
5060-453: The greatest magnate could do no more than "hold" land from him as a tenant (from the Latin verb tenere , "to hold") under one of the various contracts of feudal land tenure . Holdings of bishops followed, then of abbeys and religious houses , then of lay tenants-in-chief , and lastly the king's serjeants ( servientes ) and thegns. In some counties, one or more principal boroughs formed
5152-479: The history of Braintree and Bocking. The Braintree & Bocking Public Gardens are situated on the northern side of Braintree and are close to the District Council offices on Bocking End. They house a garden that was built in 1888 and given to the town of Braintree by Sydney and Sarah Courtauld. To keep the gardens in good condition, a set of guidelines governing their maintenance have been in place since
5244-600: 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. Braintree has four secondary schools: Gosfield School Independent Co-Educational, Alec Hunter Academy , Notley High School Technology College (which
5336-466: The king sent his agents to survey every shire in England, to list his holdings and dues owed to him. Written in Medieval Latin , it was highly abbreviated and included some vernacular native terms without Latin equivalents. The survey's main purpose was to record the annual value of every piece of landed property to its lord, and the resources in land, labour force, and livestock from which
5428-548: The king's brevia ((short) writings). From about 1100, references appear to the liber (book) or carta (charter) of Winchester, its usual place of custody; and from the mid-12th to early 13th centuries to the Winchester or king's rotulus ( roll ). To the English, who held the book in awe, it became known as "Domesday Book", in allusion to the Last Judgment and in specific reference to the definitive character of
5520-597: The kingdom concerning the matters contained in the book, and recourse is made to the book, its word cannot be denied or set aside without penalty. For this reason we call this book the "book of judgements", not because it contains decisions made in controversial cases, but because from it, as from the Last Judgement, there is no further appeal. The name "Domesday" was subsequently adopted by the book's custodians, being first found in an official document in 1221. Either through false etymology or deliberate word play ,
5612-567: The land in the country, (1) at the time of Edward the Confessor 's death, (2) when the new owners received it, (3) at the time of the survey, and further, it reckoned, by command, the potential value as well. It is evident that William desired to know the financial resources of his kingdom, and it is probable that he wished to compare them with the existing assessment, which was one of considerable antiquity, though there are traces that it had been occasionally modified. The great bulk of Domesday Book
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#17328007845035704-547: The land of Bocking going to the Prior and monks of Canterbury), Trinovantian Way. (At one point, the townsfolk were called Trinovantes, who were around during the Iron Age , and could till the light sandy soil and hunted animals in the surrounding woodland.) Other road names reflect places that have since been built on, such as Coldnailhurst Avenue (a farm at the top of the current road on Panfield Lane), Becker's Green Road (opposite
5796-464: The land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire.' Also he commissioned them to record in writing, 'How much land his archbishops had, and his diocesan bishops, and his abbots, and his earls;' and though I may be prolix and tedious, 'What, or how much, each man had, who was an occupier of land in England, either in land or in stock, and how much money it was worth.' So very narrowly, indeed, did he commission them to trace it out, that there
5888-448: The latter was completed, if not started, by William II following his accession to the English throne; William II quashed a rebellion that followed and was based on, though not consequence of, the findings of the inquest. Most shires were visited by a group of royal officers ( legati ) who held a public inquiry, probably in the great assembly known as the shire court. These were attended by representatives of every township as well as of
5980-439: The law courts. In 1960, it was among citations for a real manor which helps to evidence legal use rights on and anchorage into the Crown's foreshore; in 2010, as to proving a manor, adding weight of years to sporting rights (deer and foxhunting); and a market in 2019. Domesday Book is critical to understanding the period in which it was written. As H. C. Darby noted, anyone who uses it can have nothing but admiration for what
6072-613: The local lords. The unit of inquiry was the Hundred (a subdivision of the county, which then was an administrative entity). The return for each Hundred was sworn to by 12 local jurors, half of them English and half of them Norman. What is believed to be a full transcript of these original returns is preserved for several of the Cambridgeshire Hundreds ;– the Cambridge Inquisition – and
6164-495: The mill does not work, the majority of the machinery and infrastructure are still in place. The mill is open to visitors on select days throughout the year. The Braintree District Museum is located opposite the Town Hall, along Manor Street, and was originally the Manor Street School. It was built in 1863, to replace the former British School located in the same place. Nowadays, it houses a selection of items showing
6256-403: The name also came to be associated with the Latin phrase Domus Dei ("House of God"). Such a reference is found as early as the late 13th century, in the writings of Adam of Damerham ; and in the 16th and 17th centuries, antiquaries such as John Stow and Sir Richard Baker believed this was the name's origin, alluding to the church in Winchester in which the book had been kept. As a result,
6348-483: The numerous obvious omissions, and ambiguities in presentation. Darby first cites F. W. Maitland 's comment following his compilation of a table of statistics from material taken from the Domesday Book survey, "it will be remembered that, as matters now stand, two men not unskilled in Domesday might add up the number of hides in a county and arrive at very different results because they would hold different opinions as to
6440-456: The parish of Bocking to the north. In 1931 the parish of Braintree had a population of 8,912. On 1 April 1934 Braintree Urban District was substantially enlarged to take in Bocking and parts of the neighbouring parishes of Black Notley , Gosfield , Rayne , and Stisted . The enlarged urban district and its associated parish were both renamed Braintree and Bocking at the same time, reflecting
6532-416: The recommended retail price. It also has its own railway station, namely Braintree Freeport . There are also several industrial centres located around the main Braintree town area, including the Springwood Industrial Estate, Park Drive Industrial Estate and Broomhills Industrial Estate, off Pod's Brook Lane. Braintree is served by two railway stations: Braintree and Braintree Freeport . Both are stops on
6624-582: The record. The word "doom" was the usual Old English term for a law or judgment; it did not carry the modern overtones of fatality or disaster . Richard FitzNeal , treasurer of England under Henry II , explained the name's connotations in detail in the Dialogus de Scaccario ( c. 1179): The natives call this book "Domesday", that is, the day of judgement. This is a metaphor: for just as no judgement of that final severe and terrible trial can be evaded by any subterfuge, so when any controversy arises in
6716-483: The responsibility of Essex Highways , except the A120 which is part of the government's strategic highways network, overseen by National Highways . Key roads in the town include: National Cycle Route 16 , which runs between Bishop's Stortford and Great Totham , passes through Braintree. The Flitch Way is a shared-use path and bridleway on a former railway line that runs between Braintree and Takeley . The path
6808-406: The river-meadows, woodland, pasture, fisheries (i.e. fishing weirs ), water-mills , salt-pans (if by the sea), and other subsidiary sources of revenue; the peasants are enumerated in their several classes; and finally the annual value of the whole, past and present, is roughly estimated. The organisation of the returns on a feudal basis, enabled the Conqueror and his officers to see the extent of
6900-401: The south and rural areas to the north, where arable crops are grown. It lies about 150 feet (45 m) above sea level. 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
6992-403: The subject of a separate section. A few have separate lists of disputed titles to land called clamores (claims). The equivalent sections in Little Domesday are called Inuasiones (annexations). In total, 268,984 people are tallied in the Domesday Book, each of whom was the head of a household. Some households, such as urban dwellers, were excluded from the count, but the exact parameters remain
7084-412: The survey was completed in 1086. It is not known when exactly Domesday Book was compiled, but the entire copy of Great Domesday appears to have been copied out by one person on parchment (prepared sheepskin), although six scribes seem to have been used for Little Domesday. Writing in 2000, David Roffe argued that the inquest (survey) and the construction of the book were two distinct exercises. He believes
7176-432: The survey's ninth centenary. On this last occasion Great Domesday was divided into two physical volumes, and Little Domesday into three volumes. The project to publish Domesday was begun by the government in 1773, and the book appeared in two volumes in 1783, set in " record type " to produce a partial- facsimile of the manuscript. In 1811, a volume of indexes was added. In 1816, a supplementary volume, separately indexed,
7268-467: The time. In a parallel development, around 1100, the Normans in southern Italy completed their Catalogus Baronum based on Domesday Book. The original manuscript was destroyed in the Second World War , but the text survives in printed editions. The manuscripts do not carry a formal title. The work is referred to internally as a descriptio (enrolling), and in other early administrative contexts as
7360-518: The town after the Romans left and named the Roman road Stane Street (i.e. Stone Road), a name it still bears. Most notable road names in Braintree now coincide with names of people who fought for the town, and locals living there, such as Aetheric Road (a notable Saxon nobleman who died in the Battle of Maldon in 991, and subsequently left most of the land of Braintree to the Bishop of London , as well as
7452-605: The towns of Braintree, Massachusetts and Braintree, Vermont , in the United States. The origin of the name is obscure. Braintree was called "Branchetreu" in the Domesday Book of 1086. It sometimes appears as "Branktre" in Medieval Latin legal records, and "Branktry" in early American colonial documents. One theory is that Braintree was originally "Branoc's tree", Branoc being a person's name. Another
7544-487: The value derived. The name "Domesday Book" came into use in the 12th century. Richard FitzNeal wrote in the Dialogus de Scaccario ( c. 1179) that the book was so called because its decisions were unalterable, like those of the Last Judgment , and its sentence could not be quashed. The manuscript is held at the National Archives at Kew , London. Domesday was first printed in full in 1783, and in 2011
7636-440: The western side of the town, forming a natural boundary between Braintree and the neighbouring village of Rayne about two miles (three kilometres) 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
7728-494: Was established in 1850 and covered the parish of Braintree. Prior to that the area had been governed by its parish vestry . Such local boards were converted into urban district councils in 1894. In 1928 Braintree Urban District Council built Braintree Town Hall in Market Place to serve as its headquarters. By the early 1930s the urban area of Braintree was growing beyond its historic parish boundaries, particularly into
7820-423: Was later abandoned when the Romans left Britain. The town was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was named "Branchetreu", and consisted of 30 acres (12 hectares) in possession of Richard, son of Count Gilbert. 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. As early as the 14th century, Braintree
7912-662: Was left in Great Domesday for a record of the City of London and Winchester , but they were never written up. Other areas of modern London were then in Middlesex , Surrey , Kent , and Essex and have their place in Domesday Book's treatment of those counties. Most of Cumberland, Westmorland, and the entirety of the County Palatine of Durham and Northumberland were omitted. They did not pay the national land tax called
8004-400: Was not one single hide, nor a yard of land, nay, moreover (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it no shame to do it), not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was there left, that was not set down in his writ. And all the recorded particulars were afterwards brought to him. The primary purpose of the survey was to ascertain and record the fiscal rights of the king. These were mainly: After
8096-590: Was preserved from the late 11th to the beginning of the 13th centuries in the royal Treasury at Winchester (the Norman kings' capital). It was often referred to as the "Book" or "Roll" of Winchester. When the Treasury moved to the Palace of Westminster , probably under King John , the book went with it. The two volumes (Great Domesday and Little Domesday) remained in Westminster, save for temporary releases, until
8188-461: 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. 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,
8280-517: Was published containing Photographic facsimiles of Domesday Book, for each county separately, were published in 1861–1863, also by the government. Today, Domesday Book is available in numerous editions, usually separated by county and available with other local history resources. In 1986, the BBC released the BBC Domesday Project , the results of a project to create a survey to mark
8372-475: Was rebound in 1320, its older oak boards being re-used. At a later date (probably in the Tudor period ) both volumes were given new covers. They were rebound twice in the 19th century, in 1819 and 1869 – on the second occasion, by the binder Robert Riviere and his assistant, James Kew. In the 20th century, they were rebound in 1952, when their physical makeup was examined in greater detail; and yet again in 1986, for
8464-493: Was subsequently abolished in 1974 when the modern Braintree District was created. Several local organisations still include Braintree and Bocking in their names. Braintree is bypassed by the modern-day A120 and A131 roads, while trains serve two stations in the town, at the end of the Braintree Branch Line from Witham . The town is twinned with Pierrefitte-sur-Seine , France , and gives its name to
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