Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Braintree (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Cressing Temple, Blake House Craft Centre, and Braintree Library. Also, be sure to include Warner Textile Archive in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Braintree (England).
Table of Contents
Cressing Temple
Historical landmark in Cressing, England. Cressing Temple is an ancient monument situated between Witham and Braintree in Essex, close to the villages of Cressing and White Notley. It was amongst the very earliest and largest of the possessions of the Knights Templar in England, and is currently open to the public as a visitor site. It is the location of three Grade I listed Medieval barns, one of which is the oldest standing timber-framed barn in the world.[1]
Address: Cressing Temple Witham Road, CM77 8PD Braintree
Blake House Craft Centre
Shopping, Gift shop, Shopping centre, Playground, Mini golf, Park, Arts and crafts
Address: Blake End, Rayne, CM77 6RA Braintree
Braintree Library
Braintree Town Hall is a municipal facility in the Market Square in Braintree, Essex, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Braintree and Bocking Urban District Council, is a Grade II* listed building.[2]
Warner Textile Archive
Museum in Braintree, England. The Warner Textile Archive is a UK-based collection of textiles, designs and paper records operated by Braintree District Museum Trust. It opened in 1993 and is the second largest collection of publicly-owned textiles in the UK.
Based in Braintree, Essex the Archive consists of some 100,000 items representing the creative and commercial legacy of Warner & Sons, a leading textile manufacturer that operated from Braintree throughout much of the twentieth century.
The Warner Textile Archive is housed in part of the original mill building at Silks Way, Braintree, and maintains a publicly accessible gallery along with rotating public exhibitions.
Warner & Sons was a leading manufacturer of silk and velvet, as well as producing a wide range of other woven fabrics. Notably, it created the Queen's coronation robes and silk hangings used in Westminster Abbey during the coronation ceremony. Representing two centuries of UK textile manufacturing history, the archive features work by artists/designers such as Augustus Pugin, William Morris, Vanessa Bell, Marianne Straub, Hans Tisdall, Lynton Lamb and Graham Sutherland. The Warner archive was conserved for many years by the wallpaper and fabric company Walker Greenbank which sold the collection to Braintree in 2004.[3]
Address: Silks Way, CM7 3GB Braintree
Bocking Windmill
Windmill in Braintree, England. Bocking Windmill or Bocking Churchstreet Windmill is a grade I listed Post mill at Bocking, Essex, England which has been restored.[4]
Braintree District Museum
Art gallery, Natural history museum, Museum, Art museum, Children's museum, History museum, Shopping
Address: Manor Street, CM7 3HW Braintree
Namco Funscape Braintree
Bowling alley, Game and entertainment center
Address: Charter Way, CM77 8YH Braintree
Bocking
English civil parish. Bocking is an area of Braintree, Essex, England, which was a former village and civil parish. In 1934 it became part of the civil parish of Braintree and Bocking, which is now within Braintree District.
It forms an electoral ward for Essex County Council elections, and gives its name to Bocking Blackwater, Bocking North and Bocking South wards of Braintree District Council.[5]
Address: 15 Bocking End, Braintree
White Court
White Court is a residential housing estate in the village of Great Notley, south west of Braintree, Essex, England, built on the site of the old Oaklands estate, which was used as an American army hospital during World War II. The estate also includes White Court Primary School.[6]
Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens
Park, Relax in park
Address: 43 Bocking End, CM7 9AE Braintree
Bocking Blackwater
Nature reserve in Braintree, England. Bocking Blackwater is a 13.1 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Braintree in Essex. It is owned and managed by Braintree District Council. In 2016 the council proposed to extend the boundaries of the site.
The site is a long narrow strip along the south bank of the River Blackwater between Bradford Bridge and the A131 road. It has a wide variety of plant species, including veteran trees, and its habitats are wetland, woodland, scrub, wildflower meadows and grassland.
There is access at many points along its boundary.[7]