Villages

With 52 villages no wonder Braintree District is home to 'Britain's most photographed village' Finchingfield and it's easy to see why. Finchingfield is also home to Spains Hall recently purchased by Jamie Oliver!

Whilst Finchingfield has its own claims to fame, we can't forget some of its neighbours. 

Coggeshall has been named 'Essex Best Kept Village' a phenomenal four times! The village also a reputation for producing fine ales, Red Fox Brewery and wines, West Street Vineyard. Paycockes House is a fantastic example of a 16th century wealthy clothier's house and Grange Barn, founded in 1140, is one of the oldest surviving timber-framed buildings in Europe.

Castle Hedingham was built around Hedingham Castle, a 900 year old Norman Keep. The village has beautiful buildings from the medieval and Tudor eras. The railway station, Sible and Castle Hedingham, was opened 1867 running for 95 years, however passengers can still enjoy a trip on a mile length of line on the original Colne Valley and Halstead Railway by visiting Colne Valley Railway attraction.

Silver End Garden Village lies midway between Braintree and Witham. Originally built from 1926 to house the workers at the Silver End Crittall factory that manufactured window components. The founder of the famous window company, Francis Crittall lived in the village at ‘Manors’ a substantial house with staff bungalows either side.

Silver End is internationally known for its 153 flat roofed Modern Movement houses, many designed by renowned architects of the day. The largest single group of its kind in the country. Three of these were detached houses for the senior management at the factory. The village has at its centre an interesting Memorial Garden with a pond, play area and other features some with a Japanese theme.

The Village Hall opposite, is believed to be the largest in the country having two floors which house various halls, library, a members club, Heritage Centre and a Childrens Centre. A huge department store next to the village hall, sold everything you could need, so travelling outside the village was not necessary. Unfortunately this burnt down in 1952 and was replaced by a small Co-op store.

The village was designed to be self-sufficient as it had on the outskirts a dairy, piggery and water supply. Electricity was generated at the factory for its own use and for the original 500 houses.

The Heritage Society can arrange guided walks for groups with local leaders or a printed self-guided walk leaflet. For more information and images please go to www.silverendheritagesociety.co.uk.