Towns

The district has three delightful market towns; Braintree, Halstead and Witham, each unique in their own way and worth a visit.

Witham is located at the very heart of Essex, midway between Chelmsford, the county town of Essex, and Colchester, one of the oldest recorded towns in Britain.

Standing on the River Brain, the manor of Witham was given to the Knights Templar in 1148.  It has been a cloth making centre, spa and coaching town.  There has been a market in Witham since 1215.  Witham was also for many years the home of novelist and theologian Dorothy L. Sayers, and a centre has been dedicated to her.

Some 50 years’ ago a linear park known as the River Walk was established to run along the banks of the River Brain as it meanders through the town of Witham.  Take a walk along the River Walk to discover an amazing mix of wild areas that are home to birds, insects, fauna and flora, along with more formal areas that prove very popular for summer picnics.  To the south and almost a continuation of the River Walk, where the Rivers Blackwater and Brain meet, you will find peace and spend many hours watching the world go by.

Witham has a growing population of over 26,000, and is a mixture of old and modern buildings, which include a variety of bustling shops, cafes and restaurants.  There are numerous leisure facilities including several playing fields, a skateboard park, a football club, a rugby club and a leisure centre with a swimming pool.  Clubs and organisations for all ages and interests have an active membership which adds to the community spirit within the town.

Annual events in Witham include our Community Day and the Medieval Fayre in June, the Carnival in July, and Witham Puppet Festival in September. 

Halstead is an attractive rural town well worth a day out. It boasts magnificent public gardens, which play host to live music on summer Sunday afternoons, and to other public events during the year.

It has a flourishing arts centre in the Empire Theatre, which holds live performance of plays and pantomimes as well as tribute acts, and regularly shows films. The town is well known all over East Anglia for its In Bloom awards, and the town is lucky to be full of flowers all year round, due to the tireless volunteers of Halstead in Bloom.

The town also has a flourishing History Society and Museum, which provides fascinating insights into the history of the town, which is home to many buildings built by the industrialist Samuel Courtauld.