Brentwood is a town in Essex, England. It forms part of the London commuter belt, lying north-east of Charing Cross in central London, and just outside the M25 London Orbital Motorway. Its suburbs include Shenfield, Warley, Brook Street and Hutton. It gives its name to the wider Borough of Brentwood which also covers surrounding rural areas. The population of the Brentwood built up area was 55,340 at the 2021 census.
It has a shopping area along the High Street, a Roman road which became one of the main roads between London and East Anglia. Beyond the town centre are residential developments surrounded by open countryside and woodland; some of this countryside lies within only a few hundred yards of the town centre. Brentwood Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood.
Toponymy The name Brentwood is Old English and means "burnt wood". In some early records the name was translated into Latin as "Bosco Arso", which form was recorded around 1176.
History Early history Although a Bronze Age axe has been found in Brentwood and there are clear signs of an entrenched encampment in Weald Country Park, it is considered unlikely that there was any significant early settlement of the area. At the time, most of Essex was covered by the Great Forest. It is believed that despite the Roman road between London and Colchester passing through the town, the Saxons were the earliest settlers of the area.
The town grew up at a crossroads, where the Roman road crossed a north-south route. The area historically formed part of the parish of South Weald, but the crossroads is east of South Weald's parish church. A chapel of ease was built in or around 1221, just west of the crossroads, and in 1227 Brentwood was granted a market charter.
The town's growth may have been stimulated by the cult of Thomas Becket, to whom the chapel was dedicated: the chapel was a popular stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. The ruins of St Thomas's Chapel stand on the south side of High Street. The nearby modern Anglican parish church of Brentwood, built in the 1880s, retains the dedication to St Thomas of Canterbury. Pilgrims Hatch, or 'Pilgrims' gate', was probably named from pilgrims who crossed through on their way to the chapel. It is likely, however, that Brentwood's development was due chiefly to its main road position, its market and its convenient location as an administrative centre. Early industries were connected mainly with textile and garment making, brewing, and brickmaking.
During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, Brentwood was the meeting place for some of the instigators, such as John Ball and Jack Straw. They apparently met regularly in local pubs and inns. The first event of the Peasants' Revolt occurred in Brentwood, when men from Fobbing, Corringham and Stanford were summoned by the commissioner Thomas Bampton to Brentwood to answer as to who had avoided paying the poll tax. Bampton insisted that the peasants pay what was demanded of them. The peasants refused to pay and a riot ensued as Bampton attempted to arrest the peasants. The peasants moved to kill Bampton, but he managed to escape to London. The rioters then, fearing the repercussions of what they had done, fled into the forest. After the riot, the peasants sent word to the rest of the country and initiated the Peasants' Revolt.Dedman, M. Peasants were revolting - and they did it right here. Brentwood Gazette, 6 June 2012. p. 20.
The Essex assizes were sometimes held here, as well as at Chelmsford.
The former White Hart coaching inn on High Street is one of the oldest buildings in Brentwood. In the early 21st century it served as the Sugar Hut nightclub. The building's façade was rebuilt in the early 20th century, but the main structure of the building dates back to the late 15th century. It is believed to have been built in 1480 although apocryphal evidence suggests a hostelry might have stood on the site as much as a hundred years earlier and been visited in 1392 by Richard II, whose coat of arms included a White Hart. The ground floor was originally stabling and in the mid-1700s the owners ran their own coach service to London. The building suffered significant damage during a fire in 2009 but has since been repaired.
Marygreen Manor, a 16th-century building on London Road, is mentioned in Samuel Pepys' diaries and is said to have been often visited by the Tudor monarch Henry VIII when Henry Roper, Gentleman Pursuant to Queen Catherine of Aragon, lived there in 1514. It is now a hotel and restaurant. In 1686, Brentwood's inns were estimated to provide 110 beds and stabling for 183 horses. There were 11 inns in the town in 1788.
Protestant martyr William Hunter was burnt at the stake in Brentwood in 1555. A monument to him was erected by subscription in 1861 at Wilson's Corner. Brentwood School was founded in 1557 and established in 1558, in Ingrave Road and behind the greens on Shenfield Road by Sir Anthony Browne and the site of Hunter's execution in commemorated by a plaque in the school. Thomas Munn, 'gentleman brickmaker' of Brentwood, met a less noble end when he was hanged for robbing the Yarmouth mail and his body was exhibited in chains at Gallows Corner, a road junction a few miles from Brentwood, in Romford. A ducking stool was mentioned in 1584.
As the Roman road grew busier, Brentwood became a major coaching stop for stagecoaches, with plenty of inns for overnight accommodation as the horses were rested. A 'stage' was approximately ten miles, and being about from London, Brentwood would have been a second stop for travellers to East Anglia. This has not changed; there is an above average number of pubs in the area - possibly due to the army being stationed at Warley Barracks until 1958. Some of the pubs date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Brentwood was also significant as a hub for the London postal service, with a major post office since the 18th century. The major post office on the high street was closed in the 2008 budget cuts; Brentwood residents now must rely on sub-post offices.
Daniel Defoe wrote about Brentwood as being "...full of good inns, and chiefly maintained by the excessive multitude of carriers and passengers, which are constantly passing this way to London, with droves of cattle, provisions and manufactures."
The 'Brentwood Ring', the earliest Christian ring ever to have been discovered in Britain was found in Brentwood in the late 1940s. It now resides at the British Museum in London. The only other ring of its type in existence can be found at the Vatican Museum in Rome.Antiquaries Journal Volume 65 (1985) 'A Roman Christian ring from Brentwood, Essex' pgs. 461-463
Modern history Brentwood railway station was opened in 1840 by the Eastern Counties Railway on its main line from London. Brentwood temporarily served as the line's eastern terminus until the rest of the line to Colchester was completed in 1843.
In 1917, the Roman Catholic church on Ingrave Road was awarded cathedral status. Between 1989 and 1991 the building was modified to an Italianate Classical style. Brentwood Cathedral is currently the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brentwood. Nearby Ingatestone Hall is noted for its Roman Catholic connections through the Petre family. The hall is a 16th-century manor house built by Sir William Petre at Yenge-atte-Stone. The staunch Petres played a significant role in the preservation of the Catholic faith in England. Sir William was assistant to Thomas Cromwell when Henry VIII sought to dissolve the monasteries and ascended to the confidential post of Secretary of State, throughout the revolutionary changes of four Tudor monarchs:Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. Queen Mary, in 1553, on her way to claim her crown in London, stopped at Ingatestone Hall; later, Queen Elizabeth I spent several nights at the hall on her royal progress of 1561.
Today, Ingatestone Hall, like all other large Tudor houses, is an expression of wealth and status and retains many of the features of a 16th-century knightly residence, despite alterations by descendants who still live in the house. Ingatestone Hall represented the exterior of Bleak House in the 2005 television adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel, and also appeared in an episode of the television series Lovejoy. It is open to the public for tours, concerts, and performances; the hall and grounds can be rented for weddings and other occasions.
Brentwood was the location of Warley Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, from 1853 to 2001.
Military history
The military has associations with Warley going back over 200 years. It also had strategic importance during the time of the Spanish Armada - it was used as a meeting place for contingents from eight eastern and midland counties (900 horsemen assembled here) to then travel on to Tilbury.
Until 1742, Warley Common was a training ground for the Essex Militia. It then became a training ground for the regular army. 106 acres were purchased by the War Office in 1804, and Warley Barracks established. In 1843 the East India Company, facilities included an Elephant training school, moved there. After the Indian Mutiny, which occurred soon after, the troops of the company were absorbed into the British Army. The site became the HQ of the Essex Regiment in 1881.
The site remained an active army base as a depot for the Essex Regiment until 1959, when much of the site was redeveloped as the European headquarters for the Ford Motor Company. A few buildings remain from the Barracks – the Essex Regiment Chapel, the gymnasium (now home to Brentwood Trampoline Club) and the officers' mess (now Marillac Hospital).
During World War II, over 1,000 bombs were dropped on Brentwood, with 19 flying bombs (V1), 32 long-range rockets (V2) and many incendiary bombs and parachute mines. 5,038 houses were destroyed, 389 people were injured and 43 died. The 15th- and 16th-century pubs, however, survived. Brentwood had been considered a safe enough haven to evacuate London children here - 6,000 children arrived in September 1939 alone.
Today
The town is increasingly suburban, but it does have a very rural feel, with trees, fields and open spaces all around the town; Shenfield Common is also less than one mile from town centre shops.
Brentwood's high street has also been subject to major redevelopment works costing between £3 million and £7 million. This included the demolition of the Sir Charles Napier pub to build an additional lane to improve traffic flow at the west end of the high street, and re-laying the pavements and road surface in the high street itself.
There is a proposal for creating Dunton Garden Suburb on land between Basildon and Brentwood. This proposal may have 6,000 homes, together with retail, commercial and leisure uses. This is a joint proposal of the two councils and a public consultation ended in March 2015. The proposal has met with criticism from all political parties and the residents group Residents Against Inappropriate Development
Education Secondary schools include Brentwood County High School Brentwood School St Martin's School Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School Becket Keys Church of England School Shenfield High School
Primary schools include St Helens Catholic Junior School, St Peters C of E, St Thomas of Canterbury C of E, Warley Primary, Willowbrook Primary, Holly Trees Primary, Hogarth Primary and Larchwood Primary School
Business The Ford Motor Company's United Kingdom headquarters were located in the suburb of Warley until 2018, as was a large production facility for Ilford Photo (until 1983).