Brentwood began as a small settlement in a woodland clearing on the
London to Colchester road over eight hundred years ago. Gradually it
developed into a small market town where medieval pilgrims, on their
way to the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury, visited St Thomas'
Chapel in the High Street. The 16th century saw new gentry families
moving into the area and the foundation of the Grammar School in 1558,
which provided local boys with a free classical education.
Road
improvements and increasing travel brought growing prosperity to the
town in the 18th century, especially for the inns serving the coach
traffic. The establishment of Warley Camp and Barracks also brought in
business, but many of Brentwood's inhabitants remained poor, and living
conditions were bad. It was in Victoria's reign that a proper public
water supply and drainage schemes were undertaken. At the same time new
churches were built, together with schools to educate all the town's
children.
The town still benefits from the community spirit of
those early benefactors who improved the amenities of Brentwood. Much
is known about them and their successors who, decade after decade,
continued to enhance and develop the town throughout the 19th and 20th
centuries. The author does not neglect the ordinary people of Brentwood
either, and their changing patterns of life, work and leisure. Indeed
the growth of recreational activities from the 1880s onwards, as
evidenced by the town's clubs and societies, continues unabated in the
Brentwood of today. Now a busy commuter town, it has grown rapidly
since 1945.
The author is a professional historian who has
taught local history in the University of London for many years; but
her narrative is no dry-as-dust textbook. Readable and entertaining, it
is also lavishly illustrated and will appeal to a wide readership.
Based on scholarship and original research, this vivid account of the
past of her home town will be warmly welcomed.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgements
1. The Medieval Town
2. The Sixteenth Century: Continuity and Change
3. Local Govenment and the Poor
4. The Age of the Coaches
5. Warley Camp and Warley Barracks
6. The Coming of the Railway and the Growth of the Town
7. The Townspeople in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
8. Town Improvement and Leisure
9. Brentwood's Churches
10. The Town's Schools
11. Brentwood Since 1939
Further Reading
Index
