Bocking, Essex
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Bocking is a suburban village on the northern side of Braintree, in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, England. Bocking village was historically in two parts; the original settlement around the parish church became known as Bocking Churchstreet, while a separate linear settlement called Bocking grew up a little way to the south along Bradford Street and The Causeway, adjoining the northern edge of Braintree. The parish of Bocking was abolished in 1934, merging with Braintree to become the
urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...
of Braintree and Bocking, which was in turn abolished in 1974 to become part of
Braintree District Braintree District is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Essex, England. The district is named after the town of Braintree, Essex, Braintree, where the council is based. The district also includes the towns of Halstead and ...
. Both parts of Bocking now form part of the Braintree built up area. Bocking forms an electoral division for
Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...
elections, and gives its name to Bocking Blackwater, Bocking North and Bocking South wards of Braintree District Council.


History

In 1290 on 16 September, Bocking was visited by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John of Peckham, who there ordained to the priesthood William of Louth, bishop-elect of Ely. In 1381, on 4 June, Bocking was the site of the first sit-down discussions between rebels leading to the full
Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...
, and the subsequent march towards London. The Deanery Church of St Mary, Bocking, is mainly 15th- and 16th-century flint and limestone, with 19th-century restoration, built on a more ancient church site. It is Grade I listed. St Peter's Parish Church was built in 1896-97 of yellow brick, in a design intended to be extended at a later date, and is still unfinished; its website describes it as "unusual in appearance from the outside". Bocking Windmill is a preserved 18th-century
post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...
and is Grade I listed. It is owned by
Braintree District Council Braintree may refer to: Places * Braintree, Essex, a town in England ** Braintree District ** Braintree (UK Parliament constituency) ** Braintree Town F.C., a football club in the town * Braintree, Massachusetts, U.S., a city ** Braintree High Sch ...
and run by the Friends of Bocking Windmill. In 1862 ''Kelly's Directory of Essex'' already stated that "Braintree and Bocking, although distinct parishes, form one continuous town, extending for a mile on the road between Chelmsford and Halstead, and the rivers Blackwater and Podsbrook, and having a united population in 1861 of 8,186." Bocking is a former
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
and had a population of 4,274 in 1931. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished, with most of it (including the old village of Bocking) merging with the adjoining
urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...
of Braintree, with the new urban district being called Braintree and Bocking. Smaller parts of the old parish were transferred instead to the neighbouring parishes of
Gosfield Gosfield is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. It is located around two miles west of the town of Halstead. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1362. Places of note include the following: *Gosfield Hall: ...
and
Stisted Stisted is a civil parish, Church of England parish, and former manor near Braintree, Essex, England. Andrew Motion, a former Poet Laureate, was raised there. History of Stisted In 1589 the village came to notice when a local woman, Joan Cunn ...
. Braintree and Bocking Urban District was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the wider Braintree District. No
successor parish Successor parishes are Civil parishes in England, civil parishes with a parish councils in England, parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of Urban district (England and Wales), urban d ...
was created for the former urban district and so Bocking is directly administered by Braintree District Council.


Education

Bocking has one school called ''Bocking Church Street School''. It used to have another school called ''Edith Borthwick School'' but that moved to Springwood Drive in Braintree in September 2015 because its old school in Bocking was too small.


Bocking in 1870-72

The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' gave the following description of Bocking in 1870-1872:


H. G. Wells on Bocking

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
, in his ''What Is Coming? A European Forecast'' (1916), in the fourth chapter, "Braintree, Bocking, and the Future of the World," uses the differences between Bocking and Braintree, divided, he says, by a single road, to explain the difficulties he expects in establishing World Peace through a World State.


References


Further reading

* *Hoffman, Ann ''Bocking Deanery: The Story of an Essex Peculiar'' (Phillimore, 1976 ) Published histories of Braintree & Bocking include: *May Cunnington & Stephen Warner ''Braintree & Bocking ''(Arnold Fairbairns, 1906) *W. F. Quin ''A History of Braintree & Bocking'' (Lavenham Press, 1981, ) *Michael Baker''The Book of Braintree & Bocking'' (Barracuda Books, 1981, ; Baron Books 1992); *John Marriage ''Braintree & Bocking A Pictorial History'' (Phillimore, 1994, {{ISBN, 085033909X). Populated places in Essex Former civil parishes in Essex Braintree District