Red spot approx location of Braintree.

"BRAINTREE and BOCKING, though distinct parishes, form one continuoous 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.
[Kelly's Diirectory of Essex, 1862]
BRAINTREE is a considerable market town and parish in the hundard of Hinckford, 41 miles N. by E. from London and 12 miles N. from Chelmsford-situated on a rising ground, and connected on the north with the village of Bocking, one of the most pleasent and populons in Essex. The town itself is irregularly built, most of the streets are narrow,and the general aspect indicative of an early orgin: indeed the antiquity of this place is unquestionable, the site of a Roman camp being apparent close to the town."
[Pigot's Directory of Essex, 1839]