The Pace local area guide to Chelmsford

estate agency Chelmsford

As a Lettings Agency serving Chelmsford, our clients often ask us about local amenities in popular neighbourhoods. Therefore, we’ve put together the following information which we hope will give you a feel for the popular City of Chelmsford.

General Information

Chelmsford is the county town, (now City), of Essex, in the London commuter belt and located in the Borough of Chelmsford approximately 32 miles north east of London. According to the last census in 2011, the population was approximately 120,000, with a district population of 168,000.

The town is steeped in history, from discovery of a late Bronze Age settlement in the Springfield suburb, via an Anglo-Saxon burial ground in Broomfield, to occupation by the Romans. Chelmsford was granted Royal Charter to hold a market, marking the origin of the modern town, following the commissioning of a bridge over the River Can in 1199. To this day, an under-cover market is still operating 5 days a week here.

Originally an agricultural and market town, Chelmsford has grown in size and the city has seen massive changes and developments. More recently, Chelmsford was an important centre of light engineering, becoming the home of the UK’s first electrical engineering works. It was also credited as the “birthplace of radio” with the development of radio technologies, and the Marconi wireless factory. During the war the town was attacked by the German Luftwaffe on several occasions; Hoffmans ball bearing factory and Marconi Wireless Telegraph Factory thought to be the main targets. Hylands Park, now the site of the annual V Festival, was a POW camp and became the HQ for the SAS! More recently, Britvic was once a major employer in the town.

Chelmsford gained City status in 2012 and is now the geographic and political centre of Essex, with the Essex County Council and Essex Police headquarters based here. It has developed and expanded greatly to become a very popular base for London City and London Docklands commuters, attracted by the 35 minute train journey to Central London. In addition, Chelmsford is a highly commercial city and the number of outbound commuters, is balanced by the number that commute “in”; around 80,000 people, daily.

In 2007, Chelmsford was voted the 8th-best place to live in the UK by the Channel 4 programme “Location, Location, Location”. Ten years on and it has grown even more, with large-scale housing developments appearing across the City and outskirts, as well as huge investment and development in improving the City centre. The most recent big name retailer to arrive is John Lewis.

Chelmsford has much to offer, from hill top views, rose gardens and woodlands at RHS garden Hyde Hall, to the restored interiors and parklands of Hylands Park. It’s the home of Essex County Cricket to club as well as many other sports clubs including football, rugby, hockey, swimming and ice hockey.

The pedestrianised city centre has many of the high-street shops and restaurants you would expect of a large City, along with a mix of independent shops. Chelmsford has a vibrant nightlife scene too with many nightclubs, pubs, wine bars and restaurants in the city centre area; all with good transport links, making it a favoured place for revellers, commuters and tourists alike.

Transport

London is easily accessible by train from Chelmsford. The City has its own railway station which is part of the London Liverpool Street line. Journey times southbound to London Liverpool Street are approximately 35 minutes, with trains running frequently during the rush hour. Northbound services run to Colchester, Ipswich, Clacton, Harwich, Braintree and Norwich. Train services are provided by Abellio Greater Anglia and current timetables can be downloaded here.

Chelmsford Lettings Agent

London is easily accessible by train from Chelmsford. The City has its own railway station which is part of the London Liverpool Street line. Journey times southbound to London Liverpool Street are approximately 35 minutes, with trains running frequently during the rush hour. Northbound services run to Colchester, Ipswich, Clacton, Harwich, Braintree and Norwich. Train services are provided by Abellio Greater Anglia and current timetables can be downloaded here.

Chelmsford has good bus links around the city, to surrounding areas, and across the County, with routes including First Essex X30 Southend to Stansted Flyer and Arriva’s service to Harlow.

Bus routes and time timetables can be found here:

https://www.firstgroup.com/essex/plan-journey/timetables/?source_id=2&operator=8&page=4&redirect=no

https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/herts-and-essex/services/59—harlow-to-chelmsford/?direction=outbound

Chelmsford is well very well connected to the UK road network too.

The A414 trunk road, running from Hemel Hempstead to Maldon, is a main road into the city, itself just off the A12. The A414 also links the city to the M11 motorway at J7 near Harlow. The A130 provides an important link road to the A127 and A13, while the A131 passes through smaller towns and villages. The nearest motorway is the M25 London Orbital at J11 on the A12, only 14 miles away.

Chelmsford also has two Park & Ride services, one just off the A12 at Junction 18 and a second, Chelmer Valley Park and Ride, to the north of the City on A130/131.

Chelmsford also benefits from two nearby airports. London Stansted Airport (Via A130/A120) is about 30 minutes’ drive away, with Airlines operating such as Easyjet, RyanAir, BA, EuroWings. Also, Southend Airport is around 35 minutes away (via A130/A13) offering numerous routes within the UK and further afield into Europe.  Airlines currently operating from Southend include Aer Lingus, EasyJet, FlyBe and Skyworks.  Tour operators include First Choice and Thomson.

Education

Within Chelmsford, admissions to both primary and secondary schools are managed by Essex County Council.  Families with young children choosing to live in Chelmsford have a good choice of state infant, junior schools and day nurseries within the area, including;

For those older students seeking further education, there are:

Healthcare

Broomfield Hospital is the main hospital for the area and has a large Accident & Emergency Department. The following link will take you to the ‘Find Us’ page. http://www.meht.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/our-hospitals/broomfield-hospital/

For non-emergency care, The NHS website http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/GP/LocationSearch/4 offers a search facility which will return a comprehensive listing of all local GP surgeries and health centres.

However, the two main medical centres for Chelmsford are:

Refuse and recycling

To find out which day refuse and recycling will be collected in Chelmsford, please visit the Chelmsford City Council website for full details.

Chelmsford Block Management agent

Shopping & Entertainment

Visitors and residents will find a wide choice of pubs and restaurants in the town, an enjoyable under-cover market, operating Tuesday to Saturday and two medium-sized shopping centres, High Chelmer and The Meadows. The city centre is full of independent shops, a wide variety of specialist retailers as well as the normal leading High Street names.

Chelmsford also has three retail parks, Riverside, Chelmer Village and the smaller Homelands Retail Park housing a B&Q Store and Springfield Garden Centre. The City now also has a new retail development housing John Lewis.

Thinking of buying in Chelmsford?

If you’re thinking of buying a property in or around Chelmsford, why not give Pace a call?

Our team know the area inside and out, and will be able to help you find precisely the right property to meet your needs.