Bocking, Essex

Bocking is an area of Braintree, Essex, England, which was a former village and civil parish. In 1934 it became part of the civil parish of Braintree and Bocking, which is now within Braintree District, Essex.

It forms an electoral ward for Essex County Council elections, and gives its name to Bocking Blackwater, Bocking North and Bocking South wards of Braintree District Council.

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."

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 and is grade I listed. It is owned by Braintree District Council and run by the Friends of Bocking Windmill.

Bocking has one school called Bocking Church Street School. It used to have another school called Edith Borthwick School but they move to Springwood Drive in Braintree in September 2015 because their old school in Bocking is too small.

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

Bocking: a village, a parish and a sub-district, in Braintree, Essex. The village stands on the left bank of the Blackwater river, and on the Braintree railway, adjacent to Braintree; forms a suburb of that town; consists chiefly of one long street; and is a seat of petty sessions.

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