Famed for the Marconi Research Centre, Great Baddow is a thriving village with its many historic buildings distinguishing it from the large urban sprawl of Chelmsford adjacent.
OPEN SPACES: The centre is close to a large open parkland, the 'Recreation Ground' which features the recently built 'Great Baddow Millennium Community Centre' and Noakes Park which has ponds and a young children's sensory garden.
SHOPPING: The main shops are known as the Vineyards (named after the18th century Vineyards house it replaced), a large courtyarded neighbourhood shopping centre which handsomely provides the weekly essentials. Shops here include a traditional butcher, a Greggs baker, 'The Glass House' Cafe, green grocer, Martins newsagent, Boots Chemist, hairdressers, 2 banks and a Co-Op Convenience Store
Meadgate Parade and small local shopping areas in Beehive Lane and Dorset Avenue compliment the Vineyards for the daily needs.
ROAD COMMUNICATION: Great Baddow has excellent access to main routes, with a slip road off the A12 a one minute drive away, the main road through the village links it to Chelmsford and Maldon, and the equally near A130 gives easy access to Southend and Basildon.
RAILWAY STATION: For the Commuters amongst you, both Chelmsford and Ingatestone provide easy London City access to London Liverpool Street (35 minutes)
SCHOOLING: Great Baddow High School incorporates its own sports college and has a 'Good' OFSTED report, as does Baddow Hall Infant and Junior Schools with Beehive Lane County Primary School boasting a current 'Outstanding' rating.
Further state and private schooling can be found in Chelmsford and the neighbouring villages.
VILLAGE HALLS: The village has several community halls which are well used and contribute greatly to the life of the village.
FURTHER AMENITIES: As well as the recreation ground, valued open spaces include Baddow Hall Park and smaller areas such as at the top of Noakes Avenue, the area around Meadgate stream, a strip of land behind Tabors Avenue and Bramston Close, and Luxfield (at the top of Vicarage lane).
There are allotments on Tower Fields and off Vicarage Lane.
The Baddow Meads, along the River Chelmer, is one of the Conservation Areas, a natural flood plain situated adjacent to the River Chelmer.
NEAREST MAIN SHOPPING CENTRE: Chelmsford lies approximately 2.5 miles to the north west of Great Baddow where there is a more extensive range of shopping and recreational facilities.
One of the most popular shopping destinations in the East of England it has all the big-name retailers there including Debenhams, M&S, Primark, BHS, The Body Shop, Superdry, Topshop and more recently a new development, Bond Street, the centerpiece a John Lewis department store (first in Essex), together with 25 luxury shops, seven riverside restaurants, a five-screen cinema, open space and a basement car park.
A bit of History
Great Baddow actually dates back to the Saxon era and for hundreds of years cemtred mainly around the Church - St Marys.
The long history has enabled it to boast 30 listed buildings which now form the bulk of the Conservation area.
In 1936, Marconi's 'Wireless Telegraph Company' opened the 'Marconi Research Laboratory' (now BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Laboratories), to bring together their various Radio, TV and Telephone research teams in one single location.
This expanded during the 1940s and 1950s to include research into additional 'electrical' things including radar and so with the need to house workers there, the village enlarged considerably over the next two decades, particularly the 1950s with the construction of Rothmans Estate.
All this growth has enabled Great Baddow to boast a population well over 13000, making it one of the largest villages in the Country!
TK
