About the town » Coggeshall, Essex, England, Great Britain

Coggeshall is a small market town of 3,919 residents (in 2001) in Essex, England, situated between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street (the drainage aqueducts of which are still visible in the cellar of the Chapel Inn today), and intersected by the River Blackwater. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade. Many local businesses, such as the White Hart Hotel and the Chapel Inn (The Chapel Inn became a legally licensed premises in 1554) have been established for hundreds of years. A market has been run every week on Market Hill since 1256, when a charter to do so was granted by Henry III. Coggeshall won the Essex Best Kept Village award in its category in 1998 and 2001–03; it was named the Eastern England & Home Counties Village of the Year in 2003.