The Essex Arms

The Essex Arms was the first hotel built for guests travelling by train who wanted somewhere impressive to stay in at Brentwood. It was built in 1851 at the cost of £2,500 - financed by the first owner of the hotel, Joseph Ball. He was 54 when he funded the Essex Arms, and had previously spend two decades running the Queens Arms Tavern in Newgate Street. He carried on managing his old establishment until 1856 - presumably after all work had been finished on the Essex Arms.

The building in its original state had stabling to rival that at the long established White Hart. When it was finished, the Essex Arms was described as containing "18 rooms replete with every convenience and that a want of accommodation of this kind was greatly felt by railway passengers and others; that stabling had been provided for 20 horses, with good coach horses."

During the 1850s and 60s, as Brentwood expanded rapidly, the Essex Arms was the scene of several large auctions of land around Brentwood for housing development.

Joseph Ball seems to have died in the mid 1860s and by 1870 the hotel came to be owned by John Mulvany. Within a few years Mulvany also got the license to run the Great Eastern Hotel opposite, which was not a commercial success and ultimately closed - removing one of the main competitors to the Essex Arms in the process.

It has remained since a well preserved example of a Victorian hotel (now a pub), although the rebuilding of the station entrance on the other side of the line has made it less convenient for travelers.