Secret Chelmsford

The city of Chelmsford has, over the centuries, had its fair share of secrets. Secret Chelmsford sets out to uncover some of these and bring them out into the light of day, including secrets of the first prisons in Chelmsford, built in 1658 by the side of where the stone bridge is now. The original cathedral, which was built in the thirteenth century, stood tall and proud until darkness fell on 17 January 1800 when gravediggers became responsible for the collapse of the church roof. In Secret Chelmsford Jim Reeve takes the reader on a unique journey to discover the history of this famous city.

Jim Reeve is the chair of the Brentwood Writers' Circle, and has worked in the area as a housing officer for thirty years, before that working for the Metropolitan Police. He has written two books about Chelmsford and has published six books overall. He has spent most of his life in and around the City having been sent to his grandparents in Essex to escape the bombing during the Second World War. He remembers the figure of his grandfather taking him to Chelmsford Market on a bone shaker, single-decker bus. Having spent a great deal of his childhood and working life in the area, he has been able to turn back the cover of history revealing some golden nuggets of the past.