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The Woolpack
According to the Dictionary of Pub Names, the Woolpack is a large pack of wool, bales prepared for carriage or sale. The woolpack is said to have had a definite weight of 240 pounds, while the woolsack was of indeterminate weight.
The Woolpack PH is a 17th century timber-framed and plastered building. although it has been altered, added to and in the 18th century, a new red brick front with a parapet was added. The interior has some exposed timber framing and still retains its two bars, although it was enlarged when one of Britain's longest serving landladies had been ordered out of her public house. After 50 years behind the bar, having taken over from her husband in 1939, the then Truman Brewery, her landlord, decided it was no longer economically viable to retain it as a pub. It was sold but later opened up again as a pub after some refurbishment and more rooms opened up as bar areas.
The Woolpack Inn has an old bakehouse at the rear, being originally part of the extensive Inn stabling and was later used as a meeting room for the Ancient Order of Buffaloes. The ground floor of the old bakery, while perfectly dry, is well below the level of the Churchyard and the building was later converted into flats.
Sources: Janet Gyford; Braintree & Witham Times; Witham & Countryside Society.
