From the car park in Bond Street head towards the town centre and join the High Street to reach Shire Hall, site of the assizes and quarter sessions where, 350 years ago, Nonconformists and witches were tried in open court beneath a timber-framed canopy. Today the 18th-century building is used as the Magistrates Court. Turn left at Shire Hall and take the first turning on the right to England's smallest cathedral. In the grounds, look for the triangular gravestone dedicated to three Marys: Mary Ann Woolmer, Mary Elizabeth Eve and Mary Smith, who perished in a fire that partially destroyed the town in 1808. Note the grim epitaph 'Prepare for death ere ye retire to rest, for ye know not what a day may bring forth'. Parts of the cathedral date back to 1420; on the southeast side is a figure of St Peter holding a Yale key. Walk clockwise around the cathedral, passing old sunken gravestones, and leave the grounds the same way you came in.

Cross Tindal Square, passing the statue of 19th-century judge, Lord Chief Justice Nicolas Tindal, who was born and bred in Chelmsford. Walk along Tindal Street passing Judge Tindal's Tavern on the left, to the traffic lights at New London Road. Here, turn right and cross the bridge over the River Can to Parkway. Just around the corner, on the wall beside the subway, an information panel describes the site of the 13th-century Dominican friary. Take the subway and follow signs for the C & E Hospital. As you emerge, the yellow-brick Infirmary and Dispensary is on your right. Continue past the hospital to where a pathway to the right leads to a statue of Graham Gooch, the former captain of Essex and England cricket teams. Just past the statue rejoin New London Road via the narrow path on the left, and look back to see the front of two Victorian villas, Thornwood and Bellefield. The first mayor of Chelmsford, Frederick Chancellor, lived at Bellefield. Walk on along New London Road for more examples of fine Victorian-style houses and attractive terraced cottages, many of which have been converted into offices. Further up on the left is the delightful Melford Villas, and immediately next door is the street's oldest business, Lucking & Sons, funeral directors, which is adjacent to the Nonconformists' cemetery. Keep ahead to the crossroads where you will see the building of Essex Radio on your right.

Turn left into Elm Road and then left again into Moulsham Street, the site of the old London Road and the former manor of Moulsham, given to Thomas Mildmay by Henry VIII for his role as receiver of monies during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The street contains many listed buildings, including six almshouses founded by Thomas Mildmay, and rebuilt in 1758. Further along is St John the Evangelist Church, and shops and cottages where the upper storeys overhang. A particularly good example is No. 41, dating from the 15th century.

Where the street ends, cross Parkway via the subway or the pedestrian crossing and continue along Moulsham Street to reach the High Street. Just after Baddow Road, on the right, is the former Regent Playhouse theatre, now a cafe. At the junction to Springfield Road, the next turning on the right, is the site of the Black Boy Inn, immortalised by Charles Dickens in The Pickwick Papers. Back in the High Street, on the right is the Royal Bank of Scotland, the former Mansion House and lodgings of the judge when he sat at the assizes. Shire Hall is straight ahead, and from here you return to the car park.