Record stores in Chelmsford
Vinyl hunting in Chelmsford, Essex? There are 30 record shops mapped here. That's 30 record shops mapped around Chelmsford. Every shop grades and prices differently, so the same record can be a bargain in one and a splurge in another — dig everywhere. The new-arrivals bin is always the first stop — that's where the good stuff lands before anyone else sees it.
This guide covers every record store we could verify in and around Chelmsford (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Carmel Records and Crescendo Music, plus HMV. If a record shop's missing from Chelmsford's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.
The Chelmsford record lineup
30 mapped within about 40 km:
Carmel Records
Record store
Carmel Records — Record store.
Crescendo Music
Record store
Crescendo Music — Record store on 160 George Lane. Also worth knowing about Crescendo Music: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
160 George Lane
Phone: +44 7799 778565
HMV
Record store
HMV is Record store on 27-28 Harvey Centre (Ground Floor).
27-28 Harvey Centre (Ground Floor)
Melody UK
Record store
Melody UK — Record store.
Doghouse Music
Record store
Doghouse Music — Record store on 301-303 Broadway. Also worth knowing about Doghouse Music: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
301-303 Broadway
Phone: +44 20 8304 5331
Stone Rock Records
Record store
Stone Rock Records is Record store on 51 Head Street, Colchester. Stone Rock Records also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
51 Head Street, Colchester
Area 51 Vinyl
Record store
Area 51 Vinyl is Record store on 65 South Street.
65 South Street
MusicLand
Record store
MusicLand — Record store, found on 54 North Street in Romford.
54 North Street, Romford, RM1 1BH
Gerard's Music Room
Record store
Gerard's Music Room is Record store on 43 Market Place, Romford.
43 Market Place, Romford, RM1 3AB
HMV
Record store
HMV is Record store.
Romford, RM1 3RL
South Records
Record store
South Records is Record store on 24 Queens Road. South Records also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 10:30-16:00; Su 12:00-16:00; it has a website with more detail.
24 Queens Road
Hours: Mo-Sa 10:30-16:00; Su 12:00-16:00
HMV
Record store
HMV is Record store on Rose Gallery, Greenhithe. HMV also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 10:00-21:00; Sa 09:00-21:00; Su 11:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Rose Gallery, Greenhithe, DA9 9SP
Hours: Mo-Fr 10:00-21:00; Sa 09:00-21:00; Su 11:00-17:00
Phone: +44 843 221 0127
Mike’s Record Shop
Record store
Mike’s Record Shop — Record store.
Ray’s Records
Record store
Ray’s Records — Record store.
Dreamhouse Records
Record store
Dreamhouse Records is Record store on 177 Francis Road, London. Dreamhouse Records also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
177 Francis Road, London
HMV
Record store
HMV is Record store on West Thurrock Way, Grays. HMV also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 09:00-21:00; Su 11:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
West Thurrock Way, Grays, RM20 2ZF
Hours: Mo-Sa 09:00-21:00; Su 11:00-17:00
Phone: +44 843 221 0343
HMV
Record store
HMV is Record store on Eastgate Shopping Centre, Basildon. HMV also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:30-17:30; Sa 09:00-17:00; Su 10:00-16:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Eastgate Shopping Centre, Basildon, SS14 1AF
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:30-17:30; Sa 09:00-17:00; Su 10:00-16:00
Phone: +44 843 221 0111
Your Vinyl Answer
Record store
Your Vinyl Answer is Record store on 29a High Street, Sudbury. Your Vinyl Answer also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
29a High Street, Sudbury, CO10 8NY
HMV
Record store
HMV is Record store on High Street, Southend-on-Sea. HMV also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
High Street, Southend-on-Sea
Decktronix
Record store
Decktronix is Record store.
Moondance
Record store
Moondance is Record store.
Waltham Cross, EN8 7LA
Crazy Beat Records
Used record store
Crazy Beat Records — Used record store, found on 87 Corbets Tey Road in Upminster. Also worth knowing about Crazy Beat Records: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 10:00-18:00; Sa 10:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
87 Corbets Tey Road, Upminster, RM14 2AH
Hours: Mo-Fr 10:00-18:00; Sa 10:00-17:00
Phone: +44 1708 228678
Manns Music
Record store
Manns Music is Record store on 123 High Street, Colchester.
123 High Street, Colchester
Classics
Record store
Classics — Record store, found on 2a Osborne Street in Colchester.
2a Osborne Street, Colchester, CO2 7DP
HMV
Record store
HMV is Record store on 27-30 Culver Square, Colchester. HMV also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
27-30 Culver Square, Colchester, CO1 1WF
Analogue Music
Record store
Analogue Music is Record store.
De Rosa Music
Record store
De Rosa Music — Record store. Also worth knowing about De Rosa Music: it has a website with more detail.
Intense Records
Record store
Intense Records — Record store on 33-34 Viaduct Road.
33-34 Viaduct Road
Rewind Records
Record store
Rewind Records is Record store on 19d Gaol Lane, Sudbury.
19d Gaol Lane, Sudbury, CO10 1JL
Medway Record Centre
Record store
Medway Record Centre is Record store.
What the map tells us about record stores in Chelmsford
5 of the 30 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — record shops keep shop hours, so the listed times are usually reliable.
13 have websites listed. Worth a look for new-arrival posts and want-list services.
The Chelmsford record crawl
The efficient Chelmsford record crawl strings these together: Carmel Records, Crescendo Music on 160 George Lane, HMV on 27-28 Harvey Centre (Ground Floor), Melody UK, Doghouse Music on 301-303 Broadway, Stone Rock Records on 51 Head Street, Area 51 Vinyl on 65 South Street, and MusicLand on 54 North Street — 30 stops, one logical order. 22 more are listed below.
Record digging tips for Chelmsford
A few things worth knowing before you work through Chelmsford's record stores:
- The listening station is the test at Carmel Records. If a record looks questionable, play the loud passages. That's where surface noise shows up.
- Handle records properly in the shop at Crescendo Music. By the edges, never the grooves. Shops notice, and so do the records.
- Visit on restock days. Shops process collections on rhythms. Ask when new used stock hits the floor and time your visits.
- Don't overlook cassettes and CDs. The tape and CD sections are chronically underpriced. The format revival hasn't hit them the same way.
Good to know
We searched about 40 km around Chelmsford — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new record store in Chelmsford can take a while to appear. If you spot one of the 30 that's closed, or a great record store we missed, the fix is to update the map itself — that's where this guide reads from.
We don't list prices or stock — both change by the day. What we list is the where: real shops, verified by real mappers.
If you run one of the 30 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.
Record store listings for Chelmsford: 30 mapped from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors; individual photo credits appear in captions. Listing data was last refreshed automatically — verify hours before visiting.