Mersea Island

Thursday 21^st September

Up until the last minute we didn’t know which part of Britain we would be travelling to. The weather predictions were dire for everywhere West, ruling out Pembrokeshire and Loch Lomond where there were islands we wanted to visit, but the weather East looked promising. We headed for Southend and a possibility of 3 islands though they were further flung than we envisaged. Foulness was ruled out because belonging to the Ministry of Defence it is only open the first Sunday of every month from 12-4pm!! Osea is mostly a drug rehabilitation centre- also not open to visitors. We decided to try Mersea, Northey( having first phoned for permission from the National Trust) and Wallasea islands.

It was a long drive to Mersea, 9 miles the other side of Colchester the next morning. We had the tandem in the back of the car. It was good to see the sun. This part of the country is busy with cars and there were numerous mini roundabouts to negotiate. It must have been 50 miles to the causeway from Southend and we had hoped to park up and ride across but there was a lack of suitable spots and we were on it before we had a chance to look. The tide was out. The Strood, as it is called, is the only remaining Anglo Saxon causeway though now it is just like any other road complete with yellow lines and no parking signs. Either side seems to be just mud flats.

At the end of the causeway the road splits and we took the right leading to West Mersea where we parked in a car park for £3 all day. It wasn’t just the gorgeous weather, Mersea has a lovely feel to it. West Mersea seems to have plenty of character with little cafes and shops, a library, lovely church and museum open later at 2 for a few hours. It doesn’t feel at all touristy.

We had seen a few hand- made signs telling cars to slow for the red squirrels so I asked locals in the car park if there were any but none seemed to know about this or weren’t saying. We thought then it must have been a ploy to slow cars down as they do seem to drive fast. Away from the main bit of town there were less cars and the pace became slower.

There is one road that goes down the middle with other minor roads going off at right angles to it towards the sea or camp sites and we took one of these to the Vineyard.

 

 

Small and quiet we were their only customers for a late morning break. Down the lane there were many unpicked blackberries- no blackberry wine then! There were huge rosehips after the roses fell. Maybe the fertiliser for grapes suit the briars too. We heard the squeals of children from behind the trees towards the sea. An activity centre was signposted this way, though being Friday you would expect kids to be at school.

St Edmunds,East Mersea church, 800 year old in parts (it took 200 years to buid) was a gem to find. The weathered outer white wood door had an unusual wooden latch- quieter than metal. The armoured tower door has 3 locks thought to be something to do with smuggling in the 17^th century- the keys being kept by 3 different people.

The Jacobean pulpit is interesting with an iron hour glass stand and a hole through which the parish clerk prodded the preacher maybe during an overlong sermon. I couldn’t see a way into the pulpit though. Above is an octagonal “sounding board” to help carry the preacher’s voice.

Steps leading to what looks like an elevated doorway are all that’s left of a rood screen, destroyed during Roundhead occupation. It would be good to know what it would have looked like as some rood screens can be very ornate. Stained glass windows had been destroyed too but small stained glass pictures have been set in the clear glass windows and a more recent colourful design sits above the altar.

Written material on the church was laid out near the porch and the page was turned to an article “Sarah Wrench was not a witch” Unusually her grave is covered in curved iron bars. She was buried in the northern section of the cemetery, a teenager still. Often north of the church was non-consecrated ground. She is buried near graves of a past rector and notables necessitating the ground be consecrated, so this refutes the witch claim- though it is unclear who made it. Sadly, she remains under her iron prison though!

 

We rode on to the Cudmore Grove Country Park where there’s toilets, café, a children’s play park and marked walks. We were lucky as it was quiet but the children’s area is so beautifully made, all wood and imaginative, like the Bone Park, that summer months see more cars than anticipated. The white wood of the apparatus looks like driftwood so it doesn’t jar against the natural beauty of the place.

Parking the bike, we followed a walk past the pillbox from world war 2, down to the beach to look at the cliff made of Thames estuary sediment. Archaeologists have uncovered 300,000 years old fossils like monkey and hippo bone here. You could see the layers clearly and we were surprised how orange the soil is.

 

There were pacific rock oyster shells on the beach. These are more common than the indigenous oysters we discovered in the museum later. Views across to Brightlingsea were lovely and 2 oyster smacks with distinctive red sails were tacking across the estuary.

We walked down on what must have been a seawall, a grassy ridge. There were bright yellow butterflies, not brimstones as they were too small, on the yellow flowers. There were even more tiny red ones with pointed wings. Following the coast-line we saw a large ship with a derrick atop it. It seemed to be sailing sideways as with engines turned off it slipped with the fast moving tide. There should be a foot ferry to Brightlingsea from somewhere here according to Bob’s map but we couldn’t see any signposts to it. On a path below was a lady with 8 or 9 labradors on leads, black and golden. Perhaps she was a breeder.

Off the coast path was a lane by some houses then a public footpath went left through hedgerow by farms eventually coming out by the country park entrance. Another path took us to the bird hide where we sat watching pochards or widgeon we weren’t sure which- should have brought binoculars! It looked like a baby heron on a low nest. An adult was sitting in a nearby tree keeping an eye. I thought herons nested in trees!

We collected the bike and cycled back towards East Mersea church on the way stopping at the Dog and Partridge for jacket potatoes and a pint. Bob liked the lead roses on the roof.

 

 We could see the church tower down the lane as we passed another squirrel sign.

Then Bob nearly ran one over as it dashed across the road. We stopped and I saw it run up a deciduous tree. There aren’t that many coniferous trees to support red squirrels. It was large and healthy looking so it must be feeding in gardens. As so many people don’t know about them, someone must have recently tried introducing them. Fingers crossed they survive the fast cars!

There was an iron-railinged hillock in between some houses that looked out of the ordinary as we cycled down towards the Strood. This we found out later was the 100-120 AD Roman Burial Mound. It was excavated in 1912 and an entrance passage built. Inside was discovered a lead box with a wooden lid, inside which was a green glass urn containing cremated bones.

As we approached the Strood we came to a traffic jam. Riding past the static cars we saw that the causeway was still covered in water. Every now and then a lorry or car would cautiously head out in the middle but this was painfully slow. Mersea was truly an island. It being the autumn equinox the tides were particularly high at over 5 metres.

Heading back to the Museum in West Mersea we were passed by lorries and vans leaving long water trails behind them. We rode by the oyster bars(not tempted) and some sailing boats at the marina.

The musem was open and we enjoyed looking at the exhibits both ancient and modern. We saw the lead box and glass urn. The volunteer at the museum told us that the glass kept its original colour because of the lack of chemicals which were used later to make glass clear but with aging turned black. It was beautiful. Science has since found the remains to be that of a young man with a joint condition. He must have been important as oddly rare frankincense had been added to the cremated remains.

Bob really liked the picture of an old bike shop 1919. I was amazed by the way gamebirds were hunted- shot at by multiple pellets by a hunter lying flat on his stomach in the base of a canoe- like boat with a long rifle as a boat attachment. Bizarre!

The museum volunteer talked to us of his passion- stained glass windows. He said did we know that Worsley church (near Manchester so not far from us) , Ely Cathedral and West Mersea church all had a connection, through the local stained glass window manufacturer.

We visited the church next door. There is a wooden ribbed ceiling with the figure of Christ crucified central to it. A notable modern stained- glass window celebrating fishermen and oyster catchers of the island radiates colour and light. Under a golden sun is a lifeboat, then the sea with fish is over the oyster shells in baskets in various shades of blue. I really liked it. No ugly gargoyles but a lovely figure of, perhaps a fisherman, sits in a recess! The churches of Mersea remind me of the Scilly Isles with the way the sea is celebrated.

We took the bike back to the car park where we had left the car for over 5 hours. After installing the bike we were soon on the causeway, now completely clear of water, and leaving the still sunny island. I liked the people who seemed to enjoy stopping to chat and the atmosphere of the place. We’d only cycled about 14 miles. I’m told it is 13 and a half to walk the perimeter mostly round the sea wall but that wouldn’t have given us time to see any of the sights.

It was over an hour back to Southend but it had been a good day.