Facts about West Mersea

History

Roman buildings and tessalated pavements close to the quayside have led to suggestions that a small Roman settlement and port existed on the site of the modern town, with a road linking it to the nearby town of Camulodunum (modern Colchester). The nearby burial mound to the north of the town is also Roman. Edward the Confessor granted the island to the abbey of St. Ouen in Rouen, France, in 1046, and the Priory of West Mersea was established.

In 1963, the lifeboat station was established next to the West Mersea Yacht Club, one of the first ten inshore lifeboat stations in the British Isles. Originally served by a D class lifeboat, this was replaced by a B class, Atlantic 21, lifeboat in 1972. In 1992, a new boathouse and slipway were opened by the Duke of Kent. In 2001, a B class Atlantic 75 lifeboat was stationed at West Mersea, and then in 2015 this was replaced with the current B class Atlantic 85 named Just George, funded by £210,000 of community donations.

West Mersea today

The town is served by a community centre, various shops, restaurants, small hotels, public houses, a petrol station, bank, library, and several churches, including the Norman St Peter and St Paul, Roman Catholic, Methodist, and West Mersea Free Church, affiliated to the Baptist Union. West Mersea has a high proportion of elderly people, so many of the town’s amenities cater for them.

The island has a substantial number of caravan parks, and along with other areas of the Essex coast, the island attracts many visitors from London and the Home Counties in summer. A publication, the Mersea Courier, lists local activities. These include Pond Watch, The Night Sky, Christian Viewpoint and Speed Learn. The Island is famous for its oysters, taken from oyster beds dating back to the Roman era.