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Coordinates: 51°47′45″N 0°56′24″E / 51.79570°N 0.94°E
| Mersea Island | |
.jpg) Mersea Island (centre right) viewed from the south |
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  Mersea Island
Mersea Island shown within Essex |
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| Population | 7,000 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Parish | East Mersea West Mersea |
| District | Colchester |
| Shire county | Essex |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Colchester |
| Postcode district | CO5 8 |
| Dialling code | 01206 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | North Essex |
| List of places: UK • England • Essex | |
Mersea Island (formerly Mersey Island) is the most easterly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, located marginally off the coast of Essex, England, 9 miles (14 km) to the southeast of Colchester. It is situated in the estuary area of the Blackwater and Colne rivers and has an area of around 7 square miles (18 km2)[1]. The name 'Mersea' is derived from the Old English meresig meaning 'island of the pool',
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Geography
The island hosts a population of approximately 11,000. It is joined to the mainland by a causeway, known as The Strood. This carries the Mersea–Colchester road (B1025) which is usually covered at high tides and especially including spring tides. It is close to neighbouring Ray Island. There are two main settlements on the island, the small town of West Mersea and the village of East Mersea, plus a small hamlet at Barrow Hill to the north of West Mersea.
Economy
The main industries on Mersea are farming, fishing (including oyster gathering), and servicing the leisure boating industry.
The island has its own newspapers, the Newsround and the Mersea Island Courier. It also has full broadband coverage and the majority of properties, excluding those too close to the beach, being able to receive Freeview signals.
History
There is evidence of pre-Roman settlement on Mersea in the form of "red hills" which are evidence of Celtic salt workings. A large Romano-British round barrow near the Strood, contained the remains of a cremated adult in a glass urn, within a lead casket[2], now in the Castle Museum, Colchester. A large mosaic floor was found near West Mersea church. The Anglo-Saxons built the church at West Mersea (St Peter & St Paul) which may have been founded as early as the 7th Century. It was damaged by Norse raiders in 894 and rebuilt afterwards. A moat at East Mersea church (St Edmund, King & Martyr) is thought to be the remains of a Danish encampment. By 950, there was a Benedictine Priory at West Mersea, which was granted to the Abbey of St Ouen in France by Edward the Confessor in 1046. The priory was finally dissolved in 1542. In the English Civil War, the Parliamentary Army built a blockhouse at East Mersea in 1648, with the aim of blockading the River Colne and the besieged town of Colchester. During the 16th and 17th Centuries, Dutch and French settlers arrived on the island. Some locals supplemented their income from the oyster trade by smuggling. A police officer for the island was appointed in 1844 and in 1871, a school was opened. The Reverend Sabine Baring Gould (author “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “Mehalah”, a novel set in Mersea) was Rector of East Mersea from 1870-1881[3]. Mains water and sewerage were available by 1925. In World War II, two batteries of 4.7 inch guns were installed; one at East Mersea has been demolished and one at West Mersea, now a cafe[4]. Post war, the island suffered from severe winter weather in 1947, which destroyed much of the oyster fishery and from the flooding of 1953. Since then the population has increased considerably[5][6].
Events
The Mersea Regatta is a late summer week long festival of boat racing. The week will change each year as it relates to the tide tables - however the rule is the last Saturday in August to have a midday-ish high tide.
During the week from Monday there are races for many boat classes - from Optimists up to large yachts. The most celebrated race is the annual 'Round-the-Island' race in which about 200 dingies attempt to sail all the way around the island, helped by voluntters over the Strood. These races usually take place out in the Blackwater Estuary (aka the Mersea Quarters).
The Grande Finale on the final saturday includes harbour fun; short spectator in-shore races, soot and flour fights on the water, the famous Greasy Pole, fireworks and of course the weeks Awards Ceremony. During the day there is a pleathora of street entertainment, hot dog venders, ice-cream vans etc.
The Greasy Pole is where contenders have to traverse a telegraph pole/mast covered in thick grease and extended out over the water from the deck of the Regatta hosting Thames sailing barge (similar to 'walking the plank'), retrieve the flag at the end 'and' return back to the boat with the flag in hand. Annually a handful of the 50 or so contenders get to the end of the pole and grab the flag (an accomplishment in itself!) but, however, rarely more than one, if any, will bring it back to the Barge[7].
See also
References
- ^ "Largest Islands of the United Kingdom". Users.erols.com. http://users.erols.com/jcalder/UK.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
- ^ http://www.merseamuseum.org.uk/mmbarrow.php
- ^ http://www.merseacofe.org/index.cfm/id/21
- ^ http://unlockingessex.essexcc.gov.uk/custom_pages/monument_detail.asp?kids=1&monument_id=31487
- ^ http://www.merseamuseum.org.uk/mmhistory.php
- ^ A Short History of Mersea, Elsie M Karbacz 1999, ISBN: 0-9537322-0-7
- ^ http://www.mersearegatta.org.uk/
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
