Mersea history by subject
Choose a subject below. Every article retains its original URL, including research on buildings that also appear in Explore.
Jump to Archaeology, maps & early Mersea · Buildings, churches & named places · Boats, oysters & the waterfront · People, families & working lives · War, weather & major events · Trades, culture & island history
Archaeology, maps & early Mersea
Early archaeology
Bronze Age MerseaMersea Barrow: Roman burial mound, archaeology & visitingMersea Red HillsRoman MerseaWest Mersea archaeology: what test pits foundWest Mersea Roman villa beneath the old village
Land and historical maps
Buildings, churches & named places
Churches and schools
Churches of Mersea Island: West & East Mersea historyEast Mersea School historyEast Mersea Strict Baptist Meeting HouseHistory of schools on Mersea IslandPatricia Catchpole and Mersea riding schoolSt Cedd & St Gregory Catholic Church, MerseaSt Edmund, East MerseaSt Peter & St Paul, West MerseaWest Mersea Free Church & Union Church historyWest Mersea Methodist ChurchWest Mersea School history
Historic houses and estates
Bocking Hall, West Mersea: manor and listed houseBrierley Hall, West Mersea: East Road landmarkEast Mersea Hall: medieval house on a moated siteOrleans, Coast RoadThe Hall, West Mersea: sixteenth-century houseWeir Farmhouse, East Mersea: early timber frameWellhouse, West Mersea: listed house and estateYew Tree House, West Mersea
Streets and other landmarks
Assembly Hall, East Road, West MerseaEast Mersea Tudor BlockhouseHistoric signposts of West MerseaMersea MuseumOld City Hall, The LaneOld City, West Mersea: fishing quarter & lanesThe Lane, West Mersea: cottages of Old CityThe Square, Coast Road, West MerseaUpland Road Water Tower, West MerseaWest Mersea BrickworksWest Mersea Coastguard Cottages: a lost waterfront rowWest Mersea houseboats: Coast Road historyWest Mersea’s changing townscape, 1900–1950
Boats, oysters & the waterfront
Fishing boats and craft
Boadicea CK213: historic oyster smack at MerseaBOY GEORGE CK28, Mersea workboatGracie CK46: Mersea oyster smack historyHyacinth CK256: Mersea oyster smackMayflower CK44: Mersea oyster smackMersea oyster smacks: boats of the Blackwater fisheryPRISCILLA CK437 and West MerseaPURITAN oyster smack and MerseaWest Mersea One Design dinghy historyWorking boats of Mersea
Boatyards and sailing
Mersea Sailing Club: from 1866 to West Mersea Yacht ClubPeter Clarke’s Boatyard, West MerseaWest Mersea boatyards: Coast Road marine workWyatt's boatyard, West Mersea
Oyster grounds and waterfront work
Bentley’s Oyster Fishery, West MerseaEarly tourism in West MerseaHarold Cutts and the West Mersea waterfrontMersea carriers and the Colchester runMersea fish weirsMersea oystersMersea QuartersNative oyster restoration around Mersea IslandThe Mersea Oyster Packing Shed: history and visitingThe Mussett oyster shop, West MerseaTollesbury & Mersea Native Oyster FisheryTransport history of Mersea Island
People, families & working lives
Mersea families
Mersea families: work, trade & local connectionsOyster families of West MerseaThe French family and Mersea oystersThe Green families of West MerseaThe Haward oyster family of MerseaThe Hewes family of West MerseaThe May family, West Mersea Hall and oyster layingsThe Milgate family and West Mersea waterfrontThe Mole family in West Mersea working historyThe Mussett family in Mersea historyThe Pullen family of West MerseaThe White family of West Mersea shopkeepersWest Mersea family networks in the historical record
Artists, writers and public life
Archie Smith: Mersea memoirist and first MayorArchie White: Mersea artist, writer & yachting illustratorBill Clarry’s Mersea memoriesFid Harnack: marine artist of West MerseaHervey Benham and MerseaHugh Iorys Hughes: Mulberry Harbour engineer in MerseaJohn Leather: maritime historian and Mersea boatsMehalah and Mersea IslandPeggy FortnumPeople of Mersea Island: local lives & storiesSabine Baring-Gould and MerseaStanley Hills and the founding of Mersea MuseumWinifred Hone: Victory Hotel and the Soc’n Sail
Other local lives
Cecil Mussett: seed grower and Mersea postmanCharles Baker, West Mersea oyster dredgerDouglas Stoker, oysters and the MOLLIETTEEarly fishermen of West MerseaElgar Mussett, carpenter and wartime survivorHarry Thomas Mussett and Memories of a LaneyJack Saye, West Mersea bus driverJohn Braisted, West Mersea oyster merchantJohn Milgate, West Mersea shipwrightJohnny Milgate of The LaneLeslie French: Mersea oysterman and artistSamuel Boatman King, West Mersea oyster merchantSamuel Overall, West Mersea oyster merchantThomas Overall, oyster dredger of West MerseaWilliam Haward, West Mersea oyster dredgerWilliam “Admiral” Wyatt
War, weather & major events
War and coastal defence
Mersea at war: First & Second World WarsMersea Home Guard in the Second World WarMersea Island in the First World WarMersea Island in the Second World WarRoyal Observer Corps on Mersea IslandThe wartime school at The Nothe, West MerseaWest Mersea coastal artillery batteryWest Mersea War Memorial: history & names
Floods and severe weather
December 2013 storm surge on Mersea IslandThe 1884 Essex earthquake and MerseaThe 1953 flood on Mersea IslandThe high tide of 2 March 1949 at West MerseaThe winter of 1962–63 on Mersea Island
Civic and emergency history
Trades, culture & island history
Shops, trades and working lives
Clifford White & Co on Mersea IslandDigby's Ironmongers, West MerseaFarming history of Mersea IslandGeorge Rudlin, West Mersea carrierGowen’s Sailmakers, West MerseaMOLLIETTE and West MerseaOld shops and trades of Mersea IslandOld West Mersea Post OfficesReg Hempstead, West Mersea riggerThomas Harvey, East Mersea farmerVic Sams and seed growing on MerseaWorking lives on Mersea Island
Pubs and inns in the historical record
George Stoker and Stags Head Oyster FisheryLost pubs of Mersea IslandThe Fountain Hotel, West MerseaThe Fox Inn, West Mersea: East Road pub history
Clubs, culture and the changing town
Mersea Dramatic Club historyMersea Girl Guides historyMersea Island Golf ClubMersea Island Sea Cadets historyMersea oral historyOld Spiery: Rev. C. Pierrepont Edwards of West MerseaQueensville & the Firs Estate, West MerseaThe railway that never reached Mersea IslandWhen the travelling fair came to MerseaThe Soc’n Sail: historic West Mersea Sailing and Social Club