Walk 30 : Wivenhoe (round walk)

Wivenhoe, perhaps because of its proximity to the University of Essex, is a remarkable village bursting with community spirit, with volunteers out there constantly, manning the ferry (although its long-term future is under threat), re-roofing the boat house or washing down the slipways. There are always half a dozen dinghies being made by amateurs in the riverside's Nottage Institute. From the church and town, the morning's walk is along the mudflats of the River Colne past zones of eerie dereliction where new housing is planned, past a £14.5 million flood surge barrier, and past sand-extracting works and lakes created in old extraction craters. Returning to Wivenhoe, catch the ferry over to the village of Rowhedge (the fare is about 50p per passenger - this is less than its upkeep cost, and the ferry relies on donations to keep going). Rowhedge must be the only village in the UK where swans frequently block the main high street. But having circumvented this fearsome obstacle, you go via the church into a wood controlled by the Ministry of Defence and used on occasion as a firing range. The last part of the return journey is, for me, the highlight of the day: passing the lovely Norman Church of St Ouen or St Andrew in Fingringhoe, with its chequerboard design of banded flint, to the disused Fingringhoe Mill and on along the John Brunning Walk - mudflats and saltmarshes beside Roman River, and a haven for heron, redshank, lapwing, shel-druck, kestrels and barn owls.

In the fifteenth century, the twelfth Earl of Oxford was Lord of the Manor a Wivenhoe. He and his comrade-in-arms Viscount Beaumont held out in the last castle to surrender to the Lancastrians. They were imprisoned for over a decade. Beaumont later went insane, was looked after by Oxford, and died. Oxford then married Beaumont's young wife Elizabeth. The fine brasses to Elizabeth and Beaumont lie in the chancel of the parish church.

In the 1750s, there was a health spa at Wivenhoe, with fashionable folk taking seawater baths at a fee of one guinea for the season.

An earthquake on April 22nd 1884 damaged over 200 buildings, with nearly two tons of brickwork crashing through the roof of Wivenhoe Hall.

In 1916 the army erected a bridge over the river, which King George V came to inspect, but it was demolished after the war.

The Nottage Institute tel 01206 823 029) in Wivenhoe was founded in 1896 by Captain Charles Nottage to 'improve navigation skills'. It has information on the area's maritime heritage, and welcomes visitors from 11am to 4.30pm daily from late April until mid-September (or by arrangement at other times).

The flood surge barrier was completed in 1993, and is designed to resist the highest tide likely to be seen in a thousand years. Sluices ensure the tidal flow is unchanged except when the barrier is closed.

The north wall of the Church of St Andrew at Fingringhoe dates from 1100. The church originally belonged to a French priory in Mersey, and was dedicated to their St Ouen, who was Archbishop of Rouen. St Ouen has since been corrupted to St Andrew. Items hidden within the church at the time of the Reformation have recently been uncovered, including a Trinity crucifix.

Fingringhoe Mill closed in the early 1990s. It was a tidal mill in the sixteenth century, with a wheel underneath, but was converted to steam in the 1800s.

This text was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk.