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West Mersea facts for kids

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West Mersea
West Mersea in 2005.jpg
West Mersea is located in Essex
West Mersea
West Mersea
Population 7,183 (2011)
OS grid reference TM011127
Civil parish
  • West Mersea
District
  • Colchester
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Colchester
Postcode district CO5
Dialling code 01206
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament
  • Harwich and North Essex
List of places
UK
England
Essex
51°46′42″N 0°55′00″E / 51.7784°N 0.9168°E / 51.7784; 0.9168

West Mersea is a town and electoral ward in Essex, England. It is the larger (in terms of population) of two settlements on Mersea Island, south of Colchester.

History

Roman buildings and tesselated 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.

West Mersea was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, at which time it had a population of 84 households.

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, museum, and several churches, including the Norman St Peter and St Paul (Church of England), Roman Catholic, Methodist, and West Mersea Free Church, affiliated to the Baptist Union. There are four cemeteries under the care of the Town Council including a woodland burial ground.

West Mersea has a high proportion of very old people and many of the town's amenities cater for them.

As well as West Mersea Yacht Club, it also has an RNLI lifeboat station. The town hosts an annual regatta, usually in August, known as Mersea Week.

In popular culture

The North Sea at West Mersea is the inspiration for the memoir Footloose in France, beginning there at the seaside and ending at a fish restaurant on the harbour.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: West Mersea para niños

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