Wikipedia tells us Brightlingsea is a coastal town and an electoral ward in the Tendring District of Essex, England. It goes on to say it is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek, and that at the 2011 Census, it had a population of 8,076.
The final part of the intro on the page says “the town is [sic] an active though small port.”
We think Brightlingsea is so much more than that…
Let us tell you why…
History
We may not be able to claim we’re Britain’s oldest City (like Colchester just up the road can), but Brightlingsea is steeped in history stretching back as far as 4,000 BC.
Thanks to the Town’s proximity to Colchester, there are a lot of Roman connections including the site of a grand villa overlooking the sea (part of the villas garden is now Springmead Gardens), but before then it was inhabited by the Celtish tribe the Trinobantes (much like the rest of Essex).
While Boudica’s Iceni tribe wasn’t really in this area (they were further north) it’s nice(?) to wonder if they popped by on their chariots to do some crabbing on the way to destroying Camulodunum (the capital of Roman Britain which became what we today know as Colchester) as part of the Iceni-led rebellion against Roman rule.
Brightlingsea was probably a good place to set up as a defensive place to live in those troubled times because it was an island back then – the creek completely surrounded the town until the 1500’s. If you look closely, you’ll find a WW2 pill box by the roadside where the road between Brightlingsea and Thorrington is at its lowest, this is roughly where the creek would have been in those days:
The bad news is that being just a local with a passing knowledge of Brightlingsea’s history, I’m not really qualified to talk about much more than this – but if you’d like to find out more about our town’s heritage you are in luck; as a town we’re blessed with some incredibly talented historians and one of the best assets the town has is its fantastic Museum.
A visit is a great way to learn more about the town’s history and whether you have lived here all your life or are just visiting for the day it’s well worth a look around; and the volunteer staff really know their stuff, here’s their website.
To book your visit to Brightlingsea, visit the following link to Trainline.
If you can’t get here in person then the town features in many history books about the Essex coast, and has had plenty written about it thanks to (among other things) the cannibalism on the “Mignonette” (a court case around the crew of a Brightlingsea yacht sailing to Australia in the 1800s that got in to trouble), the links with the Navy and the Anzac troops in WW1, and the Battles of Brightlingsea in the 80s & 90s (to do with the miners’ strike and live animal exports). Personally I have just started reading ‘A History of the Town of Brightlingsea’ by Edward Percival Dickin, which seems to cover a lot of the interesting history of the town up until the Great War.
Brightlingsea High Street
Much has been said of the decline of the British High Street over the years, yet our High Street seems to be bucking this trend even after facing the challenges of the large High Street banks pulling out (as they have done in the vast majority of UK small-town High Streets).
For better or worse (depending on your view), the High Street has largely stayed free of large chain shops, and on most days is bustling with people popping in and out of one of the many shops, pubs or beauty salons. In fact, at the time of writing this (December 2021) there is only one vacant shop on the entire High Street area (comprising the High Street itself and Victoria Place).
There’s plenty of parking on the road and behind the Parish Hall, and the town’s bus service (no. 87) stops in the middle of town by the War Memorial Gardens.
Have a look around the High Street virtually by clicking this link.
The Hard & Harbour
When many people think of Brightlingsea they think of the Harbour, still in operation with boats of all sizes moving around.
The Harbour itself is today operated by the Brightlingsea Harbour Commissioners and is a small mixed leisure and commercial port. It’s always been a popular place for sailors thanks to its location; very close to the Colne (the river that takes you to Colchester), easy access to good fishing grounds out to sea and a day’s sail to/from most Thames Estuary ports. Find out more by visiting the Harbour Commissioners website here or the Hard & Harbour section of our website here.
We’ll add to this section as we work on this new website over time, but for more information on why you should visit Brightlingsea please visit our tourism-specific website www.visitbrightlingsea.co.uk
