{"id":10574,"date":"2022-02-02T12:33:36","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T11:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=21020"},"modified":"2022-02-02T13:14:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T12:14:11","slug":"walk-mersea-island-essex","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/walk-mersea-island-essex\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk: Mersea Island, Essex"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Stephanie Cross\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 02 February 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Covering roughly seven square miles, Mersea Island\u00a0off the coast of Essex is\u00a0the UK\u2019s most easterly inhabited island. Evidence of a pre-Roman settlement has been found here, and legend has it that a Roman centurion haunts the Strood, the road that links the island to the mainland.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a land of two halves: you\u2019ll find restaurants and caf\u00e9s in West Mersea, offering the oysters and shellfish that the island is famous for, as well as a vineyard selling locally produced wine. While East Mersea is all salt marshes\u00a0and farmland, fantastic for\u00a0a stiffly breezy, cobweb-clearing spring walk.<\/p>\n

It will take you five hours\u00a0to walk around the whole island, but if you\u2019re looking\u00a0for a shorter route, a\u00a0circuit around Cudmore Grove Country Park<\/a> and\u00a0its environs is ideal.<\/p>\n

\""Sea\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Sea campion lines the the beaches\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

East Mersea walk<\/h2>\n

3.5 miles\/5.6km | 2 hours | easy<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Ancient animals<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the car park, follow the sign to the beach through\u00a0the children\u2019s playground\u00a0and on to the cliff-top path. Erosion here has led to\u00a0the exposure of 300,000- year-old deposits, not to mention the bones of similarly aged bison, wolves and bears.<\/p>\n

Pass a pillbox on your left and continue along the grassy sea wall to reach the barely visible remains of an old fort, last used in the Civil War.<\/p>\n

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