The full description of this cache trail and a PDF file may be obtained from Tollesbury Wick Marshes Cache Trail.
Extracts from the Visitor Guide to the Tollesbury Wick Marshes Nature Reserve.
The reserve, 600 acres of coastal grazing marsh, sea walls and saltings, shows how traditional coastal farming with grazing livestock can encourage a superb variety of wildlife. The whole area lies within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) major agri-environmental scheme, the Essex Coast Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA). Its conservation importance has attracted both national and international designations.
The reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and forms part of the Mid-Essex Coast Special Protection Area (SPA) for wild birds and a Wetland of International Importance/Ramsar Site, in particular because of its overwintering birds. Its estuarine and unusual marine communities on the fringes of the reserve form part of the Blackwater Estuary National Nature Reserve (NNR), as well as part of the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation (SAC). It became an Essex Wildlife Trust reserve in 1993.
The grazing marshes at Tollesbury Wick were reclaimed from the sea by the construction of the sea wall. To the inside of the sea wall is the borrowdyke (a long ditch dug out to provide material for the sea wall), and to the outside is a narrow fringe of saltmarsh and expanse of mud and shingle.
The origins of the sea wall go back probably to the late Middle Ages. It was clearly marked on the Chapman and Andre map of 1777, and firmly consolidated by the 1860s. This was followed by the construction of the Tollesbury and Kelvedon Light Railway, which eventually opened in 1904. Remains of the terminus at Tollesbury Pier are still visible in the south west corner of the reserve. Its proposed development as a yachting centre did not occur and the branch line closed to passengers in 1951.
Two years later the 1953 floods prompted further raising and strengthening of the sea walls. Other features of historical interest include ancient man-made mounds and Second World War constructions. In spite of all these developments that have come and gone, traditional grazing with sheep and cattle continued, until, that is, the pressure for arable land saw 146 acres drained, ploughed and levelled. Fortunately, most of the marshes survived and now Essex Wildlife Trust has reinstated them as an example of one of the best grazing marshes in Essex, aiming to combine good farming with good conservation. Since 2000, the Trust has built up a flock of Shetland and North Ronaldsay Sheep. It now also owns a suckler herd of Shetland cattle, an endangered traditional breed that, like the sheep breeds, is ideally suited to the rough grazing on the marshes.
If you have a dog then it must be kept under strict control because of the risk to grazing livestock and the disturbance to wildlife.
Big Fleet and Blockhouse Bay
Here the sea wall points into the centre of the marsh where Big Fleet meets the borrowdyke. This fleet forms a fresh-water reservoir and a habitat for dragonflies and nesting marsh land birds. A few hundred metres onto the marsh is a prominent man-made mound of ancient origin. Formerly believed to be a 'Red Hill' (where salt was concentrated in Roman times), it may instead have been made to provide a safe refuge for sheep grazing the saltmarsh if caught out by a high tide.
To seaward is an area of saltmarsh much wider than the thin eroded strip which remains in front of most of the sea wall. Loss of salt-marsh is a serious problem because of the risk of the sea wall being undermined. For this reason thousands of tonnes of shingle have been sprayed onto the foreshore from maintenance dredging work in Harwich Harbour. This is called 'Beach Recharge' and is an experimental sea defence technique being undertaken by the Environment Agency to help prevent further saltmarsh erosion.
The resultant 'island' of shingle has recently attracted many shore nesting birds, including the specially protected Little Terns.
Again, as at Shinglehead Point, please do not land by boat or cross the mud during their breeding season - late April to the end of July.