Welcome to Wrabness
Explore Wrabness and it's nature reserve.
Found on the Northern boundary of our peninsuar on the shores of the Stour estuary is the sprawling village of Wrabness. Whilst semi-rural in nature and modest in size Wrabness still retains its railway station on the 'Mayflower Line' connecting Harwich to Manningtree to Colchester and beyond.
Owned and manged by the Essex Wildlife Trust, Wrabness local nature reserve spans 52 acres of mature woodland, wild fields, protected marsh and grassland with a small sandy beach found on the Stour to the North. This is a rambler's and a twitcher's delight as the patient birdwatcher can observe owls, yellowhammers, whitethroats, turtle dove, song thrush, nightingales and bullfinches. Wild plants such as corn mint, hairy buttercup, sea aster and ox-eye daisy flourish here.
Wrabness Beach is evidently renowned for fossil hunting, and the UK fossils website tells us that “after scouring tides or stormy seas, fossils are washed up from sediments from the Quaternary. These include bones of deer, horse and whale from the Red Crag, with turtles, shells, and shark and fish teeth within cement stones and pyrite concretions from the London Clay.
The oldest building in the village is All Saints' Church, which dates from around 1100. The church's bell tower collapsed in the seventeenth century, and the bell (which remains to this day) moved temporarily to a wooden bell cage in the church yard.
No write up of Wrabness would be complete without a mention of Julie's House designed by Perry Grayson (a Turner Prize winning artist) in 2015.
This highly decoritive and distinctive house stands alone in a stunning natural backdrop and is also known as "A House for Essex", in homage to the landscape and history of Essex.
By road Wrabness is easily accessible via the top end of the A120 near Harwich, or off the B1352 which runs between Manningtree and Harwich. There is parking available both in the village and in the station car park.
Mention the Community Shop and Cafe (also a bar at the weekends!) - run by volunteers.
Have we missed something? We'd love to hear from you.
Please email us with your Business details, points of interest and local history and we'd be glad to add it here.
Photo credit: AJDRONEOGRAPHY
Images of Wrabness
