The quiet, 12 mile route is flat – apart from the climb onto the seawall – and offers both farmland and coastal terrain. At roughly halfway you reach the main points of interest; Bradwell Shell Bank and St.-Peter-on-the-Wall.
19.4km / 12 miles OS Route Map for Dengie Peninsular, Bradwell circular coastal walk Conditions: Mid-high 20s, humid, sunny spells, rain at the end, dry underfoot Parking: West Field Car Park (North Street, Tillingham, opposite Church of St Nicholas – free)
There are other elements preventing this route feeling like too much a trek; three pubs to choose from, St. Nicholas Church, Bradwell Waterside Marina, Bradwell Power Station, and of course, the coastal views. The sea wall section is easy to follow, but over-zealous sowing and poor signage makes some of the inland route hard to follow, even with a map.
Essex Coastal Challenge
We did this walk as part of our Essex Wildlife Trust Coastal Challenge. We’ll be walking 35 miles of Essex coastal habitat throughout August (Marine Month) and documenting our journey here to raise awareness of Essex Wildlife Trust, the work they do, and the impact of climate change on our coast. You can support our challenge and donate to the trust here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lovewildwalks
Read about our other walks from the challenge:
Week One: Leigh-on-Sea Circular from Two Tree Island
Week Two: North Fambridge to Burnham-on-Crouch River Walk
Church of St. Nicholas and Tillingham Fields
We used the car park recommended by essexwalks.com (the site where we found this walk) and crossed into the churchyard of St. Nicholas Church. The 12th century church is grade II listed, though the chancel and south side were built in the 13th and 19th century, respectively. However, the site is much older than this, with ties to St. Paul’s Cathedral, London since 604 AD. To this day, the cathedral owns farmland and buildings in Tillingham and has the right to appoint the vicar.
Exiting through the north of the churchyard, we followed St. Peter’s Way to walk east alongside a field edge. The path was narrow in places, having been accidentally ploughed, but the volume of dog poo indicates this is a well-trodden route.
An oak tree seemingly blocked the path, and behind the bramble hedge to the our left stood a field of tall, proud sunflowers. The field turned to track and we passed a quaint, blue farm house before reaching “Dots and Melons” farm and heading between two large outbuildings.
Considering this is a major footpath, St. Peter’s Way got a little tricky from here. As the track bends to the right, the footpath goes into a field. The field had been completely sown over, a short crop of wheat blocking the way. You can follow the road around this field quite easily, but with this walk already being 12 miles long, we stubbornly made our way diagonally across the field. I’m glad we did, as it meant we spotted two huge rabbits (well, we spotted their ears) as they darted from the centre of the crop to the safety of the hedge.
The footpath in the second field was also quite overgrown but easy enough to spot. Again, the track runs 90 degrees round the edge of the field but the diagonal footpath is faster!
The smell of cabbage filled the air as we entered the next field. We suspect the field was on fallow, as white flies swarmed the crop while towering, hardy wildflowers strangled it. There was a dystopian feel of abandonment as nature took over the arable land. To the north, wind turbines stood motionless over the scene. As we walked through, tiny birds darted out from all directions.
SSSIs – Sandbeach and Dengie National Nature Reserve
Navigation was difficult in the next field, with the way marker confusingly positioned in the middle of a ditch! Unsure whether to head to the left or the right, we (correctly) guessed left. The field that follows this was not a field but South Sandbeach Meadows, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). One thing we have learnt on the past few walks around the Essex coast is just how many SSSI areas there are, many of which are completely unassuming!
To the north was a farm with lots of barking dogs – AA Dog Rescue. Upon exiting the field, we were back on tarmac and heading towards the sea. Bright haze filled the air and the sound of the barking dogs was gradually replaced by chirping grasshoppers.
The sea wall came into view and we climbed on top. To the left was grassland, farmland, and Bradwell Marsh Wind Farm. To the north was the Chapel of St. Peter on the Wall, which seemed very far away from our current location! To the right, the marsh of Sandbeach Outfall. The wildgrass on the seawall was tall and took some effort to pick through as we were paranoid about stepping on adders!
We followed the seawall as it turned sharp right along Glebe Outfall and approached the sea shore. The marsh alongside us turned to mud flats. Sea birds were bobbing on the shallow waves lapping into the small creek, or picking insects out the mud. The water was so gentle, the waves barely existent, it was hard to believe we were looking out at the North Sea at high tide.
Continuing along St Peter’s Way, freshly hatched eggs (and a dead seagull) lined the edge of the marsh at the foot of the seawall. This whole offshore area between the Blackwater and Crouch estuaries is the Dengie National Nature Reserve. The wetland of tidal mud flats and salt marshes is an important habitat of international importance – you guessed it, another SSSI. This important site for wintering waders has a few more designations, including Special Protection Area, Nature Conservation Review site and Special Area of Conservation, among others!
Bradwell Shell Bank Nature Reserve
Before turning back on ourselves as the seawall headed back west, we looked out beyond Gunner’s Creek to the Essex Wildlife Trust Bradwell Shell Bank Nature Reserve. Years of tidal currents have formed this special shell bank of cockle and oyster shells.
The surrounding, extensive saltmarsh is home to thousands of wintering birds and an important breeding site for beach nesting birds like Ringed Plover. We could make out what we thought was the call of Little Tern, and could see birds resting on the distant shells. However, using Martin’s zoom lens, we were only able to identify Oystercatchers and Seagulls – no Little Terns! (There are Oystercatchers in this photo below, we promise!)
Heavy rain and even a storm had been forecast for today, but the sun was sneaking out from behind the misty clouds. Continuing towards the chapel on the seawall, we paused when we got to a pillbox set into the seawall itself. A field of lilac flowers sat behind the borrow dyke, and we took in more views of the nature reserve – the birds still too far from the sea wall to see. We could spot naughty humans walking in the reserve (it is not permitted).
Chapel of St. Peter on the Wall and Othona Fort
The seawall diverts through a copse and past the hidden Bradwell Bird Observatory, which has numerous bird feeders, all depressingly empty. As we emerged from the copse and the end of the St. Peter’s Way, its namesake chapel sprung into view.
St Peter’s on the Wall is allegedly the oldest surviving church in England. It is also the sole monument to Celtic Christianity in Essex and is Grade I listed. The church was built in around 654AD using material from the abandoned Roman Othona Fort and stands on the location of the former fort gate. Othona was one of the nine Roman forts built along the south east coast to repel Saxon invaders. The church was used as a barn after the Tudor period and was only relatively recently (1920) re-consecrated as a chapel.
#ShareOurShores
Essex Wildlife Trust have installed a simple rope fence along the edge of Bradwell Cockle Spit to separate the reserve from the public beach. This is to allow nesting birds to raise their young without interference or stress.
A couple with their dog ignored the #ShareOurShores signposts hanging from the rope, and we watched as they walked through the protected beach and scared off a flock of gulls. I can understand why the nesting birds spend their time down by Gunners’ Creek!
The Share Our Shores campaign was created precisely because humans are encroaching on nesting habitat. It’s therefore enraging to see people walk into their protected area and force the birds even further along the beach into an even smaller area.
We walked north along the beach for a while, admiring this peculiar habitat of washed up shells and muddy marsh.
A row of Thames barges sat offshore, sunk here in the 1980s to act as a breakwater and protect the coast from erosion. Clambering back onto the sea wall, the temporary busyness of the chapel and Bradwell Cockle Spit area was soon left behind.
Bradwell Nuclear Power Station and Bradwell B
As we walked the next section of the route, the World War II heritage of the area became even clearer. The wild sea wall turns into a wide, concrete defence punctuated frequently by pill boxes. The offshore Dengie Flats we had been walking alongside for the past few miles were once used as a bombing range. Bradwell Bay Airfield – we didn’t pass it on this walk – sits south of the power station and east of Bradwell Waterside. It opened in 1941 and became famous as a night fighter base.
Now 6 miles in, we paused for a moment on the ledge of the concrete sea wall to take in the views across the estuary. Sailing boats hovered off the Mersea Island coast and we could just make out the colourful beach huts on the West Mersea shore.
The next point of reference was the ominous, slightly creepy, Bradwell Nuclear Power Station. It began generating electricity in 1962 and closed in 2002. 14 years passed before the waste storage vaults were safely removed. It will take another 60-70 years (!) before the reactor buildings are safe to demolish.
All that said, there are plans to build a new station, Bradwell B, next door to the current site. This is a contentious topic; the first stage of consultation closed on 1st July and there were numerous posters opposing Bradwell B situated along the route.
The imposing grey reactor buildings marry nicely with the concrete sea wall, but jar against the otherwise natural setting. To the left the wide borrow dyke was blooming with purple reeds. Flat farmland and marshes stretched as far as the eye could see. To the right, we were now alongside the mouth of the River Blackwater lined with marshes and small, sandy beaches.
A few families were enjoying these secret beaches, though we don’t personally see the appeal in sunbathing against the backdrop of a former – still radioactive – nuclear power station.
Bradwell Waterside
We slogged on past the power station, thankful for the distraction of the occasional bumblebee or speed boat whizzing along the estuary. Besides this the walk is very quiet, with Tollesbury Wick Nature Reserve on the other side of the Blackwater estuary. The heat from the unexpected sunshine made this section of the walk that little bit harder.
The sailing boats and salt marsh inlet of Bradwell Waterside soon came into view and we pressed on, motivated by the promise of an ice cold drink at The Green Man (the water in our camelback was disgustingly warm by this point)!
There’s not much to see in this small sailing community. The spacious pub garden was a relaxing place to stop, but we had hoped for views of the marina. The landlady was welcoming but the ales (standard Greene King offerings) were nothing to write home about. The 16th Century pub itself is the attraction, once being a smugglers inn, and many of the original features have been preserved.
Finally off the sea wall, we carried on to the only other (obvious) point of interest here, the Bradwell Waterside Marina. The footpath goes through the marina, the shipyard, then into and around a field edge; once again it is poorly signposted and hard to follow.
Bradwell Farmland back to Tillingham
We left the water behind us and headed south through a field on a poorly maintained footpath. The pretty, lilac linseed crop was encroaching over the footpath from our left, with nettles hanging over on the right! We waded through, acquiring a few stings, and out onto a small track.
We crossed in a straight line over the next field, over a road, through a horse paddock and into a golden field. All without the help of any signs! The footpaths are not obvious and a map was essential.
In contrast, this golden field had a beautifully maintained, wide footpath with the wheat sown in perfectly straight rows. A very tidy field indeed! We passed through a copse and back into the perfect field.
To the left, the wind turbines that were still this morning had started to spin, clouds were forming around them, the air felt muggier; we knew the storm we’d so far avoided was on the way.
We ambled past a couple of delightful farmhouses, a farmer doing some harrowing, a flock of sheep, some deliciously scented tomato greenhouses, and some fields of organic vegetables. The rain started just as we re-joined St. Edwards Way to head back the way we came towards the Church of St. Nicholas.
The welcome rain sprinkled us and we silently smiled at the realisation we hadn’t carried our waterproofs 13 miles for nothing. We passed the oak tree again and pointed out its likeness to the Upside Down portal in Stranger Things.
Tillingham
Tillingham is a small village with a historic centre consisting of the church, characterful cottages, and two pubs. H. G. Wells mentions Tillingham in his novel, The War of the Worlds. The narrator’s brother arrives at the coast here, following his exodus from London during the Martian invasion.
We finished our walk with a quick drink at the Fox and Hounds on the village green. We sat outside in the pouring rain under an umbrella. It was peaceful, calming and refreshing – the perfect way to end this lengthy walk.
Love Wild Walks
