Burnham-on-Crouch

The renowned yachting centre of Burnham-on-Crouch was once a former oyster port. Visitors can enjoy the town's historical surroundings and the numerous activities on offer, which include walking, sailing and outdoor pursuits, as well as taking advantage of the town's growing reputation for high quality local produce. There are several restaurants, pubs and cafés located on the quay, offering views out across the Crouch Estuary and over to RSPB's Wallasea Island.

Burnham-on-Crouch is a historic maritime town located on the Dengie Peninsula and is known for Burnham Week, which is one of the longest running annual regattas on UK mainland. This charming town is home to rich heritage, a picturesque waterfront, independently owned cafés and restaurants, a historic cinema, four sailing and yacht clubs, excellent museums, and numerous walking routes for you to enjoy. Burnham-on-Crouch is a renowned yachting centre and is also known for its oyster beds and boat building.

The town is home to rich maritime heritage, sailing and yacht clubs, a picturesque waterfront, historic cinema, excellent museums and a host of independently owned cafés and restaurants for you to enjoy a bite to eat.

Take a stroll along the quay, with its historic pubs and red-roofed houses, it is known within sailing circles as the 'Cowes of the East Coast.' From Burnham Yacht Harbour you can also take a short trip over to Wallasea Island on the ferry during the summer months. The Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project is the largest of its kind in Europe and will recreate the ancient wetland landscape of mudflats and saltmarsh.

Our History

The town of Burnham-on-Crouch was inhabited thousands of years ago, and archaeological evidence indicates that it was inhabited in the Bronze and Iron Age, as well as the time of Roman Occupation. Red hills have also been found a distance inland and date back to this period. These hills were formed over generations as a result of the byproducts of saltmaking. Their colour is derived from coarse pottery vessels, ash and soil reddened by the heat of fires used to evaporate sea water to produce salt cakes. Several other red hills have been found in the Dengie Peninsula, and one has been recorded up to 5km from the current shoreline.

Very little is known about Burnham-on-Crouch until the Domesday Book of 1086 and the town's name means 'settlement by the stream'. This doesn't refer to the River Crouch, but to the original settlement which centred around a small stream nearly a mile inland. By 1840, a separate village was expanding on the banks of the River Crouch, and later the two communities eventually expanded and merged. In 1253, the Market Charter was granted to the Lord of the Manor of Burnham and largely marks the beginning of Burnham-on-Crouch as a town.

By the end of the thirteenth century, a highly profitable fishery was operating from the town. From this period and until the late nineteenth century, the main industry was fishing, sea trade and oyster breeding. In 1889, the railway came to Burnham-on-Crouch and was built by the Great Eastern Railway. The early twentieth century saw the origins of the Burnham Carnival which began on 5th November 1909 with a bonfire and a torchlight procession. The Burnham Carnival has now been running for over a hundred years and is always on the last Saturday in September.