Colne Estuary (SSSI)
Location and Access Information
Grid Reference: Cudmore Grove (TM 065145), Colne Point (TM 105125)
The Colne Estuary is a large estuary running south-east of Colchester. Two sites are of particular geological interest. These are the cliffs at Cudmore Grove Country Park and the spit and saltmarsh at Colne Point.
Cudmore Grove Country Park is located at the eastern end of Mersea Island at East Mersea, 15km south of Colchester. It is situated at the end of Bromans Lane and is well signposted. Further information can be found at:
Colne Point is situated south of Brightlingsea, 15km south-east of Colchester on the eastern bank of the Colne Estuary. The nearest carpark is at St Osyth and there is a bus which runs from Colchester to St Osyth. Colne Point forms part of the Colne Estuary National Nature Reserve (NNR), which currently has no public access. The Point is an Essex Wildlife Trust reserve and public access is limited to day permit holders, issued by the Essex Wildlife Trust. For further information see:
www.essexwt.org.uk
View the site map on Nature on the Map.
Geological Interest
The low cliffs at Cudmore Grove Country Park provide superb exposures of organic deposits beneath gravels laid down by a large river system during one of the glacial periods of the Quaternary. The organic sediments below these yield fossils, including mammal bones that indicate that they were deposited during a period of warmer climate (an interglacial) in the last 400,000 years.
Colne Point, near St. Osyth, is the best example in Essex of a shingle spit. The spit is 4 km long and is nearly all that remains of a much larger area that existed in the 19th century but has now mostly been developed by the seaside holiday industry. It is of great interest for studying the movement of shingle and the development of shingle structures. St. Osyth Marsh is an important site for documenting the changes in saltmarsh growth and has been shown to have been in existence for at least 4000 years.
