The romantic lure of Island life is alive and well just off the coast of Essex. Mersea Island, nestled between the river Blackwater and Colne estuaries is approximately nine miles south-east of Colchester, and is without doubt one of the county's best kept secrets.

The island is approximately five miles by two miles, and has a perimeter of twelve miles encompassing the town of West Mersea and the village of East Mersea. The name is a derivation of the Anglo Saxon word ‘Meresig’, which dates from the early 10th Century and means 'island of the pool'.