Coast Road Heritage & Arts Trail
Weaving History and Art Together
Mersea Heritage Workboats, Mersea Art Collective’s Art Trail and Mersea Museum, are pleased to announce a major celebration of Mersea Island’s maritime heritage.
More than 45 surviving heritage workboats with historic ties to Mersea Island have been invited to gather along the Coast Road for this landmark event. These vessels embody generations of local craftsmanship, fishing, oystering, and coastal industry, and their assembly promises one of the largest and most significant line-ups of traditional working boats ever staged on the island.
Forming the centrepiece of the Mersea Art Collective’s new and vibrant trail, the display will offer visitors a rare chance to see these iconic vessels together in one place.
Alongside the boats, the weekend will feature exhibitions, open artist studios, storytelling, and musical performances — all celebrating the rich maritime identity that continues to shape Mersea’s creative and community life.
Mersea’s Heritage Working Boat Lineup
Over the past year Essex Heritage Workboats have been hosting The EHWB Mersea Hub at the Mersea Museum to explore the stories behind the boats connected to Mersea. We have identified nearly 50 boats that were built to work and still exist.
Now we are so excited to share these stories and gather the boats together in one place along Coast Road, Mersea.
Invitations have been sent out to the owners of the boats inviting them to join the Line Up or if they are not able to join us in person, we would love to include their vessel’s story and their connection to Mersea.
