BOOKS ABOUT MERSEA

Below are a list of books that are either about Mersea Island or feature Mersea in some way; others concern villages or locations near to the island. Many are out of print but some can be found under "Reference" at Colchester Library. In addition some can be found at the Mersea Museum.

100 days by James Weaver
Website: www.theoystergallery.co.uk/shop/p/100days

A Boyhood in Mersea by Archie Smith.
(A Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).
A forthright account of a childhood and adolescence in Mersea written by a true Mersea old timer.

A Brief History of Mersea by E.M.Karbacz.
(A Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).
A booklet giving a brief history of the island.

A Mersea Scrapbook by Brian Jay.
Book containing 102 photographs.

A Study of Mersea Island to 1970 by Vivien Mary Edgson.

Anglo-Saxon Island by Sue Howlett.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).
Mersea in the first Millennium.

As I Recall It edited by Steve Travis.
A comical tale from the past by Jack "The Ferret" Fargo. A humorous tongue in cheek view of life in Mersea during the 1930's.

Blackerchief Dick: A Tale of Mersea Island by Margery Allingham.
A novel about a local Smuggler, allegedly inspired by a seance held in a house in Seaview Avenue in the 1920's.

Black Swan by John Rowley.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).
Schoolboy memories of messing about in an old sailing punt.

Buckets, Yokes and Wooden Spokes by Brian Jay.
Mersea Island, the past 100 years.

Business As Usual by Brian Jay.
Businesses on the island.

East Coast Pilot by Colin Jarman, Dick Holness and Garth Cooper.
Website: www.eastcoastpilot.com 

Essex Gold: Fortunes of the Essex Oysterman by Hervey Benham.

Estuary - Land and Water in the Lower Thames Basin by A.K.Astbury.
A fascinating account of the history of this part of Essex with many references to the Blackwater estuary and Mersea itself.

Fid Harnack by Sheila Carter and John Leather.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).

From When I Can Remember by Pixie Farthing.

Further Reminiscences Vol 2 of Sabine Baring Gould's autobiography.
The chapter entitled "Ten Years on the Mud" tells of his life as Vicar of Mersea. 
Website: Sabine_Baring-Gould 

Grand Inquisitor by Robin Day.
Auto-biographical book. Reminisences of boyhood, army service and the Bar by the foremost television interviewer of our age. Mersea Island in wartime and joining the local Home Guard. His parents had a holiday home in Seaview Avenue.

Isle of Mersea by Brian Jay.
The Marsh Island, 100 photographs and postcards of life on Mersea Island in days gone by.

Looking Over My Shoulder by Cecil Willett Cunnington.
Biography - his life in East London as a G.P. and his life later in Mersea living in a cottage at the Nothe.

Mehalah - A Story of the Salt Marshes by Sabine Baring-Gould.
A gothic Victorian melodrama, a best seller in its day. Baring-Gould was Rector of East Mersea for ten years and did not care for either the island or its people. The characters in the book are, allegedly, based on real Mersea people and real Mersea places.

Mersea Island by John Marriage.
One of the Britain in Old Photographs series, over 200 of them featuring Mersea from Victorian times to the middle of the 20th century.

Mersea Island by Nolly Urquhart.
Produced for West Mersea Town Council and illustrated by Leafy Dumas.
An introduction to Maritime Mersea, its estuary and eco-system.
Available to purchase from the Town Council office for £2.

Mersea Island 2001 - A Snapshot of a Unique Community
A book all about Mersea compiled to celebrate the Millennium plus a Millennium Map.

Mersea Island Golf Club by Gordon Taylor and Roger Bullen
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).

Mersea Memories by Brian Jay.
Selection of postcards and photographs.

Mersea Mick - A Doggy Tale From a Muddy Island by Veronique Eckstein.
Illustrated by Leafy Dumas and Tom Knight.
Childrens book inspired by local stories.
Website: mersea-island-tales 

More Mersea Memories by Brian Jay.
Selection of postcards and photographs of Mersea Island.

Not Just a Name by Roger Bullen.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).
An account of Mersea Island's Fallen of the First World War.

Now the Day is Over: Life and Times of Sabine Baring-Gould by Harold Kirk Smith.

"Old Spiery" - Mersea's Fighting Parson by Mary R. Stevens.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).
A true account of the Reverend Charles Pierrepont Edwards M.C., Vicar of West Mersea 1898 to 1946.

Oysters and Ale by Heather Haward.
A book of Poems by Emma Haward - written from 1859 who was born in East Mersea. Collected and compiled by Heather Haward.

Saltwater Village by Margaret Leather.

Seahorse by Mersea Museum.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).

The Christmas Seal by Veronique Eckstein.
Illustrated by Leafy Dumas and Tom Knight.
Childrens book inspired by local stories.
Website: mersea-island-tales

The House of Marney by John Goodwin.
An adventure story about a lost inheritance. The setting was the old house in Coast Road (now New Orleans apartments). John Goodwin was the pseudonym of Sydney Floyd Gowing who lived in Victory Road. This book was made into a silent crime film in 1926. 

The Magic of the Swatchways by Maurice Griffiths.
Celebrating the beauty of the creeks and rivers.

The Memories of a Mersea Oysterman by Leslie French.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).

The Salty Shore by John Leather.
A story of Essex seafaring - a study of the men and craft that have sailed from the small communities along the Blackwater estuary.

The Secrets of the Mound Mersea Barrow 1912-2012 by Sue Howlett.
(Mersea Island Museum Trust publication).

Three Came Unarmed by E. Arnot Robinson.
Fictional adventure stories based on the island.

Toasted Cheese and Cinders by Sybil Brand.
An affectionate portrait of a Mersea childhood in Edwardian times.

When Opo Left by Esther Kinsky.
Childrens book based on a true story of when the pilot whales came into the River Blackwater in November 2014.

Whispering Shores by Chrissie Westgate
Website: https://www.chrissiewestgate.com/whispering-shores