coast TRAVEL
A WEEKEND IN…
SAM COOPER discovers plenty to see and do as he takes in a tour of a not-so-familiar county
PHOTOGRAPHY: VISIT ESSEX; ESSEX WILDLIFE TRUST
Imust admit, my knowledge of Essex was somewhat limited before this trip. If a not-to-bementioned 2010s reality TV show had taught me anything, this was the land of fake tan and bleached teeth but my impressions went little further than that.
That is a shameful admission really considering my mum was born in Chelmsford and I am from the neighbouring county of Suffolk, so when an invitation arrived from Visit Essex asking if I wanted to explore some of the county’s finest areas, I left it in their capable hands as to where to send myself and my partner.
Travelling from London, our base for the trip was Wivenhoe House Hotel, an 18th-century manor house which is a short trip away from the county’s biggest city, Colchester. (wivenhoehouse.co.uk/)
The hotel is a gorgeous reminder of England’s past and it is hard to think of better praise than it being the subject of a John Constable painting which currently resides in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
Like many buildings of this ilk, there is plenty of history behind the red brick walls. It began life in 1759 but in its more recent history, it was requisitioned by the War Department for both World Wars with Sir Winston Churchill once inspecting the troops on site. The late Queen Elizabeth II and Nelson Mandela have also both stayed at the hotel in the past.
The surroundings of the house have changed somewhat since Constable’s days and while green areas continue to encircle it, the hotel is also now next to the University of Essex campus, meaning the approach will take you past the various fields and courts used by the university’s sporty students.
And while the main building remains the same as it was in Constable’s depiction, it has also moved with the times with the addition of a more modern separate wing which I am sure is used by plenty of the parents dropping their child off at university for the first time but wanting to stay within close proximity in case of any first-night disasters.
The choice of rooms ranges from classic all the way to deluxe with the latter choice boasting a unique room configuration with all the modern amenities you would need. We stayed in the Charles Gooch room, named after the last private resident before the house was opened to the public, which was an enormous room with an equally large bathroom featuring his and her sinks, shower and bathtub.
