What is THE BROOMWAY?

The first recorded mention of a track between Wakering and Foulness came in a manorial record of 1419. The next came in the Chronicles of

Holinshed in 1577, when clergyman William Harrison wrote that a man could ride to Foulness ‘if he be skilful of the causie’ (causeway).

With Havengore and Foulness separated from the mainland by a labyrinth of creeks, the Broomway was the only way for the scattered inhabitants of Foulness to access or trade with the Essex mainland unless by boat. A total of 11 headways, or access points, provided safe routes onto the Broomway from the shore.

There is disagreement over its origin. Some scholars believe it’s natural, following a ridge of firmer sand which proved safe to walk upon. Others believe it was man-made, perhaps engineered by the Romans, who had a small camp on Foulness. Another theory is that it originally led to a bigger settlement further seaward, but long since flooded.

The name came from the waymarking system: 400 or so bundles of twigs, attached to short poles and driven into the sand at intervals of 30 yards. They were said to resemble besom brooms.

The Broomway was in regular use until after the First World War, when Havengore and Foulness were acquired by the MoD and a bridge was built over Havengore Creek. But it still came in useful: during the great floods of 1953, when the bridge was engulfed by floodwater, army vehicles raced back and forth along the Broomway, evacuating the dead and injured from Foulness.

The brooms disappeared in the late

20th century as the path fell out of common use.

But as the route had existed long enough to become a right of way, it appears on the OS map as a byway open to all traffic (in its lower stage) and a bridleway and footpath (upper section).