The Naze

The Naze derives from the Old English ‘naes’, meaning nose and stretches 3 miles northwards from Walton-on-the-Naze.

The 70 ft high cliffs rising to the south are rich in fossils and unique to the Essex coastline. Originally the Naze was farmland, then a golf course, and was requisitioned at the beginning of World War II as a watch-out location. Several of the blockhouses can still be seen.

The Naze is currently a public open space. The dense scrub of hawthorn, gorse and brambles provides cover for numerous animal species and acts as a important landfall for migrating birds, including the occasional rare vagrants.

In summer the cliffs provide secure sites for sand martins. Waders, gulls and terns can be seen along the shore.

John Weston Nature Reserve
This reserve is located near the end of the Naze and can be reached along the public footpath that’s stretches along the cliff tops from the Naze Tower. The reserve is owned by the Essex Wildlife Trust and is named after the late John Weston, a leading Essex naturalist.

The nature reserve consists of bramble thickets, rough grassland and four ponds. Its nesting birds include lapwing, redshank, sedge and reed warblers. It is also an important stopping off point for migrants, for example the Firecrest.. Being so close to the shore it also attracts shore loving insects including Emperor and Cream Spot Tiger Moths (see left.)

Hamford Water

Hamford Water and the Walton Backwaters is an area of tidal creeks, mudflats, islands, salt marshes and marsh grasslands. It can be viewed best by boat or from a public footpath which runs along much of the seawall.

This area is recognised internationally and is designated as a National Nature Reserve. It is an internationally important breeding ground for Little Terns and wintering ground for Dark-bellied Brent Geese, wild foul and waders.

It also supports communities of coastal plants which are extremely rare in Britain including Hog’s Fennel.

Please note Skippers Island is only accessible by prior booking with the Essex Wildlife Trust.

Backwaters/Old Boating lake - Mill Lane

Salt Marsh - Stone Point, The Naze

Eurasian Wigeon - male with chestnut head with buff forehead. Winters in grassland near lakes & estuaries. Picture by FHBP

Bird Watching - Bring your Binoculars!

Hamford Water and the Walton Backwaters have RAMSAR classification. This means that it is an internationally important wetland for birds.

It is on the migration route for many bird species and provides wintering grounds for Brent Geese, Godwit, Redshank, Shelduck, Teal and Avocet and breeding grounds for terns.

In addition, there are nationally important numbers of Wigeon, Pintail, Ringed Plover, Curlew, and Dunlin. During migration in the autumn and spring, the Naze is a prime bird watching site. Curlew Sandpipers are regularly seen along the beach, with Gannets and arctic Skuas passing offshore.

Spot the Seals

There are currently over 70 seals in the Walton backwaters, a small but healthy breeding population which has risen from only 5 in 1986.

The colony of both harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are unusually of a russet colouration for much of the year due to the iron oxide rich mud that they haul out onto.

The seals enjoy resting on the mudbanks, and prefer regions where rivers flow into the sea, like the backwaters, because these waters are permanently ice-free.

©Pic/Info Andy Rutson-Edwards

Fossils

The cliffs at Walton-on-the-Naze form one of the finest geological sites in Britain and for that reason are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

At the base of the cliffs is London Clay which is 54 million years old and it is overlaid with a sandy deposit called Red Crag (2 Million years old).

This sandy deposit contains a large number of fossils including shells, sharks teeth and bird skeletons.