Jaywick facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jaywick |
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 Jaywick Sands |
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 Jaywick
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| Population | 4,665 |
| OS grid reference | TM151135 |
| District |
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| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CLACTON-ON-SEA |
| Postcode district | CO15 |
| Dialling code | 01255 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament |
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Jaywick is a coastal village in the Tendring district of Essex, England, 2 miles (3 km) west of Clacton-on-Sea. It lies on the North Sea coast of England, 60 miles (97 km) from London and 17 miles (27 km) from Colchester. It was constructed in the 1930s as a holiday resort for Londoners, but over time has become one of the most deprived areas in the country.
The land on which the village is built was originally fields and salt marsh and unsuitable for agriculture. It was purchased by the entrepreneur Frank Stedman in 1928 to build low cost, affordable holiday homes for working-class families, and became a popular holiday destination throughout the 1930s. After the Second World War, a shortage of housing meant the properties became permanently inhabited despite not being built for this purpose. Many holiday homes are now in a state of disrepair, and the local community have resisted demolition. Jaywick has significant problems with unemployment and is at risk of flooding, despite several attempts by the local council to transform the area.
Location
Jaywick is around 60 miles (97 km) from London and 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Colchester. It in the Golf Green ward of the Tendring district of north-east Essex. To the north-east is Clacton-on-Sea (from which it is separated by Clacton Airfield), while to the west is the estuary of the River Colne. Jaywick is divided into the Tudor estate to the north (also known as West Clacton), the Village to the southeast and the Brooklands and Grasslands estates to the southwest.
Most shops are on the village's main street, Broadway. A 200-year-old Martello tower on the coastline was converted into an arts and heritage centre. The artwork, "46 Brooklands Gardens", by Nathan Coley was erected at the Martello tower as a three-month show piece.
History
What is now Jaywick was originally fields and salt marshes near Clacton and St Osyth. The name, which was first recorded in 1438 in the form Clakyngewyk, means "dwelling associated with a man named *Clacc". The first element was later dropped, giving at first Gey wyck (1584) and eventually the modern form. A wooden spear from the Lower Paleolithic era, found locally in an area of foreshore erosion, is the oldest known man-made wooden artefact found in the British Isles. During the 19th century, the area was popular for shooting and contained a rifle range.
Because of its close proximity to the sea, Jaywick had never been a practical place for farming due to the risk from floods; and the land remained unused. A sea wall was built in 1880 to protect against flooding. Ordnance Survey mapping around 1897 shows Jaywick as a few farmhouses near what is now Crossways on the Tudor estate.
By the turn of the 20th century, campaigners such as William Morris had attempted to convince people of the virtues of self-sufficient communities for poor families away from large cities, which led to developments such as Peacehaven in Sussex in 1914. Jaywick was proposed by property developer Frank Stedman in 1928 as a cheap holiday retreat for Londoners. Stedman had noticed the popularity of Clacton as a holiday resort and believed that he could sell small plots of land to East End residents on which holiday homes could be built. Residents were encouraged to buy land and self-build properties, with plots being offered as little as £25 (equivalent to £1,100 in 2021), while Stedman convinced buyers that a house could be built for as little as £395 (equivalent to £17,100 in 2021). An initial emphasis was on well-being, health and fitness, with outdoor exercises being popular. However, Stedman was motivated primarily by money rather than altruism, and while he discussed plans for landscaping the development, along with a lake and a sports centre, these never materialised.
The original estate was developed in the shape of a car radiator grille, with the roads named after various vehicle manufacturers. Coaches regularly picked up holidaymakers throughout the 1930s from Ilford and Romford. The Jaywick Miniature Railway, an 18-inch (460 mm) gauge miniature railway operated in Jaywick from 1936 to 1939. The locomotive was a model of a GNR Stirling 4-2-2.
Plotland development elsewhere in Britain was bulldozed following the Second World War, and various attempts were made by the local council to demolish Jaywick, but there was resistance from residents, who campaigned against this and won a preservation order in 1970. The council were unhappy about a housing development sitting on such a flood-prone site, and modern conveniences were slow in arriving. A mains sewer system was only installed in 1977.
In 1978, the local council issued an "Article 4 Direction" to control housing development in Jaywick. Under this direction, planning permission is required for home improvements that would not normally be needed elsewhere, including all extensions, porches and garden structures. The direction was further revised in 2010.
In the 1990s, forty prefabricated houses were built on adjacent land on a former holiday camp to rehouse residents of some of the most dilapidated properties. Despite winning several architectural awards and being praised by the local council, only five of the older properties were demolished. The original development along Brooklands has faced demolition, particularly with respect to dilapidated properties, and vacant sites nearby have been purchased to provide new homes. New permanent residences in Brooklands are prohibited by council regulations. Tendring District Council hope that by 2026, the area will change sufficiently to be attractive for development, and to provide a self-sufficient service based economy for tourism.
Environmental risk
During the North Sea flood of 1953, Jaywick was flooded, resulting in the deaths of 35 people. Since then, sea defences have been put in place and many precautions have been made to avoid flooding. Coastal Jaywick has benefited from 30,000 cubic metres of dredged sand as part of a £9.4m upgrade. The residential areas are categorised as having the highest risk of flooding in the country, and a council report anticipated that global warming would increase the risk to human life in Jaywick from flooding over the next 50 to 75 years. The area would be the first to be hit by floods in the event of a tidal surge over the marshes surrounding St Osyth.
The main road into the village is close to sea level and there is the potential risk that a flood could cut off access for emergency services. Many roads, particularly around Brooklands, are unadopted without any public funding, hindering emergency access and giving the area a "run down" look. Because properties are sited on marshland, road improvements tend to have a short lifespan and are quickly damaged in bad weather. In December 2013, due to a severe flood risk, all residents in Jaywick were asked by Essex Police to temporarily leave the area, to be rehoused temporarily in school buildings around Clacton. A similar exercise happened in January 2017 following a threat of coastal flooding, involving the potential evacuation of 2,500 homes in Jaywick and nearby Lee-over-Sands.
Use in media
The 2006 film Starter for 10's scenes set on the seafront were filmed in Jaywick.
Images for kids
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Aerial view showing sea defences
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See also
In Spanish: Jaywick para niños
