Cattawade Marshes

Address: RSPB Cattawade Marshes - park at Manningtree train station and take public footpath opposite station entrance.

Grid ref: TM093321

The grazing marshes at Cattawade are of major importance for the diversity of the breeding bird community and have been designated as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). You can watch oystercatchers, redshanks and lapwings here. Come at dawn if you can to enjoy the best views.

Plan your visit

Open at all times.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free, but donations welcome

Children: Free, but donations welcome

Facilities

No visitor centre
Car park
Toilets off-site
Accessible toilets off-site
No Refreshments
Picnic area
Viewing point
Nature trails
Shop off-site

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The closest station is Manningtree. A really enjoyable circular walk is available from Manningtree railway station. Allow 2-3 hours to fully enjoy the experience.

By bus

The 92 bus service from Ipswich stops at the Cattawade roundabout. Walk south from here along the A137 for 0.25 mile (400m) and over the White Bridge. Cross the road and head west along the public footpath to the south of the River Stour.

By bike

National cycle route 1.

By road

Park at Manningtree railway station, on the A137 between Ipswich and Colchester. Or park at the picnic site on B1070 c.100m from A137 Brantham Roundabout and walk along A137 towards Manningtree. Follow the signposted public right of way along the south shore of the tidal river Stour.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

12 degrees, Sunny day

Contact Cattawade Marshes

RSPB Cattawade Marshes - park at Manningtree train station and take public footpath opposite station entrance.
stourestuary@rspb.org.uk
01206 391153

What will you see?

Our star species

Lapwing

Watch the nesting lapwings here chasing predators that may come too close.

Oystercatcher

You can see oystercatchers at any time of year.

Redshank

Keep an eye out for the redshanks' towering display flights over the wet meadows in spring.

Teal

Large flocks of teals - our smallest ducks - pack onto the flooded grassland in winter.

Wigeon

From September to January, flocks of wigeons are a daily sight.

In spring, the manic, looping flight of displaying lapwings is a highlight. Redshanks and oystercatchers will also be busy displaying. Listen out for the 'yodelling' of redshanks and the loud 'ke-beek' call of oystercatchers.

With a little bit of patience, in the summer, you may see ducklings, goslings and wader chicks. Canada geese and shelducks form creches at this time of year and several adults may herd 50 or more youngsters along the river. Keep an eye on the far side of the river for recently-hatched lapwing chicks.

In the autumn, the first wigeons and teals will be gathering along the river having arrived from their northern European breeding grounds. They get used to people walking along the footpath, but it always pays to take a bit of care in order not to spook them unnecessarily and to get the best views possible.

Wigeons and teals are at their most abundant just after Christmas and will often be joined by flock of more than 500 lapwings. They spend much of their time resting on the side of river between the White Bridge and the red barn on the marsh.

About Cattawade Marshes

Habitat

These grazing marshes are of major importance for the diversity of the breeding bird community. Other habitats are grassland and ditches.

Conservation

In 2016 we dealt with a highly invasive water plant called Crassula helmsii, through flooding the marsh temporarily with salt water to kill the Crassula. Had we not carried out this work, Crassula would have spread throughout the Dedham Vale, and affected the biodiversity of all of the local wetlands to a high degree.

Our main other challenge is the lack of rainfall locally (Essex is one of the driest parts of the UK), which can lead to rapid draw-down of water levels during the spring, and can lead to there being less food available to breeding waders than is optimum.

Historically Cattawade Marshes were important for breeding wading birds such as lapwing and redshank, but some of the interest was lost due to either over or under-grazing. When the RSPB took over the ownership and management of the site in 2005 there were only around 5 pairs of lapwing nesting on the marsh, compare this to the 54 lapwing nests we recorded in 2016 and it shows how much the management has improved since we arrived.

The key to improving the site for breeding waders was a combination of better water level control, improved grazing management and an anti-predator fence. We achieved better water level control, and therefore the best possible source of food for breeding waders, through some work funded by the government, replacing key sluices and to increase the amount of surface flooding in the winter and early spring.

Better management of cattle and sheep was helped by rebuilding our cattle-handling facilities, and working with our grazier to get better overall results. The mile-long anti-predator fence was installed thanks to funding received from the Dedham Vale AONB Sustainable Development Fund and other sources, and helps keep the breeding wader areas free from foxes during the spring.

Site information

Cattawade Marshes is an 88.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which lies between the two arms of the River Stour on the Essex/Suffolk border.

The site is very special and easily disturbed so unfortunately there is no public access allowed. But the footpath on the south side of the river allows excellent views of the reserve and all its wildlife and leads you on to the historic hamlet of Flatford, the heart of Constable country.

It's not only during the spring that the marsh is important, during winter we get around 1,500 teals and wigeons with a couple of hundred lapwing and dark bellied brent geese thrown in for good measure. On average, Cattawade Marshes holds around 10 per cent of the wintering birds on the entire Stour Estuary.