South Essex Wildlife Garden

The garden will be open throughout the Christmas period, but the visitor centre will be closed from 22 Dec until 2 Jan.

Address: RSPB Visitor centre, Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH.

Grid ref: TQ737863

Set within Wat Tyler Country Park, South Essex Wildlife Garden and Visitor Centre are the perfect place to find out more about the RSPB. Enjoy a stroll in peaceful surroundings and find out more about gardening for wildlife. You might even catch a glimpses of waders foraging in the mud in the tidal creeks around the Wat Tyler country park.

Plan your visit

10 am - 4 pm in winter and 10 am - 5 pm in summer.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Children: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Car park cost: Free

Facilities

Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets off-site
Accessible toilets off-site
No Refreshments
Picnic area
Binocular hire
Nature trails
Shop off-site

Accessibility

Download full accessibility statement (PDF)

How to get here

By train

The nearest station is Pitsea and is around 1.6km or 1 mile away from the RSPB Wildlife Garden and Visitor Centre. For more information about train times please visit the C2C website before you travel.

By bus

The nearest stop is at Pitsea Tesco approx 2km from the Wildlife Garden. The no.5 bus running between Basildon and Pitsea stops here every 15-20 minutes Monday-Saturday and every 30 minutes on Sundays.

By road

If you’re arriving by car or cycle turn off the A13 at the Pitsea junction and follow brown tourist signs for Wat Tyler Country Park. Travel down Pitsea Hall Lane, go straight over the mini-roundabout. Drive approximately 1.6km then park in the car park.

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.

Other ways to get there

If you're coming from Pitsea station (about 1.6km or 1 mile away), turn left and cross the level crossing. The entrance to the country park is 5-10 minutes walk.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

13 degrees, Overcast

Contact South Essex Wildlife Garden

RSPB Visitor centre, Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH.
southessex@rspb.org.uk
01268 498620
@RSPBEssex
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Cuckoo

From late April, listen and watch out for them at Wat Tyler Country Park.

Great tit

Keep an eye out for great tits in our wildlife garden.

Green woodpecker

See if you can spot a green woodpecker.

House sparrow

House sparrows are frequent visitors to our wildlife garden.

Great spotted woodpecker

Look out for great spotted woodpeckers visiting the feeders.

In spring, cuckoos can be seen from the nature trails and swallows and martins over the scrape. Whitethroats and lesser whitethroats will now be singing in the scrub areas. Brimstone butterflies can be seen along the open glades.

The wildlife garden is alive with insects feeding on our garden flowers. Look out for bees and butterflies and bug hunt with us in the garden.

In the autumn, peregrines regularly use the pylons as lookout points. The bird feeding area will now be busy - look out for jays and great spotted woodpeckers visiting the feeders, along with the more common garden birds.

In winter, the bird feeders from the visitor centre window are packed with house sparrows, great tits and blue tits looking for a meal. You may see ducks and waders in the creeks from the viewpoints around the country park.

About South Essex Wildlife Garden

Habitat

The South Essex wildlife garden is a garden located within the Wat Tyler Country Park.

Conservation

Set inside a SSSI, the South Essex Wildlife Garden has a number of features including a pond with a viewing platform, bug hotels, raised beds with herbs and other insect attracting plants and a woodland trail which is fantastic for blue bells in the spring. The main purpose of the Wildlife Garden is to engage with visitors on what they can do within their own garden whether large or small scale.

Site information

The RSPB South Essex Wildlife Garden and Visitor Centre is the perfect place to start looking for birds, with fantastic views of garden birds from the Visitor Centre window.

This site is also the gateway to our South Essex reserves, a network of green space made up of Bowers Marsh, West Canvey Marsh, Vange Marsh, Vange Wick, Stanford Wharf and Canvey Wick.

Latest blog posts

read our blog

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

There's always something going on for families on site. Watch the birds in the Wildlife Garden, discover minibeasts in our aquarium or follow the seasons on our live CCTV cameras

South Essex Wildlife Garden

Plan your visit

Opening times

Entrance charges