Stour Estuary

In line with Government guidance on essential, daily exercise outdoors, our trails are open. We urge you to follow the legislation around non-essential travel and please visit your most local nature reserves and green spaces only. Please observe current guidelines on social distancing, face coverings, group sizes, hygiene and follow all signage on-site. See our Covid-19 updates page for the latest safety information (link below). Thank you for your support and understanding.

Address: RSPB Stour Estuary, Wrabness Rd, Harwich, CO12, UK

Grid ref: TM190310

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

The Stour Estuary is a nature reserve in Essex, England, east of Colchester on the estuary of the River Stour. Enjoy trails up to five miles long as you stroll through the woods. To watch wading birds, ducks and geese on the estuary, visit during the autumn and winter.

Plan your visit

The trails are open at all times. Car park closed at dusk.

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

Car park
Picnic area
Viewing point
Nature trails

Accessibility

Download full accessibility statement (PDF)

How to get here

By train

The nearest station is Wrabness. Walk up the hill through village and follow the road as it bends left after approximately 70m. Follow this road until next right. Cross a field using public footpath (surfaced track). Enter the wood and walk approx 100m, turn right at the next T-junction. Continue on this main circular trail.

By bus

Buses running between Harwich and Colchester via Manningtree run past the entrance to the woods on a daily, hourly service Monday to Saturday.

By bike

B1352 adjacent to the reserve serves as a 'on-road cycle route'.

By road

Follow directions to Wrabness. Then, follow Station Road and bear right onto Rectory Road. At the crossroads turn left onto B1352, continue on B1352, turn left to reserve car park at brown tourist board sign.

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

Dogs are welcome on the public footpaths / bridleways around the reserve. Please keep to the designated rights of way only.

Please keep your dog on a lead / under close, effective control at all times, due to the sensitive wildlife and habitats here. We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife so we have designated dog-friendly routes for you and your pooch to enjoy. Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife can easily become startled by a loose dog they perceive as a predator.

Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season.

Thank you for protecting the special wildlife here by keeping your dog on a lead / under close, effective control.

⦁ Please do not allow your dog to swim in the estuary as this can disturb the sensitive wildlife.
⦁ Dogs are welcome on the public footpaths on the reserve.
⦁ Dogs can die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.

We aren't able to accept group bookings here.

12 degrees, Sunny day

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 876Kb

Stour Estuary trail guide

Contact Stour Estuary

RSPB Stour Estuary, Wrabness Rd, Harwich, CO12, UK
stourestuary@rspb.org.uk
01206 391153

What will you see?

Our star species

Black-tailed godwit

Flocks of black-tailed godwits can be seen here in spring and in autumn.

Brent goose

Flocks of brent geese come to feed on the estuary in winter.

Dunlin

Watch out for breeding-plumaged dunlins with black bellies during spring.

Knot

Large flocks of knots gather on the estuary from autumn into spring.

Nightingale

Listen for their incredibly rich, musical song in late April and May.

The main spectacle for spring is the spring flowers. From March into April wood anemones and other spring flowers such as primroses and dog violets, carpet Stour Wood spectacularly. Two to three weeks later, Copperas Wood has a stunning display of bluebells.

Summer is the best time to come and see butterflies, in particular white admiral and silver-washed fritillaries which are on the wing during that time. It's also a great time to see a variety of dragonflies and damselflies.

Autumn sees the estuarine bird numbers on the reserve begin to increase as they return for the winter. Both Stour and Copperas Woods are very attractive as the leaves begin to turn golden brown before they fall from the trees.

Winter sees peak numbers of waders and waterfowl on the estuary, with internationally important numbers of knots and dunlins, redshanks, brent geese, pintails, ringed and grey plovers.

About Stour Estuary

Habitat

Stour Estuary reserve is unusual in an Eastern England context as it comprises of woodland immediately next to the Stour Estuary, which gives rise to visitors possibly hearing both woodpeckers and waders or dunnocks and ducks at the same time, which can be quite confusing! The woodland is most important for it’s ancient woodland flora (with a superb display of wood anemones and bluebells in the spring) but you can also expect to see a vibrant butterfly population, along with the more specialist moths and fungi at different times of the year.

Probably planted over existing ancient woodland, Stour and Copperas Woods now comprises mostly of sweet chestnut trees, with efforts underway currently to improve the woodland species diversity.

The estuarine parts of the reserve hold the most important intertidal roosts on the Stour Estuary (Deep Fleet and Erwarton Bay), which between them have held up to 20,000 wintering waders and wildfowl on occasion. The saltmarsh supports a number of locally rare plants including two uncommon sea lavender species.

Conservation

We carry out a lot of really important conservation management in these woods, aimed mainly at maintaining the habitats for birds to breed in, and for one of the UKs rarest mammals, the dormouse. Our management involves coppicing, which means felling defined areas of the wood (called coppice coupes) on a long-term rotation. The wood is sold locally as either firewood or timber.

Additionally, we are currently carrying out a project to help to diversify the woodland structure and species composition in both Stour and Copperas Woods. This project involves planting different native tree species in areas which previously contained sweet-chestnut trees (non-native, planted by the Romans we think approximately 2000 years ago).

Another part of this project will be to increase the wetness of the middle of Stour Wood, by changing the drainage regime there. This is aimed at species such as nightingale which breeds locally in our woodlands but has been declining in numbers in recent years.

Site information

Stour Estuary is made up of 70ha of woodland, 380 ha intertidal (mudflats and saltmarsh) and 70ha Grazing marsh and intertidal (Cattawade Marshes). The estuary is a SSSI/ASSI, SPA and RAMSAR site.

Activities and events

Leisure activities

Enjoy trails up to five miles long as you stroll through a wood and watch wading birds, ducks and geese on the estuary. Shorter paths are wheelchair accessible in dry weather, but all the tracks can be muddy after rain.

Marshside

Lytchett Fields

Arne

Stour Estuary