West Canvey Marsh

We are working hard to make our nature reserves safe and ready for our staff, visitors and wildlife. Although most of our sites with visitor facilities are currently closed, we have started opening those where is it safe and practical to do so in England and Northern Ireland. Please see our COVID-19 updates page for the latest information (link below).

Address: RSPB West Canvey Marsh ,Canvey Island, SS8 0QR

Grid ref: TQ774842

See our updates page to see which reserves are open.

West Canvey Marshes is part of the RSPB South Essex reserves, a network of wet and dry grassland, reed beds, lagoons, saltmarsh and scrub giving people a chance to see a whole host of wildlife. Come in summer, when there are singing skylarks, or in winter for the chance to see a short-eared owl.

Plan your visit

Open daily except Christmas day, Boxing day and New Years day.

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

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

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The nearest railway station is Benfleet and is around 1.9 km (1.2 miles) from West Canvey Marsh. For more information about train times please visit the C2C website before you travel. From the station visitors can reach the reserve by taxi, bus or bike.

By bus

The no.21 bus runs from Benfleet train station towards the reserve every 30 minutes. The closest bus stop is Canvey Village, stop ID and this journey takes approximately 6 minutes. From this stop you will need to walk back in the direction of the roundabout and the entrance to the reserve is located off this roundabout. Please note that there is no designated crossing point on this road so please take care of traffic. To travel to the reserve by bus from Southend you can take the no.26 bus, from Basildon the no. 15 bus.

By road

Take the A130 south onto Canvey Island from the A13. At the Waterside farm roundabout, take the third exit to stay on the A130- Canvey Road. Take the third exit at the next roundabout (at the junction of Canvey Road and Roscommon Way) into the reserve 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.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

14 degrees, Sunny day

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 315Kb

West Canvey Marshes trail guide

Contact West Canvey Marsh

RSPB West Canvey Marsh ,Canvey Island, SS8 0QR
southessex@rspb.org.uk
01268 498620
@RSPBEssex
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Lapwing

You can see lapwings here in spring, displaying, and in winter when huge numbers gather.

Little egret

Little egrets can be seen here right throughout the year.

Marsh harrier

In autumn and winter, look out for marsh harriers hunting for small mammals and birds.

Redshank

Redshanks can be seen all year round and gather in tight-knit groups to roost at high tide.

Wigeon

Keep an eye out for wigeons, and listen for their whistling call.

In spring you can see butterflies including the brimstone, comma and common blue. Displaying lapwings and redshanks along with oystercatchers and sandpipers. Look out for water voles in the wet ditches.

Damselflies and dragonflies can be seen around the reserve over summer including the four-spotted chaser and ruddy darter. Butterflies including gatekeepers and marbled whites can be seen in the hedgerows. Hobbies can be seen feeding over the wetland areas.

Green and common sandpipers can be seen along the creek, along with redshanks and curlews. Wildfowl numbers begin to build across the wetland - look for our smallest duck, the teal, along with shovelers and gadwalls. Swallows hawk for insects over the wet grassland.

Watch out for birds of prey during the winter including marsh harriers, peregrines, sparrowhawks and - with a little bit of luck - our smallest falcon, the merlin. Wigeon numbers will now be at their highest across the wetland - listen for their whistling call. There is also the chance of seeing a short-eared owl.

About West Canvey Marsh

Habitat

West Canvey Marshes is an RSPB-owned reserve which includes a mix of grasslands, marshlands, reedbeds, saltmarsh and mudflat habitats.

Conservation

The site is historically grazing marsh and is now managed as a reserve comprising of important wetland, lowland wet and dry grassland habitats and provides feeding and breeding grounds for wintering, migratory and breeding waders and wildfowl. This is primarily achieved through hydrological management and appropriate grazing regimes.

It also supports a range of important protected species such as water voles and reptiles by providing important managed habitats such as ditch networks, meadows and fields of varied structure and floral diversity.

Site information

West Canvey Marshes has 6.5 km of visitor access with 3.5km of this being permissive nature trails and 3km of public footpath along the perimeter of the site.

Permissive nature trails on the reserve head east to west across the 256ha site leading from the car park to four wildlife viewpoints, via dry grassland and hedgerow habitats. The four viewpoints overlook various waterbodies which hold water throughout the year attracting various water birds.

Public footpaths follow the seawall adjacent to Easthaven Creek and are uneven rough grassland tracks. The public footpaths access points from the south-west of the site are from the direction of Northwick Road and Canvey Wick. The north eastern public footpath access point is close to the road bridge leading to Benfleet and Benfleet rail station.

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Activities and events

Activities for children and families

West Canvey Marsh has a picnic area and children’s adventure play area. Please check our events page for a list of activities planned on the reserve, or for other activities in South Essex, please check the South Essex Wildlife Garden page.

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