Harwich
Harwich Harwich is a busy coastal town and international port located on the estuary of the rivers Stour and Orwell in north-east Essex, facing Felixstowe in Suffolk across the estuary. The town is a historically important port which has provided a sheltered anchorage for shipping down the ages. The old town of Harwich is a conservation area containing many historic buildings. The neighbouring town of Dovercourt, whilst appearing much more modern, is actually mentioned in the Domesday Book. Built as a rail ferry port in the 1880s by the Great Eastern Railway, Harwich International Port has developed and expanded over more than a century into a highly efficient, modern, multipurpose port. It is one of the UK’s leading multi-purpose freight and passenger ports, with excellent road and rail links to the Midlands, London and the South East. It is ideally located for North Sea freight and passenger traffic to and from Scandinavia and the Benelux countries. Amongst Harwich’s claims to fame are that the Mayflower, which transported the Pilgrim Fathers to America, was a Harwich ship, and the diarist Samuel Pepys was the town’s MP. History The town received its charter in 1238, although there is evidence of earlier settlement, such as a record of a chapel in 1177, and some indications of a possible Roman presence. Its position on the estuaries of the Stour and Orwell rivers and its usefulness to mariners as the only safe anchorage between the Thames and Humber led to a long period of maritime importance, both civil and military. The town became a naval base in 1657 and was heavily fortified, with Harwich Redoubt, Beacon Hill Battery, and Bath Side Battery all being built at the time. What to See & Do in Harwich