| The University. In December 1961 Wivenhoe Park was chosen as the location of the new University in Essex. The University designed by the architect Kenneth Capon opened its doors for the first students in October 1964.
Those who were in England in the late 1960s will well remember the activities for which Essex became infamous - demonstrations, sit-ins and drug offences. These were at a time of general student unrest in Europe and America - the 1968 Paris riots, anti-Vietnam War protests. By the early 1970s the unrest had died down and since then the University has built a strong reputation for acedemic excellence. |
| The Railway. The railway came to Wivenhoe in May 1863. The branch line extended the Stour Valley Railway from Hythe Quay, Colchester to Wivenhoe. This line was later extended to Walton-on-Naze and in July 1882 to Clacton. The Stour Valley Railway gave Wivenhoe the connection to London via Colchester where the Eastern Counties Railway had arrived in March 1843.
The railways on the South of the Tendering Peninsular were further extended by the completion in April 1866 of the Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea Railway. This branch ran along the sea wall, over a swing bridge at Alresford Creek and into Brightlingsea Town. This small branch was closed as part of the cuts made by the then Chairman of British Rail in 1963. The remains of the embankment over the marshes and the supports for the bridge over Alresford Creek can still be seen today. |
| The Arts. Wivenhoe has long been a popular location for artists both to visit and to live. The waterfront is regularly populated by painters capturing their impression of the ever-changing play of light on water. Artists, playwrights, actors - there have been many who found the charms of Wivenhoe to their liking. |  |
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Katy Osborne is one of the talented performers of Wivenhoe, she attended Laine Theatre Arts College in Epsom Surrey. 2002 saw Katy's first professional job, a summer season at The Gaiety Theatre, Ayr in Scotland. This was followed in 2003 by the part of Wendy in "Peter Pan" at the Richmond Theatre, alongside Robert Powell, and Bonnie Langford. The following year she went to the Grand Theatre, Swansea in their pantomime, "Cinderella". On leaving college in 2004, Katy won a place in "We Will Rock You", the musical based upon the songs of Queen, and written by Ben Elton, which was due to open in Cologne. It is proving to be Germany’s best-selling show in live entertainment. Katy is currently thoroughly enjoying her role in the cast, and her time living in Germany. |
Angie Diggens is another talented young performer from Wivenhoe. Since gaining her Diploma in Music in the summer of 2005, Angie is well on her way to achieving her long-time ambition of becoming a full time performer, entertainer and musician.Angie has already recorded four albums, including vocal performances of popular music and songs. She has also penned her own compositions and continues to compose new music. A high point of her career to date has been to compete in "Stars in Their Eyes" where she won her heat and gained a place in the live final which was broadcast on 26th March, 2005, as musical theatre star Sarah Brightman. |
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Polly Scattergood Polly was brought up in Wivenhoe, with her two younger brothers. She enjoyed a unique childhood and with a father as an actor and a mother as an artist grew up with a strong grounding in the arts. Polly took up the guitar at a young age, began songwriting and has now written over 600 songs. She studied at the BRIT School for Performing Arts. Her first single ‘Glory Hallelujah’ on Arc Records was released in August 2005. Polly featured in an article on 19th May 2005 in the Times T2 supplement "How to become a pop star without any hype". |
Miss Marple. The actress Joan Hickson, best known for her portrayal of Miss Marple, the private sleuth, in the British TV productions of the books by Agatha Christie. Joan Hickson lived in the heart of the town and was a well-known figure around the village shops as well as on the TV screens in Wivenhoe. |
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| A Perfect Place. The BBC fiction serial about a village that discovers it is not in The Doomsday Book, decides it is not part of Britain and declares independance was filmed in and around Wivenhoe. The Village Delicatessen was converted into a Butcher's shop which featured heavily in the story-line, a false front on a house in the square became a cinema, the old methodist chapel became the Town Hall, the Rose and Crown pub and the quay became the centre of political intrigue - fact and fiction becoming close on that one. |