Burnham on Crouch is divided into two electoral wards.

This curious fact springs from a time when the town’s population was concentrated in two separate areas, north and south.

The southern area was made up of properties around the waterfront. and now consists, mostly of everything south of the railway line. See below for more detail.

The  northern area was made up of farms and houses around St Mary’s Church and now consists of almost everything north of the railway line up to just beyond Mangapps Railway Museum, out to ‘hellfire corner’ – the S-bend on Tinker’s Hole.

It includes Creeksea.

See below for more detail.

Tinker’s Hole’s ‘Hellfire Corner’, which marks the northwestern boundary of Burnham on Crouch in May. Tinker’s Hole can be used to avoid the Burnham Bends. © 2018 Nick Skeens.

While councillors may concentrate on issues arising in their ward, they are also free to work on issues relating to another ward or relevant to the town in general.

Before you read the following detail, you may want to open the Town Map in a new window.

The South Ward includes:

The entire old town of Burnham, including everything south of the railway line to the west of Station Road, and, to the east of Station Road, everything south of the north side of Devonshire Road.

It also includes all houses on the southern side of Arcadia Road and everything east as far as Pile House, the Burnham Week starting line out on the seawall.

It includes everything west that is south of the railway line as far as, but NOT including, Creeksea Place and  the  Parlour Café.

It includes the northern half of the river too.

The North Ward includes:

Beauchamps, the Cobbins and all homes on the Southminster road to just short of Old Heath Road.

It also encompasses Eve’s Corner and Green Lane. Plus the Maldon Road (B1010) out to the fourth of the Burnham Bends (heading west), including Maple Way and the Springfield Estate.

All of Creeksea and Ostend are included.

So are houses on Marsh Road, including Glebe Way, Glendale, the Leas and St Mary’s Road. South of the bridge, houses on Princes, Glynn, Alexandria, Eastern Road, the Pippins, Hester Place, Sandpit Lane and on the north side of Devonshire Road are included, but NOT on the north side of most of Arcadia Road.

East of Arcadia, the ward’s southern border runs across fields and zigzags down the river at Pile House and the heads east to Shore Ends.

It then comes back west along the Southminster boundary, now Burnham’s northern border, crossing the Southminster road a few hundred yards south of the Junction with Old Heath Road.

The Burnham northern border then heads out west from the Southminster Road (a few hundred yards south of Old Heath Road) to the S-bend (known as Hellfire Corner) in Tinker’s Hole before becoming the western border to head south to the river along the western edge of the Burnham Golf Club.

It then heads east along the waterside foot of Creeksea,  before heading north again to the railway line, past the Creeksea Place Barns.

It returns to central Burnham and Devonshire Road along the railway line.