Soldiers Billeted at The Manse 40 The High Street

During WW2 soldiers were billeted here.

Some thought at the time that they belonged to the SAS.  Martin Newell suggests that when they were needed in a hurry to get to the coast, they would scramble through a hole in the wall at the side of the house and slide down the embankment to the railway line where there was a planking platform which formed a railway halt so they could board a train quickly.

For more about this platform, called Paget Halt – click here

Source:    ‘A Prospect of Wivenhoe – Snapshots of an English Town’ Martin Newell.