A Track Through Time
The Broomway, a 600-year-old tidal path across the Essex foreshore, once served as the only low-tide access to Foulness Island. Running six miles over the Maplin Sands, it followed a faint ridge of firmer ground, marked by bundles of twigs known as “brooms.”
The Only Road to Market
By the 18th century, locals depended on it to transport goods by foot and cart. It was dangerous—crossing meant outrunning tides and fog that could swallow the landscape. Market carts once raced across waist-deep water with only minutes to spare.
Notorious and Deadly
The Broomway claimed dozens of lives, from surgeons to farmers. Even experienced locals drowned. Fog, whirlpools, creeks, and hidden mud holes made straying from the path nearly always fatal. By 1922, a road bridge made the walk obsolete.
Navigation by Compass and Stars
Without brooms, today’s Broomway is an unmarked bearing across sand. Local authorities strongly discourage walking it without a guide. Yet the path still exists—a tidal highway shaped by centuries, now barely visible but never forgotten.
