Wat Tyler Country Park

Wat Tyler Country Park is located just outside of Pitsea town centre, 2 miles east of Basildon.  The 125-acre park is owned and run by Basildon District Council, and is linked to the River Thames by Holehaven Creek, in the heart of the Government's Thames Gateway region.

Over 260,000 people a year currently visit the Country Park to enjoy the quiet relaxation of this beautiful open space along with its more energetic activities.  It is home to the new Wat Tyler Centre, impressive bird watching and a fascinating sculpture trail.  The Park is also great fun for families, with state of the art Adventure Play Areas, a miniature railway, model boating lake and a varied programme of events.

Along with being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its rare wildlife, Wat Tyler is also recognised as one of the best bird watching sites in the county.  The planned improvements are enhanced by a partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) that will ensure that people get even more from the facilities on offer at the park.

More than £5 million is being spent to turn Wat Tyler Country Park into a major centre for education, heritage and nature conservation.  At the heart of the scheme is the new £2.2m Wat Tyler Centre which opened in July 2009.

A new centre for the RSPB has also being created, containing their biggest retail outlet in England. The project will also see public access created across a reclaimed landfill site that lies between the Country Park and an RSPB reserve on Vange Marshes.

The project will create a ‘Gateway' for access to the marshes of south Essex, which themselves are destined to become a major tourist attraction through the wildlife spectacular that the RSPB are creating.