From where you are sitting in Mistley Quay Café, and only at low-tide, you will be able to see the remains of a wreck.

This is the Spritsail Barge that was built by the the grain merchants R.W. Paul at Ipswich in 1906 for their own use and was named ‘Ena’. It had the capacity to hold 160-170 tons.

It was sold in 1907 to a French company L. Parisio for £1,400, but then was acquired once again by R.W. Paul in 1912 for £800 and and because Paul’s now had another barge named Ena, it was decided to rename the barge ‘Bijou’.

On the 28th June 1940, she arrived at Mistley Quay with a cargo of maize. In an air raid on the 4th July 1940 the mill on the quay was struck by an incendiary bomb and set ablaze. In an attempt to save the Bijou she was untied to float free, but with her rigging alight she drifted onto the bank where she burned to the waterline, and has remained there ever since.

Mistley Quay Café is situated within the Mistley Quay Workshops.

It was built around the mid 1700’s by Richard Rigby the younger as part of the expansion of Mistley Quay, and was then called a granary.

In 1778, the building was occupied by Daniel Constable, uncle of John Constable the famous local painter.

In 1847, the granary along with land and warehouses was sold for £600. It has since been used by Brooks malt company.

The wealthy Richard Rigby had ideas to change Mistley into a spa town and he had many buildings designed and built by by the architect Robert Adam, which included the Swan Fountain. Behind it, the building on the right was once the malting office and now converted into private houses. The building in the middle is now a craft centre housing the café.