Nottage Maritime Institute

About the museum

The Nottage Maritime Institute was founded in 1896 from a trust fund left by Captain Charles G. Nottage, a Victorian army officer, traveller and yacht racer. The fund was meant to create an institute where people from the Colne area could improve their navigation and seafaring skills. It first operated from a three-storey building next to the Black Buoy pub and moved to its present home, a former sail loft on Wivenhoe Quay, in 1947.

The institute is a registered charity and still teaches navigation and shorebased courses, evening classes and traditional boat building. A ground-floor workshop is used by students building timber clinker dinghies.

The upper floors house a maritime library and the museum. The museum displays paintings, photographs, models and artefacts with local connections, grouped by subject in cabinets and glass-topped tables, and records the maritime history of Wivenhoe and the River Colne. Volunteers are digitising the collection and archives, and the institute is known for its summer art exhibitions.

Highlights

• Photographs, ship models and artefacts on Wivenhoe’s maritime history
• Paintings with local connections
• Maritime library, open by appointment
• Former sail loft on Wivenhoe Quay
• Summer art exhibitions

Permanent exhibition

• Maritime museum collection – Paintings, photographs, models and artefacts on the maritime history of Wivenhoe and the River Colne, displayed by subject in the upstairs rooms.

Operated by

Nottage Maritime Institute (registered charity no. 301440)

Admission & discounts

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

There is a stair lift at the rear of the building, and new stairs inside the front of the building have improved access to the upstairs rooms where the museum displays are. The website gives no further access information.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The Nottage is on Wivenhoe Quay, in the centre of Wivenhoe on the River Colne.

Amenities & dining

The building has a kitchen that can cater for up to thirty people, available for hire.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties

Rooms are available for meetings, parties and functions; the kitchen can cater for up to thirty people. A booking form is on the website.

Plan your visit