The Company Shed was originally built for the Tollesbury and Mersea Native Oyster Fishery Company in 1960 as its headquarters for the purpose of depuration (purification) of oysters from our shores and as a meeting place. The Tollesbury and Mersea Native Oyster Fishery Company have 150 years of history in our area. It was formed on 15th December 1876 to protect against theft and illegal dredging in our waters and to ensure that income from oyster beds was fairly distributed amongst the people working them. As time has gone on their remit and scope has changed and grown to one of protecting the environment and water quality, in partnership with Essex Wildlife Trust, in which our native oysters, Ostrea Edulis, grow, and ensuring the viability of this protected species for posterity. The family have been part of this company since its inception, and following on from the death of Richard Haward, a 7th generation oysterman, in 2023, his daughter, Caroline (Caz) Haward has now taken his place in it.
Figure 1 The Company Shed 1963, circled.
By the 1980s the company no longer needed the building, and it was bought by Richard Haward in 1985 for the purpose of purifying oysters from his own layings, as there was some extraneous space in the building, Richard encouraged his wife, Heather, to use it to sell seafood on a retail basis. The building had always been known by the locals as the Company Shed so Heather decided to keep this name for the new restaurant, despite it being a rather unusual name for one. Heather used to open only in the summer months on Saturdays and Sundays and it proved to be extremely popular. As its popularity grew, and encouraged by her husband, Richard, and niece, Heather decided to expand the business and open full time.
It started off very simply with just a few second-hand chairs and tables and cold seafood, with Heather selling cockles from Leigh, fresh shrimps from Kings Lynn, and locally caught whelks, which she would cook in an industrial boiler at the back of the shed. These needed to be cooked for a long time to ensure that they were tender as local people used to refer to undercooked whelks as Blackwater bubble-gum and she would never want anyone to refer to hers in that way. Over time, Heather extended the business to sell locally caught fish, locally caught lobsters, and crabs from Billingsgate. The local crabs are not suitable for eating as the waters are too muddy so they would be very unpleasant. She would cook the crabs and lobsters at the back of the shed in the same way as the whelks, but not for as long! The live crabs and lobsters were stored in a special tank in the restaurant until they were needed, much to the delight and amusement of customers. In those days the fish counter would groan under the abundant seafood that was available.
To begin with, the restaurant, surprisingly, did not sell oysters, despite Richard Haward producing them in the conjoined building at the back. Richard was a man of principle and felt that it would be unethical to supply them to Heather for retail when he was selling them to The Duke, aka Mr Mussett, for that purpose. The ‘Duke’ had a tiny shed further along the Coast Road, who only sold Richard’s oysters, shucked; this ramshackle shed has long since disappeared. Only when they stopped trading in the 1990s, when Mr Mussett died, did Richard decide that it would be okay for the Company Shed to sell them for retail purposes.
Heather retired from the Company Shed in 2000, and her daughter Caroline took over as chef and business manager. Caroline still has this role to this day.
The business that had started off so simply began to grow in popularity and success, not only locally, but nationally, internationally, and amongst famous restauranteurs and food critics. The Company Shed firmly put Mersea Island on the culinary map. Its success also encouraged other similar local businesses to open.
As time progressed and the availability of different types of fish and shellfish changed, and along with increasing competition, the Company Shed has had to adapt so Caroline started serving more hot food, such as salty tiger prawns, chilli squid, grilled garlic lobster, lobster soup, grilled oysters and daily locally caught fish specials. This went down a storm, and Caroline continues to serve these dishes and much more. She has introduced an online service whereby takeaway food can be ordered and paid for via her website for pick up and, when possible, delivery. Her line of takeaway food includes pre-prepared versions of all her top selling favourites, ready for her customers to oven bake or grill at home as well, these all come with full instructions. She also sells her ever popular and beloved platters, and cold seafood online. It is remarkable considering that the Company Shed is exactly what it says it is, a shed.
The shed was not built for the purposes of a restaurant. It can seat a maximum of 50 people at a squeeze. It has a tiny galley kitchen that is smaller than most home kitchens. It has one cooker and one grill. Imagine catering for that many people from a kitchen that size? The building is very plain inside as you would expect of a shed, there are no frills, no fancy décor and all the furniture, and most of the crockery, glassware and cutlery are second-hand. The idea is to keep costs to a minimum so that they can provide the highest quality seafood. They only buy locally, from Billingsgate Market, and from the most ethical companies, this does incur a premium, but they will never compromise the quality or integrity of the food that they serve.
Keeping the Company Shed presentable is a constant battle with the high winds and salt water. The shed has flooded on several occasions during surge tides and Caroline has had to bail it out with buckets, often in the middle of the night. The tide has no respect for Caroline’s need for sleep and rest! Rust from the salt water, sand from the beach and mud from the riverbank are constant enemies so Caroline just concentrates on keeping the shed clean rather than beautifully decorated.
Some of the original attractions of the Company Shed have had to go; there is no longer an extensive wet fish counter because of a lack of availability of local fish, and the beloved crab and lobster tanks have had to go too as they were not the kindest way of keeping these crustaceans and they were extremely expensive to run. The crabs also liked to occasionally cause mayhem. Caroline has been woken up in a panic by the burglar alarm going off in the early hours of the morning and rushed down the Shed only to find it has been triggered by a couple of crabs scuttling across the floor. Whether they were trying to steal from the till or make an escape bid will forever remain a mystery. However, the unique history of the building and its authenticity is an attraction in itself. It has an almost mythical magical quality to it, despite or because of its humbleness and austerity.
Caroline is proud of her Mersea Island heritage and the historic significance of the building. She is honoured to have fed so many people both locally, nationally and internationally, and she is thrilled that so many epicurean luminaries love her food. She is reluctant to name drop as she believes that celebrities are entitled to enjoy the delights of her restaurant in privacy. The only two people that she will name are Rick Stein because he agreed to do a photo for publication and Jay Rayner because of his article extolling the virtues of it. The recipes of her dishes have remained unchanged during the 40+ years that it has been in business, portion sizes have remained the same and the ethos of keeping things simple, but of the highest quality will always remain.
The economic downturn has meant that the 40-year-old restaurant, along with other businesses in hospitality, is finding things extremely difficult. However, Caroline continues to innovate with new ideas, including her online takeaway and delivery business, and with new and exciting recipes to keep the customers coming in. She is also determined to continue to provide employment opportunities for local people in an area with limited employment availability, and to keep her much beloved and famous restaurant open for both her regular and new customers, for generations to come.