The Anne Marie Houseboat for sale
The history of the Anne Marie Houseboat
It is estimated that over 15,000 people live afloat in the UK and, despite records of houseboats dating back to the 1800's, there is very little good historic information about houseboats in the UK.
At nearly seventy years old, the Anne Marie Houseboat is probably one of the oldest continuously habited houseboats within the UK. The history of the Anne Marie is a previously untold story and we have tried to piece together the snippets of information from the memories of those who have lived on and enjoyed the Anne Marie over her lifetime. We are continually searching for new information about the Anne Marie and we recognise that there are huge time gaps in the history we have gathered. If you are reading this and know of any information missing from here, please use our contact page to enlighten us.
Quite what transpired around 1945-1948 to enable a ferrocement barge (FCB) built for the war effort in World War Two (WW2) to be converted to a houseboat is unknown. We do know that the FCB's original owners brought the Anne Marie to Burnham in 1948. Whether she was already converted to a houseboat on arrival in Burnham, or if she was converted in situ, is unclear. ​We do know that when our FCB concrete barge arrived in Burnham-on-Crouch in 1948 she was moored about 100m further along the quay towards the town. She was then moved at a later (unspecified date) to her current permanent mooring on West Quay.
The people responsible for the Anne Marie Houseboat were Mr Stanley Mapleson and Miss Grace Carter (later married). It was their original plan which led to the creation of a houseboat from our FCB, and they named her 'Anne Marie' after their grand-daughter. We have been in contact with a lovely lady called Maggie Davis (nee Hines) who is a relative of the Mapleson's and remembers visiting the Anne Marie in her early years. Maggie has kindly shared some of her early memories of being aboard the Anne Marie and you can read them here.
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We have found very little information as to what happened to the Anne Marie between the Mapleson's selling her and Mr and Mrs George buying her. We have spoken to many people and it is generally accepted that she had a rather dubious history during that time. We would love to hear from anyone who has any information about this period of the Anne Marie's history and you can tell us all about it on our Contacts page.
In 1985 the Anne Marie was bought by John and Kathleen George. My wife, Lynda George, recounts some of her memories from that time and you can read them here.
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Many changes have been made to the design of the Anne Marie in the intervening years and she is still evolving. Many people in Burnham can remember living here throughout the years. In 2006, she was completely emptied and has been fully refurbished. As far as possible, the original timbers and fittings were kept, including the Australian rubber wood ceiling beams in the photo.
The Anne Marie is an amazing place to live with stunning wildlife, ever changing scenery, large skies and the busy river to entertain us.
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Earliest photo of Anne Marie circa 1960
Anne Marie circa 1980
Anne Marie circa 2010
Anne Marie circa 2003
Anne Marie on West Quay circa 1980
Yachts washed ashore after the 1987 hurricane
Anne Marie's mooring on the River Crouch in 1951
A young Maggie Hines in the 'sun lounge'
Anne Marie, the inspiration for the name.
Lynda George recalls her memories of early life aboard the Anne Marie
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I remember taking Mum and Dad to view the Anne Marie, we had no intention of buying her but we saw the estate agents details and were just being nosey. Mum and Dad did their courting along the sea wall and just wanted to have a look inside. It was a sunny winters day, the sun was streaming through the sun lounge perched precariously on the side, the lounge was warm and I remember Dad singing "A life on the ocean wave". Anyway, to cut a long story short they sold their house and moved on board.
Unfortunately, this coincided with Tucker Browns building the new marina about 400 yards away and the millions of tons of mud extracted from the foreshore were dumped over the fields adjacent to us. It was a nightmare, the diggers were always working, the mud was thick, the services kept being cut off, the car park opposite disappeared under 12 feet or more of mud. What was a field and car park at a much lower level now became the country park with a raised level. Mum, Dad, teenage brothers, cats and dogs were all permanently muddy! Over the intervening years, the country park has become very nice and everything has been replanted,
Tragically, and unbeknown to us at the time, Dad was suffering from lung cancer and died about two years later. Mum couldn't manage being there on her own without Dad and the great hurricane of 1987 that brought Wallasea Marina over the river to a new location outside our kitchen window was very scary!! In the end she decided that she could no longer stay there and we tried to sell the Anne Marie. Given the mud, the hurricane and general upheaval we struggled to sell the Anne Marie.
One morning in 1991, some time after we advertised her for sale, I stood on the Anne Marie's foredeck with the sun shining and a gentle warm breeze barely creating a ripple to disturb the river. I thought to myself "why am I trying to sell something I love so much?". . . . . So I bought her from my Mum and she then bought a house in Burnham.
I have been here ever since.