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.
Maggie Hines recollections of life on board the Anne Marie in the early years
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I truly did think that the 'Anne Marie', had rotted and faded away. I am thrilled that it has been renovated and I know that Uncle Stanley Mapleson would have been delighted to know that that beautiful craft is bringing such happiness.
I was born in 1942 in Grays, Thurrock, Essex, so I know I visited Stanley and Grace as a very small girl in their rather lovely house in Wickford. I have a picture of me walking their dog on the green in Wickford when I must have been about 8 years old. The plan must have been evolving then because I was only a bIt older and staying at the 'Anne Marie', when Uncle Lesley, one of Stanley's sons, brought his Belgium wife Jannine to the 'Anne Marie'. I reckon I was about 16 years old when the picture was taken.
The 'Anne Marie' was owned by my grandmother's sister on my mother's side. Her name was Grace Carter. I suppose she was my great Aunt. Stanley Mapleson married her. It was called the 'Anne Marie' after Uncle Stanley and Aunty Grace's grand-daughter, she now lives in France I believe. They originally lived at Wickford and my recollections are from the age of the 1950's. I suppose being a small girl I could have misunderstood the history but I was told that it was originally a barge. It was concreted over for some reason, but I used to go down the stairs to the left of the front door to the big [it was to me then] boiler room, it had a big double bed in there. Do you think they were some boilers to heat the houseboat?
On the stairs to the left of the front door, were some shelves where books were kept. On the book-shelves were some hard-covered tomes called 'The Mapleson Memoirs'. There was a central corridor from the lounge to the galley. Turn right to the lovely kitchen and breakfast area, and left to the lovely lounge. Uncle Stanley, kept a small room next to the lounge for his booze and cocktail stuff. There were other rooms each side, the bedrooms faced onto the River Crouch and there was a projection of a small room built out, so that it was like a smallish sun room and dining/reading room. There was a ladder to climb down so that we could go for a swim.
I was at Palmers Grammar school in Grays, Essex. and had a friend whose boyfriend had a sloop called the 'Samuel Pepys', moored at Maldon. It was all around this time as we sailed round to Aunty Grace's one day. We went on board, obviously dirty sailing kit came off, not posh like it is now, before we were allowed to sit down for drinks.