There is a quaint little pub. An old Inn on the edge of a sleepy seaside town,
off the beaten track and little known by anyone except the locals.
A quiet pub, nestled between the village green and the desolate marshes of Brightlingsea Creek,
it sits propping up the end of an old terraced row of fishermen’s cottages.
A proper little pub with the obligatory open fire, real ales and fine food.
The Rosebud is one of Essex’ best kept secrets.
New Menu
coming soon
New Menu coming soon
New Menu
coming soon
Champagne
Gobillard, Brut Grande reserve Premier Cru
White
La Place, Sauvignon Blanc
Manda Rossa, Fiano
Macon-Villages, Cave de l’ Aurore
2005 Jim Barry, Sauvignon Blanc
2003 Chamarre, Juracon
Carter’s Bacchus
Carter’s St Helena
Rose
Carter’s Colchester Rose
Red
La Place, Merlot
Manda Rossa, Nero d’Avola
Chateau La Feynelle, Merlot Cabernet
Carter’s King Coel
Carter’s Boudicca
2002 Chateu Trimolet, Grand Cru Saint-emilion
2002 Campo Dorado Rioja
2006 Henri la Fontaine, Bourgogne Pinot Noir
2007 Chateauneuf du Pape, Cellier des Princes
2007 Chianti Classico
2004 Chateau Senjac, Haut medoc
2007 Fish Hock Shiraz
2006 First Cape, Cabernet Sauvignon
Our ales are varied often:
Adnams 'The Bitter'
(this is on all the time)
on right now;
Woodforde's Wherry 3.8%
Norfolk ale
Waggle Dance 4%
Wells & Youngers
Recently served:
Mid-Summer Gold 4%
Mauldons
Mole Trap 3.8%
Mauldons
John Harris Lee, the Bud’s first publican, opened his home as a ‘beerhouse’ in 1843. His main trade was oysterman and the pub was to supplement the frequently lean times at sea. In 1863 he passed the pub to his son William, also a fisherman who trawled with the oyster smack Alarm.
In January of that year a ship called The Rosebud was wrecked in a winter storm off Barrow Deep a few miles from the coast at Brightlingsea. The sailing ship, which was carrying a cargo of timber from Arbroath into London, was blown onto one of the many deadly sandbanks that lie just below the water’s surface. In a raging storm the crew had tied themselves into the rigging to prevent being washed overboard and certain death. The Alarm, a shallow bottomed vessel and skippered by William was able to get alongside and pull the men to safety along with the ship’s cat Tishy. The captain perished, choosing to stay with his precious cargo fearing it would become booty and plundered if he evacuated. Shortly afterwards the beerhouse became known as The Rosebud in honour of the rescue. The ship’s cat soon became the pub’s celebrity cat and was a local attraction for visiting seafarers. Wily young William put it about that the cat was ‘lucky’ and by visiting The Rosebud to stroke the cat good fortune would be passed on. During recent renovations at the pub a glass bottle with a cat’s tail inside was found on a ledge up the chimneybreast and is now on display behind the bar. For a small donation to a local charity you too can stroke the cat’s tail.
The Rosebud Pub
Hurst Green, Brightlingsea
Colchester, Essex, CO7 0EH
Tel: 01206 304 571
email: mark@rosebudpub.co.uk