Harwich and Dovercourt have a rather urban feel today, and modern housing has almost seamlessly joined the two towns together as one — but it hasn’t always been that way.

Dovercourt, the outwardly modern and perhaps rather characterless little town, is actually older than Harwich. Archeological evidence stretches from prehistory through the Roman occupation and on almost continuously to the modern day. Dovercourt was essentially a small farming community, until new building began to expand the town in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Harwich, on the other hand, seems only to have appeared on the scene around 1150, but it quickly became a thriving port with, evidence suggests, a certain urgency about the place. Harwich’s importance as a port is a result of its location; protruding out as it does into the estuary of the rivers Orwell and Stour, it commands the only safe anchourage between the Thames and the Humber.

This list is not by any means exhaustive or definitive. If you know of a book about (or covering some aspect of) Harwich history that you would like to recommend, please e-mail us with the author, title, publisher and (if possible) ISBN.

Please note that there are Amazon search facilities below and elsewhere on these pages that link to British, U.S. and Canadian Amazon sites. Even if you prefer not to buy books on-line, Amazon represents a fair catalogue of what is available.

The Harwich Packets 1635-1834

Ivan Trinder

ISBN 0950196444

The Harwich Story

Leonard Weaver, 1975

Harwich — Gateway to the Continent

Leonard Weaver

Terence Dalton Ltd., 1990

ISBN 0861380487

Harwich Papers

Leonard Weaver

The Harwich Society, 1994

Harwich and Dovercourt In Old Picture Postcards

Phil Cowley

European Library, 1992

ISBN 9028853472

Harwich and Dovercourt In Old Picture Postcards Vol. 2

Phil Cowley

S.B. Publications, 1992

ISBN 1857702204

Images of England: Harwich and Dovercourt

John Mowle

Tempus, 2001

The Margaret Doubleday File

Ed. Brian Woods

1986

About this Old Town

Brian Woods

1987

The Legendary Pier

Brian Woods

Ochre Books, 1994

Just Thinking About Harwich

Brian Woods and A.R. Carter

Ochre Books, 1997

The Harwich Quiz

Brian Woods and A.R. Carter

Ochre Books, 1999

We have built a small family of pages that may interest the amateur historian. Use the pull-down menu at the top of each page to navigate between them.

A Brief History of Harwich — A potted history by the former town archivist Dr. William Tyler

The Harwich Brewery — A history of the original Cobbold brewery at Harwich by Richard Oxborrow

From Daniel Dafoe’s A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain — An account of Harwich in 1724

Parson Woodforde’s Diary — What Woodforde said about Harwich (and why)

Harwich Roots — Do you have Harwich roots? Get in touch with other genealogists (and possibly relatives) through the Harwich family history page.

Christopher Jones & the Mayflower — Historian David A. Male traces the Harwich connection of one of history’s most famous sailing vessels

The U-boats — The story of the surrender of the German submarine fleet at Harwich in 1918

Down in the flood — A Harwich man gives his personal account of the terrible floods that hit the east coast of England on the night of 31 January, 1953