Writtle is a large village with buildings such as the Church of All Saints dating back to the 13th century, a number of timber-framed buildings from the 15th century, a village green and a duck pond. It was once home to the radio station, 2MT, which in the early 1920s, was the first British radio station to make regular entertainment broadcasts, and the world's first regular wireless broadcast for entertainment. The village is reported to have been hit by a V-2 rocket in 1945, damaging many of the village's properties.
In 1893, County Laboratories was established in Chelmsford and in 1902 changed its name to County Technical Laboratories. Its initial focus of research slowly changed towards education and in 1912 another name change saw it become the East Anglian Institute of Agriculture. In 1940 it moved to Writtle to an estate which included the site of King John's hunting lodge, where it became the Essex Institute of Agriculture. In 1969 the name changed to Writtle Agricultural College and in 1989 to Writtle College. In 2015 the college was granted the power to award degrees, and thus was given university status. This resulted in the name Writtle University College being adopted. In 2023 it merged with Anglia Ruskin University and is now known as ARU Writtle.
The 150 hectare modern-day university includes a working farm, an equine centre, science laboratories, and sports facilities. It specialises in agriculture, animal science, animal management, canine therapy, horticulture, sport and exercise science, and veterinary physiotherapy. As you might expect from this type of facility, the campus features many areas of planted features including pear trees and sunflowers, plus a number of greenhouses and gardens. The agricultural theme can be seen in the name of the on-site student union pub which is playfully called 'The Baa'.
In December 2025 the campus became home to ARU Writtle parkrun, which is a free, weekly, timed, volunteer-led 5 kilometre event which is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk the course.
Travel to the venue by public transport is possible. The closest mainline train station is in Chelmsford which is served by trains running from London Liverpool Street (via Stratford) and Norwich, Ipswich or Braintree. I have found four bus options to complete the onward journey. The first two are the C5 Chelmsford Shuttles bus and the 32 which both stop in the centre of the village. From the centre of Writtle the walk to the university is about 10 minutes. The third option is the 59 bus which stops to the north of Writtle and the college. Again it's about a 10 minute walk to the university. The final option is the 46 bus which stops right outside the college, but seems to have the least frequent service.
If travelling by car, there is a free-of-charge on-site car park within the university campus. The campus roads are quite narrow and the exact route to the car park is signposted with temporary parkrun signs. When I visited there were car park marshals on hand to keep everything organised. If you happen to be cycling to the venue, there is a largely traffic free cycle route from the centre of Chelmsford all the way into the campus. Once on-site I don't remember seeing any general cycle racks anywhere, so you may find you have to use a lamp post or tree to secure the bike.
For an overnight stay, Writtle is largely residential so the closest selection of hotels can be found in the centre of Chelmsford. There is a Travelodge, a Best Western plus a good selection of independent options, as well as a couple of Premier Inns. Of course, there are plenty of other options within a reasonable driving distance if you look further afield. The closest campsite seems to be Corner Cottage Estate Campsite which is about a 10 minute drive from the university campus.
There are toilets available for use within the campus inside the Amenity Building, which was clearly signposted from the car park with temporary parkrun signs. Once that is taken care of, the main assembly area can be found on the grass adjacent to the car park. The assembly point also doubles-up as the briefing area, the start and the finish. There is a raised grass area that works perfectly as a platform for the team to deliver the briefings and once that is done, the parkrun is ready to get underway.
ARU Writtle parkrun has two courses - both are essentially flat. The main course is the summer version and features an almost 50-50 split between grass and tarmac, while the winter course has been designed to stick predominantly to tarmac. I visited while the main summer course was in use and in my opinion, this one is the better of the two. The conditions were bone dry (we were officially in a drought), so regular road shoes were just fine. However, if the event is taking place on the main course and the conditions have been on the wet side it is possible that a light trail shoe may come in useful. The winter course, being almost entirely tarmac, should be fine in road shoes at all times. Participants with a buggy or with a dog are welcome at this venue.
The summer course starts with a fairly wide opening section on grass which crosses a footpath to enter a restricted area that contains Writtle Reservoir, of which one full clockwise lap is completed. The grassy underfoot conditions are generally OK but there are some uneven sections and occasional rutted areas to watch out for. At some points the reservoir is obscured by bushes but when these give way, the view across the water is beautiful, especially when the sun is out and the sky is blue. The reservoir holds 28 million gallons of water, which is used by the university for agricultural purposes.
With the lap of the reservoir completed, the course exits the restricted area and transfers onto a tarmac path. There is a short dog-leg section with a u-turn at the eastern end of the path, before heading to the west for a long out-and-back. Participants need to stay to the left at all times during this section. Along the way, the course passes the university's fields, some of which contain animals such as cows and horses. Overall the scenery is picturesque. This path is part of the cycle route mentioned earlier, so interaction with cyclists is possible. I would also note that the fences that surround the fields are electrified.
The far western end of the path has another turnaround point and the course simply follows it all the way back to the east. The route then re-enters the restricted area for another grassy clockwise lap of the reservoir. At the end of the lap, the course goes back across the path, heads back towards the assembly area and into the finish funnel. Once across the finish line the funnel extends around the back of some bushes and feeds into the barcode scanning area. Once scanned, the finishing tokens can be hung on the event's bespoke token board.
The winter course is a double out-and-back along the tarmac path with the finish on the grass. I would imagine there could be some congestion and pinch points on this course, especially at the start and as those at the front start to lap those towards the rear. I have GPS data and Relive course fly-by videos for both courses, so please feel free to take a look at those on Strava and YouTube (links below). Also, a quick note for anybody that might want to do a freedom run here - the section around the reservoir is a restricted area, so public access is not possible outside of the official parkrun event and that rules out freedom running the summer course. However, the winter course should be largely do-able as the tarmac path is open to the public at all times.
In terms of expected numbers of people, it would be reasonable to find around 150-200 participants plus around 25 volunteers - you can always check the result history page for the latest figures. As far as cancellations are concerned, the main reason is likely to be underfoot course conditions. Snow and ice could be a problem on the tarmac section. The event has already been cancelled due to wet and slippery conditions on the grassy start/finish section, so be sure to check the event's social media if visiting during periods of adverse weather. I'm not aware of any other events that would lead to a cancellation but I will update this section if anything comes to light.
As it stands there is no on-site cafe to go to afterwards. I understand that a mobile catering van may be present on occasion, but this was not the case during my visit at event 32 on 8 August 2026. The closest option for breakfast is 2MT Cafe which is just to the north of the university on the A1060. If you happen to be hanging around for a little longer, there are two local pubs which serve lunch, The Horse and Groom which is opposite the previously mentioned cafe or The Rose and Crown which is in the centre of the village. Should a Wetherspoons be your preferred choice, the closest options are in Chelmsford or if heading towards the M25 / London there is one in Brentwood.
ARU Writtle parkrun is a brilliant addition to the collection of Essex parkrun venues. As I alluded to above, if you are visiting I would recommend going while the summer route is in use as you get the benefit of enjoying 2 laps of the beautiful reservoir. However, if you are not a fan of off-road style sections, then save your visit for the winter and take advantage of the almost 100% tarmac course. Either way you'll get a very warm reception from the wonderful locals and team of volunteers. A huge thank you to everyone involved.
Related Links:
Summer course
Winter course