Mersea Island Trust was established as a charitable trust by a Declaration of Trust on 2nd May 1961. The founder trustees were headed by Dr Llewellyn Jones, a local general practitioner who had a surgery in Melrose Road, West Mersea. He was supported by Eve Harrison, Olga Knight, Rt.Hon. Viscount Alexander of Hillsborough, Sir Ralph Metcalfe and Jim Sunnucks.

The purpose of the Trust was to provide accommodation for the elderly of Mersea Island.
Initially a site on Melrose Road was identified and a mortgage was obtained from West Mersea Urban District Council in 1964 to help finance the initial buildings at Akhurst Court. Expansion then occurred with further buildings being added in 1970 and then again in 2002.


In 1979 the Trust appointed an additional two surviving trustees from The Coronation Trust, which had been established in 1941 and had similar aims to those of the Mersea Island Trust. The land held by The Coronation Trust in High Street North, West Mersea was transferred to Mersea Island Trust and with the help of a mortgage from Colchester Borough Council a new building was opened at that site in 1979.

In 2014/15 five new flats were added to Akhurst Court and an additional six flats were added at Mersea Court. There are now 23 flats for Residents at Akhurst Court and 20 flats for Residents at Mersea Court.