BRIGHTLINGSEA, urban district, seaport and fishing sta tion, Essex, England, on a creek of the Colne estuary, the ter minus of a branch from Colchester (8 m.) of the L.N.E. railway. Pop. (1931) 4,145. The Colchester oyster-beds are mainly in this part of the Colne, and the oyster fishery is the chief indus try. Boat-building is carried on, and the place is also a yachting centre. Brightlingsea, which appears in Domesday, is a member of the Cinque Port of Sandwich in Kent. Near the opposite shore of the creek is St. Osyth's priory, which originated as a nunnery founded by Osyth, a grand-daughter of Penda, king of Mercia; it became a foundation for Augustinian canons early in the 12th century. The remains, incorporated with a modern residence, include a late Perpendicular gateway—an embattled structure with flanking turrets.