Care home · Frinton On Sea
Mid Meadows
Illustrative photo, not of Mid Meadows- Address
- 72-74 Elm Tree Avenue, Frinton On Sea, CO13 0AS
- Run by
- Black Swan International Limited (23 services)
- Service
- Residential care home
- Beds
- 22 (registered with CQC)
- Registered with CQC
- January 2011 (15 years)
- Registered manager
- Alice Mary Merrick
- Company check
- Active, trading since 1991 (35 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 02621410)
- Last CQC check
- 18 Oct 2019
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,310–£1,600 a week for residential care. An estimate based on local published fees. Ask for a written quote. How we estimate
Registered activities: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care
CQC page for this service · CQC location ID 1-121489555
An overview of Mid Meadows
Mid Meadows is a CQC-registered residential care home in Frinton On Sea, run by Black Swan International Limited. Its CQC registration covers adults of all ages, including people living with physical disabilities and learning disabilities.
At its most recent rating, CQC judged it Good overall (October 2019), with Safe rated Outstanding. It is one of 7 CQC-registered care homes in and around Kirby Cross; 4 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
Specialisms
From the CQC register; ask how each need is met in practice.
The five key questions
- Safe2 of 369 in Essex
- Effective330 of 369 in Essex
- Caring343 of 369 in Essex
- Responsive326 of 369 in Essex
- Well-led273 of 369 in Essex
From CQC's latest report, published 18 October 2019. Under each rating: how many care homes in Essex share it; for example, 2 of 369 care homes in Essex rated Outstanding for Safe.
Reading Mid Meadows's CQC ratings
For Mid Meadows, Safe is rated Outstanding; 4 other areas are Good.
Across Essex, 2 of 369 rated care homes are Outstanding for Safe (1%).
Outstanding ratings for a single area are uncommon; the Safe section of the report gives examples of what inspectors saw.
The inspection, summarised
- It provides accommodation and personal care and support for up to 22 people who may have a physical disability and or not associated learning difficulties.
- This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes.
- The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.
- People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.
Inspected 5 August 2019; report published 18 October 2019; supporting 22 people at the time. Taken from CQC's own findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
How it fits locally
There are 16 other care homes within 3 miles, 11 of them rated Good or Outstanding; the nearest is Ernest Luff Homes, under 0.5 miles away.
14 of the 22 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Frinton ward, classed by ONS as urban (further from a major town or city), among the 40% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Essex ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (7 min), a pharmacy (4 min), a shop (3 min), a park (2 min), a café (3 min), a bus stop (1 min) and a railway station (7 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
Budgeting for this home
We estimate Mid Meadows at £1,310–£1,600 a week for residential care, based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £68k–£83k.
Ask what notice is given before a fee increase and what triggers one.
If savings are under the upper limit (£23,250 in England), Essex Council may pay part of the cost after a free care needs assessment.
History with CQC
CQC registration dates from January 2011, so the service has been operating for around 15 years under its current registration.
CQC has published 2 overall ratings for it (2017–2019), starting at Good and staying Good every time.
It has gone 7 years without a new overall rating. CQC schedules inspections by risk, so this is not a bad sign in itself, though leadership may have moved on.
CQC lists 5 reports for this location, the latest dated 18 October 2019.
Past CQC ratings
- Feb 2017
- Oct 2019
- Today Rating 7 years old
Overall ratings CQC has published for this location, oldest first.
CQC documents
- CQC inspection report 18 October 2019
- CQC inspection report 15 February 2017
- Inspection report 26 June 2014
- Inspection report 13 June 2013
- Inspection report 20 August 2012
Kitchen hygiene rating
The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from an inspection on 20 October 2025 by Tendring. Try to visit at a mealtime: it shows how food, choice and help with eating work in practice.
From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "Mid Meadows"). Open Government Licence.
The neighbourhood
- Ward
- Frinton
- Council
- Essex County Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- Clacton
- Local NHS (ICB)
- NHS Essex Integrated Care Board
- Urban or rural
- Urban · further from a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 40% most deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Care homes in CO13 (9)
View on OpenStreetMap · Plan a journey · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Nearby
- Bus stop 30 m (1 min walk) · 23 stops within 600 m
- Railway station Frinton-on-Sea, 530 m (7 min walk)
- GP surgery Station Approach Surgery, 540 m (7 min walk)
- Pharmacy Day Lewis Pharmacy, 290 m (4 min walk)
- Shop Tesco, 270 m (3 min walk)
- Park Frinton Park Playing Fields, 160 m (2 min walk)
- Café The Corner Lounge, 250 m (3 min walk)
- Place of worship Sacred Heart and St Francis, 810 m (10 min walk)
- Library Frinton Library, 1.2 km (14 min walk)
From OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), measured in a straight line, so allow extra for the actual route on foot.
Ward and NHS boundaries from official postcode data, Open Government Licence.
The registered provider
Mid Meadows is run by Black Swan International Limited (company 02621410), incorporated in 1991, 19 years before this service registered with CQC.
At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 5 active directors and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is residential care for older and disabled people.
Black Swan International Limited runs 23 CQC-registered services across 5 council areas; 22 of the 22 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (100%), against 83% for the same mix of services across England.
7 of its services are in Essex.
Family reviews
There are no reviews of Mid Meadows yet. If you know the service, your experience could help someone else.
Reviews are separate from CQC ratings. We verify the reviewer's email and never let providers remove reviews. How reviews work.
Where Mid Meadows stands locally
- Rated Good. Across Essex, 84% of the 368 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 7 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (October 2019) is more recent than 33% of care home ratings in Essex.
- With 22 beds it is smaller than 50% of care homes in Essex, where the typical home has 23.
- Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 66% of care homes in the area.
- It lists 4 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Essex lists 3.
Comparison set: every registered care home in Essex, CQC data for Oct 2026.
Other care homes close by
Guides for families
Similar care homes near Kirby Cross, rated recently
- The FirsSep 2026
Quick answers about Mid Meadows
- How recent is Mid Meadows's CQC rating?
- CQC published the current rating on 18 October 2019, 7 years ago. Older ratings are common, so ask about changes since.
- Does Mid Meadows support people with dementia?
- No dementia specialism is recorded with CQC. Ask the provider directly if this is likely to matter.
- Is Mid Meadows registered with CQC?
- Registered, yes: location 1-121489555 on the Care Quality Commission register, listed as a care home and was rated Good overall in October 2019.
- Where is Mid Meadows?
- It is at 72-74 Elm Tree Avenue, Frinton On Sea, CO13 0AS.
- What type of care does Mid Meadows provide?
- Mid Meadows is registered with CQC for: residential homes. Ask the provider which needs it can meet now and as needs change.
- How is Mid Meadows rated for safety and leadership?
- By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Outstanding; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Read Safe and Well-led first; they say most about reliability.
- What are Mid Meadows's fees?
- Mid Meadows has not published its fees with us. Residential care home typically costs £1,250 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in East of England). A written quote should spell out weekend, bank holiday and short-notice rates.
- Which provider runs Mid Meadows?
- On CQC's register the provider is Black Swan International Limited.
- How big is Mid Meadows?
- CQC registers Mid Meadows for 22 residents; ask about vacancies, room sizes and en-suite bathrooms.
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Built from the CQC register (Oct 2026) under the Open Government Licence v3.0, plus our own calculations. The provider wrote only the parts labelled as its own words. The Care Panel is a directory and does not deliver care.