Author: Liam Heatherson

By Liam Heatherson

St. Katherines & Canvey Village

Known as either Canvey Island’s Heritage Centre or St Katherine’s Church, this building stands proud along Long Road. Towards the second-half of the 19th Century, Victorian Canvey was undergoing true establishment as a village, rather than just farmland. With a new church, St. Katherine’s, built in 1875, a village well, constructed in 1879, and numerous other…

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By Liam Heatherson

Fielder’s Bungalows on Canvey

Lt. Col. Horace Percy Fielder could be considered the man to whom established Canvey as a residential area. A few decades before, at the turn of the century, Frederick Hester established Canvey as a tourist plotland area (read more here). However, Fielder could be considered the first to put Canvey on the map as a day…

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By Liam Heatherson

Rayleigh Dutch Cottage

Rayleigh Dutch Cottage at Crown Hill has a past as strange as it’s appearance. Whilst a sign above its door denotes ‘1621’, analysis suggests it was instead likely to have been built around 1740. It is aesthetically similar to the two dutch cottages on Canvey Island dating from the early 17th Century. Whilst the exact…

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By Liam Heatherson

Rayleigh Windmill

Rayleigh Windmill is a grade II-listed mill which was built in 1809 for local timber trader Thomas Higgs. He became bankrupt in 1815 and the mill was sold on to numerous individuals. It was the last of five mills which served the town throughout history. The mill had to be repaired in or just after…

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By Liam Heatherson

Layer Marney Gatehouse

Layer Marney Tower is a Grade I gigantic Tudor palace not too far from Colchester in North Essex. The main structure visible is actually an elaborate gatehouse and main range, and there is also a contemporary barn and church on the grounds. It is in fact the tallest Tudor gatehouse in Britain. Like other palaces…

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By Liam Heatherson

Jewel Tower

Jewel Tower is an overlooked treasure English Heritage holds directly opposite from The Houses of Parliament. It was built from 1365-66 to house the personal treasures of King Edward III – like a giant safe. Then in the early 17th Century the House of Lords used it as a records office, holding valuable documents. It…

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By Liam Heatherson

Borley Rectory & Church

Pictured is Borley Church, and Borley Cottage which is of similar architectural qualities to the rectory, standing directly next to it Built in 1862 by the Reverend Henry Bull for his family, this Gothic Victorian red-brick rectory was placed on the site of an old monastery. Stories claim that a monk living at the monastery…

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By Liam Heatherson

The National Archives

When we visited the Houses of Parliament last year for the launch of the campaign ‘Archive Awareness’ we were fortunate to meet Clem Brohier who works for the National Archives. Clem invited us for an exclusive tour of the National Archives, and now that we have both finished college for the summer, we headed up…

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By Liam Heatherson

Old Leigh Heritage

The original Leigh settlement was the riverside ‘old town’ which appeared in the Middle Ages. Its narrow cobbled pre-motorcar streets and confined below-mainland position mean the town has since sprung up north of Old Leigh; up on the hill. This means that Old Leigh is a town which isn’t dissimilar to how it might’ve appeared…

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