North Woolwich Station opened back in 1846, making it one of London’s oldest surviving stations. The Grade II listed building in East London was using steam trains when it opened and only moved over to diesel locomotives in 1963. It was originally built to serve Woolwich, on the south side of the river, as the…
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Overlooking the surrounding marshes, St Michael’s Church has been stood on Pitsea Mount for centuries having been build around the 16th century, with extensive rebuilding taking place in 1871. Although once the whole church would have stood on this spot, today just the tower and alter remains with the perimeter marked out. It was during…
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For Halloween this year, we thought we would investigate the vast and endless folklore of one of the most isolated and eerie places in Essex. Carrying on from last year’s Halloween coverage on the Leigh Witch Trials, this lonely village has similarly sinister connections. Even on our brief visit we were greeted by the footsteps…
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Map showing rough path of the discernible Prittle Brook & sections explored The Prittle Brook is a tributary of the River Roach spanning down through Prittlewell which takes its name after it, through Southend, Westcliff, Chalkwell, Belfairs Wood and Hadleigh Great Wood, before becoming difficult to source somewhere in Thundersley and Benfleet. The map above…
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Located on a vantage point ontop of Leigh Hill, and adjacent to an old wide path for travelling up and down the hill, St. Celement’s Church stands proud on the horizon and can be seen for miles around. The tower is 80ft high and the current church was built around 1500 with Victorian and Edwardian…
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St. Botolph’s Priory was an Augustinian religious house in Colchester, Essex, between c.1100 and 1536. It is Grade I listed and can be walked around today in a public park; owned by English Heritage. Whilst it is now only a ruin, it still bears intricate architectural features such as The Pardon Door archway (pictured) and…
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Only a handful of Iron Age sites still remain in England, with most lost to nature and seemingly destroyed over time. If you walk around the back of an industrial estate in Chelmsford, you’ll come across a rare surviving enclosure which is thought to date back 3000 years to 1000-700BC. Evidence suggests that the site…
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Whilst the current church is fairly modern, the history of it dates back to the 9th century when Danish settlers took over the site and dedicated it to St Clement. It was rebuilt many times over the years and even survived the Great Fire of London in 1666. Sir Christopher Wren, who designed St Paul’s…
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Great Wakering Old School was built in 1876. It is now a community centre and pre-school. In both the fore and rear courts of the school are two unsuspecting structures with an important history. They served most probably as air-raid shelters to defend the school pupils and staff from air-raids and bombs. Whilst the rear…
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The small woodland of Mundon Furze is the last surviving area of ancient woodland on the vast and desolate Dengie Peninsula. Nearby is a copse of ‘petrified’ trees appearing out of the marshland mist like a landscape from a horror film. Their past is completely mysterious. The dead oak trees are not actually petrified or…
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