We visited Oozedam Farm in January of 2018, on a trek across Fobbing Marshes which saw us head from the farm to discover a lost explosives factory, bomb craters and much more. Starting here, we knew that there was a pillbox on the old farm and possibly even the remains of a Spigot Mortar or…
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Dotted around the city, it takes a keen eye to spot these cattle troughs disguised amongst the bustling traffic. Nowadays they’re mainly used as flower beds but the history of them takes them back to 1859 when MP Samuel Gurney and barrister Edward Wakefield established the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association. Initially they…
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Essex Police first dates back to 1840 when it was established as the Essex County Constabulary, based in the old military barracks in Arbour Lane, Chelmsford. Initially only one hundred constables and fifteen superintendents were appointed to the force, a fraction of the officers that the force has today. Constables were provided with a basic uniform…
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See the abandoned one in our video at 3.35 which we filmed in 2013 prior to demolition Pump stores for the now c2c railway were erected in the Victorian era, now disused. One is left abandoned near Fenchurch Street station (complete with original ‘ghost’ signage) but was sadly demolished sometime between 2014-15 on the site…
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Transformed from chalk industry giants of the 20th Century, these huge craters in the landscape now form nature reserves due to the mineral-rich soils. What’s more, is that water collects in the bases of them, forming lakes. One of these can be walked to after ten minutes, as soon as you cross the Lakeside c2c…
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1-15 Royal Terrace and the Royal Hotel were built well before the Victorian era – in the time of Georgian rule in the 1790s. Originally Southend was a place popular with fishermen, and it was not actually known as ‘Southend’ until this time when it was called ‘New South End’. Southend previously only referred to…
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Turn back the clock to 1850 and Canvey Island little more than farmland and a small village, much like the Wild West. Only few of these actually remain today, with Brickhouse Farm being one of the only still in operation. So, where did all the rest go? Well, a majority became left abandoned due to…
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In the early 17th century, Canvey Island was inhabited by a community of Dutch settlers who whilst living both alongside and at times at loggerheads with the locals helped to shape the islanders topography today. Two houses built in a contemporary Dutch cylindrical shape survive to this day at Northwick seen below, and at Canvey…
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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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Battlesbridge may not appear to be a very large place, but it is historic. It sits on the River Crouch where it narrows and heads towards its source. The small bridge over the river is where the village gets its name from. The original timber bridge stood for a long while since c.1351 when the…
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