A few metres out into the river at Chalkwell Beach lies a peculiar obelisk stranded in the water. From the shore, it looks like a mysterious ruin of an ancient civilisation, although it is in fact the ‘Crowstone’ installed in 1836/7. It replaced a smaller stone post that was set in place in 1755. 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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Whilst working in the area, I decided to go on a walk and stumbled across this purely by chance. Just a few minutes walk away from the Olympic Stadium, this Second World War pillbox was built around 1940 and forms what would have been part of the outer London defence ring – one of the…
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“Aviation pioneers and their workforce founded Britain’s aircraft seaplane and flying boat industry” Dating back as early as 1897, the Short Brothers had always had an interest in aviation. At the turn of the century they were already selling coal-gas filled balloons for people to fly, but it was the first flight by two brothers…
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British Troops have been pushed back to Dunkirk; all that lies between the Germans and Britain is the English Channel. With the threat of German troops soon being on British Land, orders were sent out across the land to built defences in towns, near main roads, railways and key areas. Starting along the coast and…
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Beyond the Point are good friends and close-working colleagues with the Bay Museum. Like us, they are bringing Canvey’s history into the 21st Century with a team of historians and collectors experienced in encouraging an interest in people of all ages. We genuinely suggest you pay them a visit. We also established their now-thriving website…
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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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Walking past these bungalows you wouldn’t think anything of them – they’re just someone’s average home, but the buildings are far from average, they were supposedly built to withstand an atomic explosion. Following the end of the Second World War, in 1946, plans were submitted to build ‘atomic bungalows’ on Canvey Island. Whilst this was…
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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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The Slade Green HAA site (also known as ZS1) was the most easterly anti-aircraft site built inside the London Inner Artillery Zone. Dating back to the late 1930’s, it was possibly built as a prototype to be used as a last resort should any aircraft have passed by the other defences along the river Thames….
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