What now stands as a strange overgrown mound of earth piling high into the sky, squeezed behind a car park near Rayleigh high street, was once the site of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle. Rayleigh Castle, or Rayleigh Mount as it is sometimes known, was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and was the only…
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The history of the garrison dates back to 1849 when the land was first purchased by the Board of Ordanance. Woolwich Common was usually used for testing weapons, although as they became more powerful, they needed a new, larger site. During the Crimean War, the Royal Artillery School of Gunnery was established at Shoeburyness and…
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It’s the final two weeks of the Poppy Wave sculpture in Shoeburyness and we decided to take a look before the wave of poppies move onto it’s next location in Plymouth. Shoeburyness was chosen to host ‘Wave’ due to the efforts of the town during the First World War. The Garrison provided crucial training for…
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The marshes of Essex have been valued for their salt content through the Prehistoric and Roman eras right up until present day where Maldon sea salt is still a nationwide export. Whilst it is now favoured as a seasoning, its historical value lay in its ability to preserve food prior to the use of ice…
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When the land was first bought by the RSPB in 2006, one of their first jobs was to sweep the land to see if any unexploded World War Two bombs lie undisturbed beneath the surface. Around £50,000 was spent on an ex-military team who were drafted in to use specialist technology to scan the earth….
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(Left) Replica red hill created at RSPB Bower’s Marsh nature reserve, Canvey Island. (Right) An actual site of a Red Hill. A faint hill remains between Waterside Sports Centre and Cornelius Vermuyden Secondary School (unclear if this is due to Red Hill works). (Bottom) Artists impression Before Dutchman Cornelius Vermuyden reclaimed Canvey from the sea in the…
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Two artist’s impressions (top and bottom: graphic or model and painting) of the proposed refinery, the trademark six-legged dog ENI logo and a map showing land allocation. The square UR Ltd. area is from 1965 suggesting the area further down is from the 1971-3 application. Before Occidental looked to build a refinery on Canvey in…
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Thames North 8, Northwick ( as it was ‘coded’ during the war) was the name assigned to one of the many heavy anti-aircraft batteries across the country. This one, located down Northwick Road on Canvey, amongst what is now a recycling centre, would have been pointed at the skies to blast any German bombers or…
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The Occidental Jetty is a Canvey Island landmark that we quite admire. It was built with the intention of pumping oil from ships into the semi-complete Occidental Oil Refinery, abandoned due to the 1973 Oil Crisis’ legacy. You can see the pipes alongside it today. Two industrial containers rot ontop to this very day –…
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Seven Victorian tunnel-like magazines were built on the Benfleet waterfront near Jotmans in the late part of the 19th Century. They would have been used for the storage of explosives by barges possibly on the way to London or nearby explosives factories (where is now Wat Tyler Country Park and Coryton Refinery). The Benfleet Community…
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