Known as 1, The Thames – this 19th century fort is situated 500 meters out into the mouth of the River Medway and was built to protect local dockyards from the potential invasion from the French. In 2014 the fort was up for sale and was sold for around £400,000 but the Grade II listed…
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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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The area north-east of Sutton Road Cemetery and Temple Farm Industrial Estate in Southend is home to numerous pillboxes, and once there was probably even more. Whilst these pillboxes are too far east to be a part of the GHQ line of defence along England’s eastern coast, they were probably instead built to protect the…
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Grain Dummy Battery, originally known as Grain Battery, was built shortly before Grain Fort, completed in 1865 to support two nearby forts; Grain Fort and Grain Wing Battery. Following the usual design for batteries, it consisted of several gun emplacements with magazines below. Unlike other forts, it’s likely that this one was out of service…
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After setting off from the explosives site at Coryton, we headed on a trek across the marshes towards the town of Fobbing. We were searching for a ‘Starfish’ site – one of a few that survive today. In January 1940, Britain’s decoy programme began and was designed to distract aircraft to sites that had supposedly…
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Walking along you wouldn’t bat an eye lid at this rather bollard – that’s unless you knew the history of it. In October 1805 the Battle of Trafalgar took place between the British Navy and joint French & Spanish fleets. Twenty seven British ships were up against 33 of their counterparts and, after a bloody…
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In the years leading up to the Second World War the Government ordered the production of hundreds of thousands stretchers. They were built using two metal poles and wire mesh as metal would be easier to clean and disinfect and would be sturdier than wooden or fabric stretchers. Some 600,000 were estimated to have been…
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Photographs above are from HadleighHistory.org.uk in an article written by local author and Historian Robert Hallman The oldest house in Benfleet as it has been known was formerly a ‘poorhouse’, which we would interpret as a government-funded structure that would support those in poverty and provide them with housing. Whilst ‘poorhouses’ include the treacherous workhouses…
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Situated around a mile west from Coalhouse Fort, this Lozenge pillbox has been the victim of coastal erosion. Once sitting on the Essex marshes it now lies half sunken into the earth and half resting on the sand below. Inside, the pillbox is quite spacious and even has some of the original shutters and shutter…
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Comprised of former farmland, Wick Country Park in Wickford spans 50 acres with over 2km of walking trails. Dotted amongst the site are three pillboxes – only one of which can be accessed inside, the others have been sealed up to prevent any damage. During construction works on the park in 2001, earth excavations discovered…
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