In the Second World War, access to the River Thames was controlled by two defensive ‘booms’. The first at its very mouth ran from Shoeburyness to Sheerness, whilst the second lesser-known but still substantial boom ran from Scars Elbow Battery on Canvey Island to St. Mary’s Bay in Kent. This was a kind of floating…
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Close to High Halstow on the vast historic marshes on the Kent side of the Thames Estuary lies a peculiar diamond-shaped pool of clear man-made origin. This is a duck shooting decoy pond constructed around the late 17th Century with signs of alteration over the following 200 years. The four channels called ‘pipes’ at either…
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In 1891 plans were submitted to build explosive stories, a tramway and cottages south of the River Thames on land known as St Mary’s Marshes. Whilst only an acre of land was required, an exclusion zone of 324 acres, where “no houses should be build” was also needed. The Thames Storage Company was established in…
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At Moat Farm on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent overlooking the Thames lies an unsuspecting grain store of unusual sloped shape. Believe it or not, this is the roof of an airship (zeppelin) shed dating to the Great War, originally situated at Kingsnorth. The fact this is only the top section; already huge, suggests the…
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Canvey’s list of historic pubs have declined over the years, most have been converted into retail space (Silver Jubilee and the King Canute) however the Jellicoe hasn’t been fortunate enough to survive. The pub, and once a hotel, is thought to date back to the late 1920’s or early 1930’s and even survived the floods of…
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During the 1920s a London publican, Edwin Cash, decided to run a ‘get rich quick’ scheme in which he sunk five wells to the rear of Hovells Farm, near what was Vange Hall Estate. Despite the well’s name, it was actually situated nearer to Laindon than Vange, actually within the parish of Fobbing. The ironically…
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How does Cressing Temple reflect what was going on in the wider world? Cressing Temple is located in North Essex and the two surviving Medieval barns have never been out of use since the 13th Century when they were built under the Knights Templar military Christian order who at the time took part in the…
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Fisons Plc was a British pharmaceutical, scientific instruments and horticultural chemicals company established by Edward Packard in 1843. In 1863 he was joined in business by his son, also named Edward, who was developing the business and rationalising the UK’s fertiliser industry. The business was incorporated in 1895 under the name of Edward Packard and Company Limited. In 1919 the company…
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St. Mary’s is located at the top of the hill in Benfleet highstreet. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, a small church was built on the site of the current one (c.1067). Its western wall still forms part of the church today. In the 1100s the church as we know it was built…
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Located in the heart of Billericay, Norsey Wood is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with history spanning the centuries. Discoveries such as a Neolithic axe head and a Roman cemetery are just a couple of finds to be looked into, following the first investigation in 1865 by J E K Cutts, with…
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