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 Village seen at the bottom of this page. The first is a museum, the second is a private residence. Both are Grade II listed buildings. There were also modern residences built to mimic their style in the 1930s which you can see here.
The Northwick 1618 Cottage
Our photographs from 2016, 1990s photograph of the cottage by Vince Heatherson, outside and inside the Northwick Cottage in 1920 – note the clogs hanging on the wall as a nod to the house’s origins, and an earlier photograph from 1905 showing the cottage less overgrown
Canvey Island was drained and embanked by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden in the 17th century, and you can read about these early Dutch developments here. Numerous Dutch workers and their families settled here and they built rather unusual octagonal cottages of which two still survive. One cottage, west along Canvey Road, was built in 1618 and is now run, on the Borough Council’s behalf, by the Benfleet and District Historical Society as the Dutch Cottage Museum. Given to the then Canvey Island Urban District Council in 1952, it was restored, repainted and had its conical roof re-thatched ready for opening as a museum in 1962. Further extensive restoration works have been carried out to the cottage. The rooms of the cottage, which include a living room, passage and large and small bedrooms, now contain a variety of exhibits that illustrate the history of Canvey Island, including models of the types of sailing craft which passed the Island from Roman times onward. Attached to the cottage is a modern demountable exhibition hall that houses the many exhibits. Check the museum’s opening times here
111 Years On – 1905 vs. 2016
Various artifacts from the museum including light post from the 1931 Opening Bridge and the remains of a V2 bomb that landed on Canvey during the Blitz. We hope to return soon to update our photos.
The Village 1621 Cottage
One cottage, in Haven Road, was built in 1621 and is still in private ownership after being restored and redecorated. It wasn’t until almost a century after Cornelius’ reclamation of Canvey, to whom we owe great respects to this day, that Canvey was invaded by the Dutch and ‘taken over’ to an extent.
