Timescapes Castle Point Documentary

Our Lady of Fatima Church, Harlow

The Epsom Asylum Cluster

State Cinema, Grays

Bata Shoe Factory & Estate

St. Mary’s Church, Mundon

Welcome to Beyond the Point

Beyond the Point is a non-profit award-winning organisation by Joe Mander-Rigby and Liam Heatherson. Our mission is to record overlooked built heritage and disappearing structures in the changing landscape through professional-standard photography and film-making, developed over years of experience. We were established in 2011 as an Essex-based local history blog, and have since evolved into an ever-growing online resource of over 400 historic sites, with over a thousand more in our archives. These sites include churches, farms, fortifications, bunkers, hospitals, asylums, military bases, factories, power stations, pumping stations, houses, schools and civic buildings across Britain. Not only do we examine individual places, we also explore wider themes and the historical context surrounding them to tell stories about how communities and environments have developed. We have supported numerous community organisations and projects over the years, and have worked with respected national names in media and heritage. Find out more here…

Latest Articles

Featured Collections

County Asylums

When the County Asylum Act was passed by Parliament in 1845, counties across the country began building institutions for the mentally ill. Today, very few are still in medical use with the majority converted, demolished or left ruined. We have visited dozens of these hospitals across the UK, producing one of the most comprehensive archives of asylum buildings.

Wales’ Remaining Asylums

In 2023 we set off on a road trip through Wales, with the aim of documenting the country’s former lunatic asylums. These institutions were commonly …

The Epsom Asylum Cluster

Ordnance Survey 1945-1965 mapping showing the five Epsom Cluster asylums In Epsom, Surrey, the former London County Council decided to create five London County Asylums …

Hellingly Hospital

Hellingly Hospital began construction in 1898 and first opened in 1903 as East Sussex County Lunatic Asylum. Originally, East and West Sussex shared a joint …

Gartloch Hospital

Play from 10:06 to watch our footage of Gartloch Asylum If you’ve ever watched a horror film or read a scary book about a psychiatric …

Murray Royal Hospital

The Murray Royal Hospital in Perth is Scotland’s oldest surviving asylum and was one of the grandest built. The now derelict asylum was named after …

High Royds Hospital

High Royds in Menston is one of the most well-documented and now infamous of the county asylums to be built, instantly recognizable by its looming …

Bunkers & Tunnels

From secret nuclear bunkers built for Government officials to subterranean tunnels below Victorian forts.

Vange ROC Post

This Royal Observer Corps post opened in 1958 for the detection of nuclear blasts in the event of the Cold War going hot. The small …

Belsize Park Deep Shelter

As bombings intensified during the Second World War the Government embarked on a programme of constructing deep level air raid shelters beneath the streets of …

Grain Fort & Tunnels

Grain Fort was constructed in the 1860s to defend the mouth of the River Medway and Thames against the threat of French naval attack. It …

Southminster ROC Post

This Royal Observer Corps observation bunker was constructed in 1959 and closed with the first wave of posts in 1968 (unlike those remaining in operation …

Thanet Air Raid Shelters

Across the country hundreds of air raid shelters were built at the outbreak of World War Two, both above and beneath the surface with the …

Churches

There’s an estimated 37,000 churches across England alone, with around 12,500 Grade II listed. We have documented a variety of these religious sites from abandoned stone-made medieval churches to a 1950s’ modernist church which is still in use today.

St. Basil the Great Church, Basildon

The church of St. Basil the Great is a largely under-appreciated building. It is a fine yet understated example of mid-century modernist architecture and is …

Our Lady of Fatima Church, Harlow

In August 2025, we were lucky enough to be shown inside the stunning Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church in Harlow and allowed to …

Tillingham Perculiar People Chapel

This humble little chapel in Tillingham, on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, was completed in 1867 for the Perculiar People. They were strict Puritan group …

St. Mary’s Church, Mundon

St. Mary’s Church in the tiny village of Mundon in Essex is a strikingly unusual and old-looking building. It’s timber-framed construction sets it apart as …

All Saints Church, East Horndon

Overlooking the A127 with views spanning from Essex to London, the Grade II-listed All Saints Church has stood semi-abandoned for decades until 2021 when an …

Second World War Defences

From pillboxes to prisoner of war camps, we have visited a huge variety of buildings constructed during the Second World War, including some which are open as museums.

Cliffe RAF Bombing Decoy

Built during the Second World War, this control bunker is where a crew would have operated a wider decoy formation across the Cliffe Marshes. It …

Sadlers Farm A13 Defensive Roadblock

At the junction of the Sadlers Farm roundabout and Tarpots on the A13 road lies a suspected wartime remnant passed by hundreds of people everyday …

Salt Lane Air Raid Shelters

Along Salt Lane in Cliffe lies an overgrown pair of air raid shelter tunnels installed to protect industrial workers of the Alpha cement works in …

Belsize Park Deep Shelter

As bombings intensified during the Second World War the Government embarked on a programme of constructing deep level air raid shelters beneath the streets of …

RAF Kenley Bofors Gun Tower

According to Historic England, this Bofors light anti-aircraft gun tower was constructed circa 1940 at the start of World War Two as an outlying defence …

Burnham Minefield Control Tower

Once the Second World started in 1939, Britain was keeping a close eye on the east-coast of the country to prevent any German invasion. Burnham-on-Crouch …

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