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 a building of bygone origin and design. It was built in the fourteenth-century within the moated site of Mundon Hall. Possibly built on the site of an Anglo-Saxon church, it…
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Established in 2012, the Slough Fort Preservation Trust (SFPT) was formed from a group of volunteers who all had an interest in history, and the fort. Forming a trust, the group work tirelessly to care for the fort by maintaining it and restoring it to become a public museum. In 2016, Beyond the Point attended…
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Coalhouse Point where the Thames suddenly narrows was home to several defences since 1402, and a D-shaped artillery battery fort stood here from 1539. The fort was replaced in 1799 with Coalhouse Fort which was rebuilt in 1847 and 1860. The large moat you can see to prevent invaders reaching the fort is a technological…
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See above the front of the depot in 1990 (Frank Whitnell) and in 2013 The Canvey & District Bus Depot was built in 1934, featuring contemporary Art Deco hard-edged geometric architecture. It was vacated in 1974, by Eastern National, the major primary bus service of the era – now days First dominates Essex’ streets, with…
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Tilbury Fort has been defending London from the threat of invasion for over 500 years. Since the fort was built in 1539, under the rein of King Henry VIII, it has survived many wars and battles including the Spanish Armada. At its peak in the 1700’s there was an estimated 100 guns at the site. In…
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The plotlands was an area of natural land available for rent/purchase as holiday spots, popular with Londoners who wanted to escape to the countryside. No proper development was really carried out and the residences, pathways, and streets, were the handywork of those visiting Dunton for leisure. It was used as a plotlands site until 1980…
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Above the surface it looks like a normal country cottage, but beneath the building lies something completely different – a nuclear bunker. The only clue from above the surface is a pylon, although beneath the surface various rooms were build to accommodate a team to keep the country running in the event of a nuclear…
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The artillery battery at Longues-sur-Mer was built as part of the Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications and was built by German Forces in the first half of 1944, being completed within just four months. Constructed on the Normandy clifftop some 60 metres above the sea level, it was built in one of the best positions to…
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Stow Maries is a village and civil parish in west Essex. In September 1916, during the first World War, an airfield was established at Stow Maries for the Royal Flying Corps. By 1919 the need for airfields lessened and Stow Maries was closed. The site was then considered for development as an airfield during the…
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Beyond the Point has been fortunate enough to get a special tour around Fort Amherst, situated in Chatham, back in 2017. With thanks to our tour from volunteer Bill, we got to see both public and private parts of the site including some which are due to be done up later this year thanks to…
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