Behind Lakeside Shopping Centre
Pictured above is the planned lake hotel artist’s impression, original pre-2005 Lakeside logo, the new Intu facade c.2013, and construction of the centre c.1993. Although this …
Shell Haven Refinery Jetties
The Shell Haven Oil Refinery existed behind the Coryton refinery that dominates the skyline of the surrounding area, which ceased oil production in 2012. It …
Chafford Gorges
Transformed from chalk industry giants of the 20th Century, these huge craters in the landscape now form nature reserves due to the mineral-rich soils. What’s …
London Gateway Container Port
DP (Dubai Ports) World began to construct a huge shipping container port over the site of the Shell Haven oil refinery in around roughly 2010, …
Southchurch Hall
Southchurch Hall is a moated house, clearly rather grand, dating back to the Middle Ages (14th Century) with extensions added in the Tudor era and …
Southend Central Museum
The building originates back to 1905, when the site was first opened as the towns first free library. The Grade II listed site remained as …
Prittlewell Priory
Prittlewell Priory is a medieval priory founded in the 12th Century by monks of Cluniac Priory of St. Pancreas. It became a private residence after …
Southend Clifftown
1-15 Royal Terrace and the Royal Hotel were built well before the Victorian era – in the time of Georgian rule in the 1790s. Originally …
Westcliff High School for Boys
Liam from Beyond the Point has worked with school to produce a feature-length documentary on the school’s history including both an insight into life there …
Beecroft Gallery & Former Library, Southend
Brutalism is an architectural style that resulted from post-war space-age and post-modernist design influences seen in buildings from the 1950s up to 1970s and rarely …
Canvey-Benfleet Crossing & Benfleet Railway Station
Prior to the construction of the Colvin opening bridge in 1931, a ferry and stepping stones at low tide were used to get from Benfleet …
Site of Tree Farm, Canvey
Turn back the clock to 1850 and Canvey Island little more than farmland and a small village, much like the Wild West. Only few of …
Canvey’s Dutch Cottages
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 …
St. Katherines Church & Canvey Village
Known as either Canvey Island’s Heritage Centre or St Katherine’s Church, this building stands proud along Long Road. Towards the second-half of the 19th Century, Victorian …
Prehistoric Fossils at Canvey Seawall
The current seawall that encircles Canvey Island was a late 1970s upgrade to the 1950s wall that was the first to be made out of …
Cox’s Stores & Cafe, Canvey
Several years ago BTP Joe was on Shell Beach, Canvey, when he came across this old piece of pottery. It clearly belonged to the company …
Fielder’s Bungalows on Canvey
Lt. Col. Horace Percy Fielder could be considered the man to whom established Canvey as a residential area. A few decades before, at the turn …
Dr. Feelgood Exhibition, The Canvey Club
Who are Dr. Feelgood? Dr. Feelgood are a band formed in 1971 originating from Canvey; headlining the pub rock genre which was a revival of blues and …
Battlesbridge Mill & Bridge
Battlesbridge may not appear to be a very large place, but it is historic. It sits on the River Crouch where it narrows and heads …
Rayleigh’s Dutch Cottage
Rayleigh Dutch Cottage at Crown Hill has a past as strange as it’s appearance. Whilst a sign above its door denotes ‘1621’, analysis suggests it …
Rayleigh Windmill
Rayleigh Windmill is a grade II-listed mill which was built in 1809 for local timber trader Thomas Higgs. He became bankrupt in 1815 and the …
Old Leigh Heritage
The original Leigh settlement was the riverside ‘old town’ which appeared in the Middle Ages. Its narrow cobbled pre-motorcar streets and confined below-mainland position mean …
CK69 Dunkirk Little Boat
In 1940, The British Expeditionary Force, Britain’s main army, was sent into France to help the French troops drive back the Germans during the first …
Canvey Sewage Works
In 2011 and 2015 we visited the Anglian Water treatment works by Thorney Bay. As someone mentioned on our Facebook Page “I think this is a …