The Most Curious Place in England By A Goodrich, Photos by C Arthur Person Ltd
Article published in the Royal Magazine 1899 Londoners may be divided into two classes, those who know Canvey, what, and where it is, and those who do not. The latter constitute by far the larger proportion of the community, and include such topographical authorities as messenger boys, telegraph clerks, and postal officials. One extremely well-crammed urchin, to whom I addressed myself, thought it was in the Grecian Archipelago; a telegraph clerk on the day I visited Canvey "opined" that it might Be in the Hebrides, whilst the General Post Office once located it in the Atlantic Ocean. A letter was addressed to the Vicar of Canvey. The authorities, not knowing the place and misled by the foreign sound of the name, sent it to the Canary Islands.
Canvey as a Peninsula Crappenburgh then sent for a number of his countrymen versed in this class of work, and selecting a huge slice of the most exposed portion of the shore, dug a creek, and detached it from the mainland. To secure this newly-made island from any-further ravages of the ocean Crappenburgh then encircled it with a wall twenty-two miles long, which for 250 years successfully defied all the efforts of wind and wave, which at this point know how to assert themselves.
An Old Dutch Cottage No name has as yet been given to the capital of Canvey, a little hamlet comprising fourteen houses, the principal of which is the parsonage. The most interesting feature of the village is the well, which is 312ft. deep. Previous to its being sunk, the inhabitants drank dyke water, which so vexed the soul of the worthy vicar, that he addressed himself to the Corporation of London, who, by a donation of fifty guineas. So woke into activity the dormant philanthropy of the surrounding districts, that the money was soon subscribed. The high, pointed, thatched roof was designed by that talented artist, Mr. Clement Skilbeck, and is, as it should be, Dutch in character. The stir and bustle of the great Metropolis has not yet penetrated Canvey. There are no telegraph wires in the island, and the liliputian pillar box near the" Lobster Smack " is only cleared once a day. Canvev is so completely out of this world that itinerant minstrels know it not and to the musicians of Saffron Hill the place and unknown land. The feverishness of youth born of brighthopes and bitter disappointments might find in Canvey a Slough of Despond, but for those who would exchange the storm and stress of everyday life for a tranquil environment there are few places which can boast the attractions of Canvey.
The Well of Canvey Why should they? London has not thought fit to discover Canvey, so why should Canvey trouble itself about London? And it does not. England is regarded as a distant country, so much so indeed that even if the Empire went to war, Canvey might be relied on by our foes to remain sternly neutral.
The Pillar Box
Canvey as an Island The islanders pondered long over this threat. There had been a time when ague and malaria fairly rioted in Canvey, but that was before the advent of gutters and sluices, so they smiled demurely at the doctor and said, as is their way, " nuffin." When the entire population of an island numbering 300 souls gives itself over for several days to the consumption of oranges, the chilling pangs of suspicion are likely to obtrude. A few questions elicited the fact that two nights before a vessel with a cargo of oranges had gone to pieces on the bank and been deserted by the crew, leaving the cargo to be annexed by the islanders.
The Haunted House of Canvey Whenever Southend wants a hand —which is frequently the case in the tripping season—he goes to Southend, to the great joy of Canvcy, which, disliking all "Guv'ment " except that of the Vicar, turns out to give him a hearty cheer as he departs.
The Bar Palour
Dead Man's Point
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Canvey Island Essex |
The Most Curious Place |