Canvey Island (area 18.45 km²; pop. 37,479) is a reclaimed island in the Thames estuary separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks. Lying below sea level it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since the Roman invasion of Britain. The island was mainly agricultural land until the 20th century when it became the fastest growing seaside resort in Britain between 1911-1951. The North Sea flood of 1953 devastated the island costing the lives of 58 islanders, and led to the temporary evacuation of the 13,000 residents. Canvey is consequently protected by modern sea defences comprising of concrete seawall. Canvey is also notable for its relationship to the petrochemical industry. The island was the site of the first delivery in the world of liquiefied natural gas by container ship, and later became the subject of an influential assessment on the risks to a population living within the vicinity of petrochemical shipping and storage facilities. Notable residents of the island have included Roland and Francis Prout; 20th century pioneers of catamaran design, the pub rock band Dr. Feelgood, and the Olympic decathlete Dean Macey.
Along with neighbouring Two Tree Island, Lower Horse, and Upper Horse, Canvey is an alluvial island formed in the holocene period from the silt in the River Thames and material entering the estuary on the tides of the North Sea from the coast of Norfolk. An unsuccessful search for coal beneath the island in 1953 revealed that the alluvium rests upon layers of London Clay, Lower London Tertiaries, Chalk, Lower Greensand and Gault Clay, with the basement rocks at a depth of 400m consisting of hard Old Red Sandstone of Devonian age.
The island is extremely flat, lies 3m below the mean high water level and subsequently has a propensity for flooding. Flood defenses have been constructed since the Middle Ages, and the first seawall to completely surround the land was built as part of the island's reclamation in 1622. The island suffered extensive flooding in 1731, 1736, 1791, 1881, 1897, and substantial loss of life in the North Sea Flood of 1953. As of 2008, the flood defences consist of a concrete seawall, flood sirens and an internal surface storm water drainage system. The seawall was completed in 1982 and is long and surrounds 75% of the island's perimeter terminating with flood barriers spanning Benfleet Creek to the north and East Haven Creek in the west. The drainage system consists of sewers, culverts, natural and artificial dykes and lakes which feed seven pumping stations and gravity sluices that discharge the water into the Thames and creeks. Four of the discharge sites are "high flow" stations capable of discharging 600 litres of water per second at any tide level. The levels within the system are managed by a further five "Low flow" pumping stations. The Environment Agency's Thames Estuary 2100 flood defence plan includes Canvey Island as one site for alleviating the flood risks to London and the Thames estuary area. It is proposed that the western side of Canvey is developed as a site which is either temporarily flooded at times of risk, or is transformed into a permanent wetlands.
Developments in the 20th century have produced a marked contrast between the environments in the east and west of the island. The eastern half of the island is allocated to residential areas, the main public amenities, and a small holiday camp and seafront, while the western half of the island is mainly farmland, marshes, and industrial areas. The marshes in the west include the 30 hectares known as West Canvey marshes acquired by the RSPB in 2007, and the Canvey Wick nature reserve. "Canvey Wick" is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at the site of the abandoned and incomplete oil refinery. Because the foundations of the 100-hectare site were prepared in the 1970s by laying thousands of tonnes of silt dredged from the Thames; the abandoned and undisturbed area has flourished as a haven for around 1,300 species of wildlife, many of which are endangered or were thought to be extinct; including the shrill carder bee, the emerald damsel fly and the weevil hunting wasp. It has been said that the site may exist with one of the highest levels of biodiversity in western Europe. Other areas of natural interest include the eight hectares of Canvey Lake Local Nature Reserve owned by Castle Point Borough Council. The lake existed as a means to facilitate the salt-making process during the Roman settlement of the island, and is also thought to have functioned as an oyster bed. At the eastern point of the island is the 36-acre Canvey Heights Country Park which was reclaimed from the Newlands landfill site that operated there between 1954-89. The park is the highest land elevation on the island and subsequently provides wide views across the creeks, marshes and along the Thames. The environment supports an array of wildfowl such as skylarks, dark-bellied brent geese, and grey plover.
Mentioned on John Norden's 1594 insert above, is what is now the Eastern/Point mud flats of Canvey Island. Two Tree Island is in pretty much the same shape now as then. The third un-named Island could well be Counus or (Council Island). Certainly the Trinovantes, Cantiaci and the Catuvellauni would have counseled with the Iceni here, shortly before the rebellion against the Romans. Counus remains as the Canvey Point Sand Bank and Maplin Sands, and stretched the whole length of Southend Sea Front area. It is the main reason for Southend's Tidal flats being so shallow. Cana's People were descendant of both Cantiaci and the Catuvellauni. Counus would then be placed at the southern border of the Trinovantes on the Eastern Extent of The Tames (Thames).
Excavations on Canvey have unearthed a collection of early man-made objects comprising axes from the Neolithic era, a bracelet dating from the Bronze Age, and early Celtic gritted ware pottery. However, the remains of Roman structures and objects suggests the first settlement of Canvey occurred between 50–250 AD. The remains point to a community existing with a farmstead, a garrison, a burial ground, and the operation of a large salt-making industry (revealed by the existence of several Red hills). The discovery of a Roman road found to terminate 100 metres across the creek in neighbouring Benfleet suggests a means may have existed to facilitate the salt's distribution to Chelmsford and Colchester, and the recovery of rich items of pottery and glassware of a variety only matched elsewhere by excavations of port facilities suggests the Romans may also have exploited Canvey's location in the Thames for shipping.
During Edward II's reign (1307-1327) the land was under the possession of John de Apeton and the first attempts were made at managing the effects of the sea with rudimentary defences, but periodical flooding continued to blight the small population of mostly shepherds and their fat-tailed variety of sheep for a further 300 years. William Camden wrote of the island in 1607 that it was so low that it was often quite flooded, except the hills, upon which the sheep have a place of safe refuge. The uniform flatness of Canvey suggests that these hills are likely to be the red hills of the Roman salt making industry, or the early makeshift sea defences constructed by some of the landowners around their farms.
In 1622, Sir Henry Appleton (a descendant of John de Apeton), and Canvey's other landowners instigated a project to reclaim the land and wall the island from the Thames. The scheme was managed by an acquaintance of Appleton's - Joas Croppenburg, a Dutch Haberdasher of Cheapside in London. An agreement was reached in 1623 which stipulated that in return for inning and recovering the island, the landowners would grant a third of the land as payment for the work. A relation of Croppenburg's; the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden present in England at the time of the project on a commission to drain the Fens and involved in repairing the seawall at Dagenham has led to speculation that Vermuyden oversaw the project, but proof appears to be vague, nevertheless the work was completed by around 300 Hollanders skilled in the construction of dykes and other sea defences. The engineers successfully reclaimed by walling the island with local chalk, limestone and the heavy clay of the marshes, with the main length along the Thames faced with kentish ragstone. A broad drainage ditch was dug inland off the area facing the river while smaller inlets were filled in. Excess water would have collected in the broad ditch and then been discharged into the river by the means of seven sluices (later known as Commissioners Dykes). The completion of the work saw a considerable number of the Dutch engineers take land as payment for their work, and consequently settle on the island.
Along with the Coalhouse Fort at nearby East Tilbury, Thorney bay on the southern coast of the island was the site of a degaussing station built to monitor the effectiveness of the degaussing equipment functioning on board the allied ships passing along the Thames. The structure is the last intact degaussing station on the north side of the river, and was still operating in 1974. Known as the Canvey loop, the building was occupied by the Women's Royal Naval Service and used for monitoring merchant ships.
On 31 January 1953, the North Sea Flood hit the island during the night and caused the deaths of 58 people. Many of the victims were in the holiday bungalows of the eastern Newlands estate and perished as the water reached ceiling level. The small village area of the island is approximately two feet above sea level and consequently escaped the effects of the flood. This included the local Red Cow pub which was later renamed the King Canute in reference to the legend of the 11th century Danish king of England commanding the tide to halt with the sea lapping at his feet.
After the flood of 1953, a new seawall was built, which was then replaced with a significantly larger construction in the 1980s.
The southern area of the Canvey Island West ward has predominantly existed as petrochemical site since the first construction of an oil terminal there in 1936. In 1959, as part of a pioneering Anglo-American project designed to asses the viability of transporting liquefied natural gas overseas, a gas terminal with two one thousand tonne capacity storage tanks was constructed at the site alongside the oil terminal. The gas terminal built by the British Gas Council was designed to store and distribute imported gas to the whole of Britain via the facilities at Thames Haven and the local refinery at Shellhaven in Coryton. The first delivery of 2020 tonnes arrived on 20 February 1959 from Lake Charles, Louisiana by a specially modified liberty ship Normarti renamed The Methane Pioneer. The success of seven further deliveries over the following 14 months established the international industry for transporting liquefied natural gas by sea, but the discovery of oil and gas in North sea ended the development in Britain. Planning permission was granted in the following years for Occidental Petroleum and the Italian oil company, United Refineries Ltd to develop the site and construct an oil refinery, but a report in 1975 by the Health and safety executive concluded that the residents of the island faced an unacceptable risk, which led to the permission being revoked. The issue of risk was again highlighted in an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in January 1979 on a storage tank at the island's Texaco oil terminal. A bomb was detonated at a tank containing aviation fuel, but failed to ignite with the fuel escaping into a safety moat. The Occidental site was abandoned in 1975 leaving a half-built oil refinery, storage tanks, and an unused mile long jetty which cost around £10 million of the approximate total of £60 million spent on the project. However, in the following years the disused and undisturbed site flourished as a haven for wildlife, and in 2003, the final storage tanks were removed in a clean-up operation, and the site was renamed as Canvey Wick and opened as a nature reserve.
|Canvey Island Independent Party (CIIP)||15|
Canvey is represented within Castle Point Borough Council by 17 councillors elected from six wards: Canvey Island Central, East, North, South, West, and Winter Gardens. The political affiliation of Canvey councillors within the council is almost exclusively led by the Canvey Island Independent Party (CIIP) formed in 2003 by local resident Dave Blackwell. 15 of the available 17 seats are taken by the CIIP with two held by members of the Conservative Party.
The Canvey Island town council was formed in 2007 after a petition containing the signatures of 3,000 islanders was accepted by the government. As of 2008, the council is represented by 11 councillors, and functions with Councillor surgeries, and through four committees - Community Relations, Environment and Open Spaces, Planning and Policy, and Finance. The surgeries are held at the town council offices, while the committees meet at various venues every fortnight.
|Canvey Island Compared|
|2001 UK census||Canvey Island||Castle Point||England|
|Over 65 years old||15%||17%||16%|
As of the 2001 UK census, the population of Canvey was 37,479 of which 87.9% of people were living within the five wards of the eastern area of the island at a population density of 38 persons per hectare, while the population density within the west ward - covering a larger area of the island - was 4.6 persons per hectare.
There were 15,312 dwellings on Canvey of which 98.7% were households. 42.4% were occupied by married couples, 13.9% of households contained three or more adults and no children, 26% were one person households, and 8.1% were occupied by co-habiting couples. Canvey had a higher proportion at 35.2% of households owning their properties outright compared with the average of 29.2% for England, but had a lower proportion when compared to the average for Castle Point at 39.9%.
There was a higher proportion of female residents than male by 0.03%. The median age of the population was 40 years, and 23% were under 18, while 15% of residents were over 65.
The island has a high proportion of white people compared to national figures; the ethnicity recorded was 98.2% white compared with 91% for England. 0.6% of the population of Canvey were of a mixed ethnic group, while 0.6% were Asian, 0.2% Black, and 0.2% Chinese.
4.2% of the population were foreign born, with 1.7% of residents born in another constituent country of the UK. 2.5% of the population were born outside the UK; and 1.2% of residents born outside Europe.
Religion was recorded as 74% Christian, 0.2% Muslim, 0.1% Jewish, 0.1% Hindu, while 16% of islanders had no religion.
The proportion of unemployed persons on Canvey was lower at 2.2% than for Castle Point at 2.4%, and England at 3.3%.
The Lobster Smack Public House at the south west corner of the island is a grade II listed building dated to the 17th century. The pub was known to Charles Dickens who mentioned it in Great Expectations. Alongside the pub is a row of wooden Coast guard cottages that date from the late 19th century which are also of grade II listed status.
Landmarks from the era of Canvey's development as a seaside resort in the 20th century include the International style Labworth Café built 1932-33 and designed by Ove Arup. The building fell into a state of disrepair in the 1970s and 80s but was renovated in 1996 and now functions as both a beach bistro and restaurant. The local bus depot within the island's Leigh Beck area was reopened as the Castle point transport museum in 1979. The depot had served the island between 1934-1978 and now houses a collection of buses, commercial, military and emergency vehicles, and general items related to public road transport.
Opened in 1979, the Heritage Centre along Canvey Road is housed in the former St. Katherine’s Church, which was built in 1874. Originally timber-framed, the church was rendered over in the 1930’s to give it its present appearance; it closed as a place of worship in 1962. It now contains an art and craft centre with a small folk museum.
There are two bus companies that operate services onto Canvey Island. These two companies are First Essex and Regal Busways. First Essex is the main bus operator and operates eight services onto Canvey, these services are: 3, 16, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 822. These all run through the town centre and connect all of the different parts of the island to the town centre. From Canvey, passengers can travel to places such as Southend, Basildon, Bournes Green and Benfleet. Regal Busways is a new operator on the island and started services in May 2006 and operate the No.1 service to Chelmsford. The service operates via Benfleet, South Benfleet, Battlesbridge, Howe Green and Sandon and occasionally beyond Chelmsford to Writtle. Regal Busways use Optare Tempo vehicles that have luxury leather seats and state-of-the-art public information systems.
Peter Taylor the temporary manager of the England football team in 2000 was born on Canvey. Other footballers from the island include Frank Saul: FA Cup winner in 1967 with Tottenham Hotspur F.C.; Ty Gooden: who played between 1992-2005 for teams such as Arsenal and Swindon Town F.C.; and Dean Marney: an England U21 currently playing at Hull City.
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