Foulness Island

Saint Mary the Virgin is a parish of the Church of England on Foulness Island, in Essex, England. Before the 15th century, the island of Foulness was divided among several neighbouring parishes. The inhabitants were expected to attend church services in their respective mainland parish churches but in practice this must have been difficult and at times impossible, as in those days there was no bridge linking Foulness to the mainland.In 1407, Lady Joan de Bohun, Countess of Essex, obtained a licence from the Bishop of London to found a chantry of a chaplain to celebrate Mass on a daily basis in a chapel on Foulness. She also managed to secure the payment of church dues towards the upkeep of the chapel, rather than having the islanders’ payments going towards the various mainland parishes among which the island had been split.Some 150 years later, the Chantry was dissolved under the massive religious upheaval resulting from Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The chapel's land and possessions were confiscated. However, the desire for local services remained and within three years Foulness became a separate ecclesiastical parish.The old chantry chapel was demolished and a new timber-framed church was erected on the site, this church being dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. By the middle the 19th century this old church was in a poor state of repair and the size of the population of the parish had outgrown the small building. In 1848 the parishioners decided to pull the old church down and build a new one in its place.The present church, which is now Grade II listed, was erected a little to the west of the original site. The parishioners themselves provided some forty per cent of the cost of building, and George Finch, the then Lord of the Manor, twenty per cent. The rest came from two ecclesiastical building societies and from private subscription, including £50 from the Elder Brethren of Trinity House so that the spire might be built of a sufficient height to be of value as a seamark for sailors.The church was built in the Early English style, to a design by William Hambley, with a spire, a nave with two aisles, and a chancel. The churchyard was expanded, using ground given by George Finch. The new church was consecrated in 1853 and dedicated to "Saint Mary the Virgin, Saint Thomas and All Saints".The church is quite plain inside, with almost no stained glass. The organ was built in 1866 and gained “a gold medal at an exhibition” but the brass plaque attached to it does not tell us which exhibition; it was purchased from North Ockendon and dedicated in 1908. A swell was added to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of George VI and was dedicated in October 1936. Although no obvious evidence remains of the earlier church buildings, there are several gravestones which clearly predate the present building., including one for Jonas Allen who died on 27 April 1698, which carries a skull and crossbones motif. There are also three War Graves from the First World War containing the remains of unidentified Royal Navy sailors whose bodies were found on the coast of the island. Inside the main gate of the churchyard is the island's War Memorial. On one face are listed the names of seven Islanders who gave their lives in the “Great War”, and on an adjoining face the names of the three who died in the Second World War. The church was permanently closed in May 2010, and the building was later put up for sale. In 2019 there were plans for it to become a five-bedroom home.

The River Roach is a river that flows entirely through the English county of Essex. It is one of four main streams that originate in the Rayleigh Hills to the west, and flow east. They then flow towards the centre of the Rochford Basin, a circular feature which may have been caused by an asteroid impact in the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene periods. To the east of Rochford, the river becomes tidal, and is governed by the Crouch Harbour Authority. It joins the River Crouch between Wallasea Island and Foulness Island. To the west of Rochford, there is some doubt as to which of the four streams is officially the Roach. At Stambridge, there was a tidal mill from at least the 1500s, although few details are known until it was rebuilt in 1809. A pound was filled by the incoming tide, and was released to drive a water wheel as the tide fell. On spring tides, this gave around 7 hours of operation, which gradually decreased as the tides reduced, and at neap tides, the operation of the mill was entirely dependent on the flow from the upper river. Rankins, the millers, objected to plans by the Great Eastern Railway to build a dam and reservoirs in Rochford, as it would damage their operation, but a single reservoir was authorised in 1904. The river channels are designated as "heavily modified" from their natural state by the Environment Agency, who measure the water quality. This is moderate for most of the tributaries, and the chemical status has improved since 2013. Charles Darwin's HMS Beagle was moored on the river from 1850 as a Coast Guard watch ship. It was sold for breaking, but an archaeological survey concluded in 2008 that much of it still remains buried beneath the mud near Paglesham. The Paglesham Reach is also significant for its native oysters.

The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They form a part of the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation due to their value for nature conservation, with a large colony of dwarf eelgrass (Zostera noltei) and associated animal communities. To the northeast, the Maplin sands are contiguous with the Foulness sands, which are bordered to the north by the Whitaker Channel; the seaward continuation of the River Crouch. To the south runs the Swin Channel.

Wallasea Wetlands is a reclaimed wetlands area located in Essex, England. It has been created as part of a government-funded wetlands scheme to halt the decline of wild and endangered birds caused by the drainage and development of former wetland sites. It is the largest man-made marine wetland area in the United Kingdom. The wetland spans an area of 115 hectares (1.15 km2) and is sited on Wallasea Island, which borders two rivers (River Crouch to the north and River Roach to the south-east). They provide winter grounds for wading birds, as well as breeding and nursery areas for aquatic wildlife, such as bass, mullet, flatfish and herring and even some types of dolphin. The area will also help to reduce the flooding of properties near the River Crouch by providing a run-off area for floodwaters. In the process being termed "managed re-alignment", the seawall that protects croplands and property was re-established in more tenable positions, three miles behind the new wetlands, which will provide habitat for birds like oystercatchers, avocets and little terns, according to the press release issued at the time. Walkers and birdwatchers will be able to enjoy the scenery by means of a new footpath that has been built on the top of this new relocated sea wall. Construction was completed in 2006 and by 2011 the land had evolved into wetland, mudflats, saline lagoons and seven artificial islands, allowing the wildlife to reside on these areas. An extension to the scheme, using 2,400 shiploads of spoil excavated from London's Crossrail tunnels, was completed in July 2015, when an additional area of land was opened to tidal flow. This has formed the Jubilee Marsh (160 ha / 400 acres). The whole project is expected to be completed by 2025.

New England Island is an uninhabited island in Essex, England. One road crosses the island, connecting it with bridges to Foulness and to the mainland via Havengore Island. Formerly used as pasture for livestock, the low-lying island is protected by levees and has been owned by the Ministry of Defence since the early 20th century.

Havengore Island is a low-lying, marshy island in the civil parish of Foulness, in the Rochford district, in the county of Essex, England. It is bounded by New England Creek to the north, Havengore Creek to the south west, the Middleway to the north west, with the North Sea to the south and east. It is linked by bridges to the mainland and to New England Island, from which the road continues to Foulness. Its south east coast borders the North Sea and like its south west shore is protected by levees. The island has never been heavily populated and now has a few buildings along its single road. Its southern end is Ministry of Defence land. HMS Beagle is said to have been used to block one of the channels around the island in its last days.

Wallasea Island lies in Essex, England. It is bounded to the north by the River Crouch, to the south east by the River Roach, and to the west by Paglesham Pool and the narrow Paglesham Creek. The population of the Island is included in the civil parish of Canewdon. Much of the island is farmland, and wheat is the main crop. A small settlement at its western end is linked by road to the mainland and is home to a campsite and marina. It is linked by a ferry to Burnham-on-Crouch. It is possible to walk for about 8 mi (13 km) around most of the sea wall. The south side of the island is one of the most tranquil places in Essex, where wildlife typical of open farmland such as skylarks, corn buntings and hares can be observed. Close by, on the opposite side of the estuary of the River Roach, Foulness Island and Potton Island are visible.

Rushley Island is a small uninhabited island in Essex, England. It is the smallest of six islands comprising an archipelago in Essex, and is privately owned. A seawall was first constructed in the 1780s by John Harriott, and the island has been the object of farming activities since then.The local racehorse trainer and one-time Rushley Island owner, Frank Threadgold, once bred a horse which he named after the island.

The Broomway, also formerly called the "Broom Road", is a public right of way over the foreshore at Maplin Sands off the coast of Essex, England. Most of the route is classed as a byway open to all traffic, with a shorter section of bridleway. When the tide is out, it provides access to Foulness Island, and indeed was the only access to Foulness on foot, and the only access at low tide, until a road bridge was built over Havengore Creek in 1922.At over 600 years old, recorded as early as 1419, the Broomway runs for 6 miles (9.7 km) along the Maplin Sands, some 440 yards (400 m) from the present shoreline. It was named for the "brooms", bundles of twigs attached to short poles, with which the route was once marked. A number of headways or hards ran from the track to the shore, giving access to local farms. The track is extremely dangerous in misty weather, as the incoming tide floods across the sands at high speed, and the water forms whirlpools because of flows from the River Crouch and River Roach. Under such conditions, the direction of the shore cannot be determined. After the road bridge was opened in 1922, the Broomway ceased to be used, except by the military.

The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club is a watersports organisation based at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.

Potton Island is a sparsely populated island west of Foulness in Essex, England. It is connected to the mainland by a swing bridge with a traffic light system, and the road leads to Great Wakering. Unlike some of the other nearby islands which were formerly marshland, Potton Island has been inhabited at least since the Neolithic era. It was home to several arable farms until it flooded in 1884, leading to its temporary abandonment and longer-term use as pasture. The island was reclaimed in the 1940s but some time after being acquired by the Ministry of Defence in 1955 it reverted to pasture. In June 2005, it was disclosed that Potton Island was considered by John Major's Conservative government in the 1980s or 1990s as a potential long-term storage site for high-level nuclear waste. Local government (Southend-on-Sea Borough Council) subsequently expressed their surprise and concern that they had not been party to any consultation on the matter.

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, passing under the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge. There was no immediate need for Beagle, so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions. The second voyage of HMS Beagle is notable for carrying the recently graduated naturalist Charles Darwin around the world. While the survey work was carried out, Darwin travelled and researched geology, natural history and ethnology onshore. He gained fame by publishing his diary journal, best known as The Voyage of the Beagle, and his findings played a pivotal role in the formation of his scientific theories on evolution and natural selection.