Canvey Island

Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / height missing

Canvey Iceland is an island in the estuary of the River Thames off the coast of the county of Essex, England. Canvey Iceland is also the name of the town on this island, which is, however, often abbreviated to Canvey. The city is part of the Castle Point Borough.

Data

The island has an area of 18.45 km ² and a population of about 37,000. It is connected by bridge to the mainland. Other settlements on the island are Newlands and Leigh Beck. Other nearby islands include Lower Horse and Two Tree Iceland. The name " Canvey " is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means "Island of Cana ", so that the ' island ' actually appears twice in the name of Canvey Iceland. The island was first mentioned in 1255 as Caneveye.

History

Canvey Iceland was originally a part of the mainland until the coast broke into small pieces; Today the island is composed of five pieces of this island. Due to the geological history of the island was always the danger of sinking, so since the 14th century dikes against the water of the River Thames and the North Sea were built. In the early 17th century Dutch building experts were brought into the country to reclaim land from the River Thames and to strengthen the lines of defense. For this reason it was in Canvey Iceland a strong Dutch community who have left their mark on the local street names, place names and architecture.

1791, 1881 and 1897, the island was almost totally under water, as the Thames led extreme flood. There are now modern dyke systems, but still in 1953 58 people died in floods on the island.

On the coast of Canvey was the Chapman Lighthouse, which is described in Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness (Eng. " Heart of Darkness" ) in detail. It is believed that the Romans have built in the area a beacon to warn of the danger of the shoals before Canvey. 1851 was built by the engineer James Walker has a hexagonal lighthouse of iron; he replaced the lightship, which was previously moored off the coast. The lighthouse was torn down due to its poor state in 1957.

During the Second World War, the island was one end of the so-called " GHQ Line", a series of concrete bunkers as a line of defense against the expected invasion of the Germans. Some of these bunkers still stand today.

In the 1970s, Canvey Iceland was a center of the English pub rock music scene with artists such as Dr. Feelgood and Ian Dury.

• Place in Essex
• River island
• Thames
• Island ( England)
• Island ( Europe)