The once ‘fashionable’ Essex seaside town people flocked to because its air had ‘healing properties’

One Essex area might not have the best reputation out of everywhere in the county, previously branded a "hellhole". Canvey Island has undergone a decline in recent years, some people claim.

According to the Mirror, the area has a crime rate of 86 crimes per 1,000 people whilst the seafront is now littered with empty retail units. Canvey has some of the most deprived areas in England, with a stark 12-year gap in life expectancy between its affluent and poor residents.

The Knightswick shopping centre, once a hub of activity, now stands as a symbol of the area's decline. Many of its shops are vacant, casualties of both the rise of online shopping and the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. But here at Essex Live we wholeheartedly disagree - and so did the Victorians.

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People were not always so negative about the area - people used to flock there for one specific reason! During the Victorian era, Canvey became a very fashionable place to visit, and its air was promoted as having healing properties.

This started in 1899, after the Black Monday floods, when an entrepreneur called Frederick Hester bought Leigh Beck Farm and started what was to be called Southview Park estate. The properties sold very quickly so Frederick bought more plots of land, selling them as dream homes for London’s EastEnders.

Canvey Island remained a popular holiday and weekend destination until the cheap foreign package holiday became popular in the 1970s. Canvey might not be your holiday destination of choice today. However, with the amount of funding it has recently received, there is a chance for Canvey to be rejuvenated to its former glory.

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