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The curious MOD owned top secret Foulness Island, Essex, England - There's nowhere on earth like it!
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Basically, I live next door to this top secret island which is owned & controlled by the MOD where they fire weapons out to sea and do who knows what else. Situated at the mouth of the Thames. There is also has a civilian population of about 200. I went there once - it was a strange experience!
"Key defence research establishment.
Known to be a site for testing of armaments, missiles, torpedoes and ballistics. Works closely with all elements of MOD, Forensic Explosive's Laboratory and other government agencies. Classified under the Official Secrets Act, much information is restricted about the activities, and recent cases including the death of a research scientist have led to further accusations of cover ups"
"The island passed into the hands of the War Department in 1915 and its marsh flats have made an ideal proving ground for military munitions ever since. Two villages, Churchend and Courtsend, stand at the north of Foulness and are home to a population of 200 islanders. The bustling towns of Shoebury and Southend nearby make a stark contrast to its vast, lonely stretches of isolated marshland. Two villages, Churchend and Courtsend, stand at the north of Foulness and are home to a population of 200 islanders."
[link to www.dark-places.org.uk]
From wiki:
"From 1855, the Shoebury Sands, which are a continuation of the Maplin Sands to the south of the island, had been used as a testing site for artillery, and the War Office sought to extend this at the end of the 19th century, by buying the island and its offshore sands, to act as a research and development centre for new weapons. They bought some of the sands above Fishermans Head in 1900, but the rest belonged to Alan Finch, the lord of the manor, and he refused to grant shooting rights over them. In 1912, the War Office also discovered that large areas of the sands were leased to tenants, who used them for fishing kiddles.[8] A kiddle was a large V-shaped or square net, which formed an enclosure in which fish were trapped as the tide receded.[9] Attempts to buy the lordship were also refused by Finch, but he died in 1914, and his half-brother Wilfred Henry Montgomery Finch sold it on 13 July 1915, resulting in the War Office owning around two-thirds of the island. They had also been buying any farms that were not part of the manor, and by the end of the First World War, the only buildings which they did not own were the church and rectory, the school, and a mission hall at Courts End. They demolished the post mill towards the beginning of the war, and the parish poor-house and a wooden lock-up which was located near the church were also demolished.[10]
One benefit of the takeover was the construction of the military road in 1922, which crosses New England Island and Havengore Island by a series of bridges, to reach the mainland near Great Wakering. After its opening, the Broomway ceased to be used, except by the military.[5] With the passing of the Ministry of Defence Act (1946) and the subsequent rationalisation of five agencies in 1971,[11] ownership of the island passed from the War Office to the Ministry of Defence. In 2003, a contract to manage the testing of munitions was awarded to the defence contractors QinetiQ, and they also control access to the island."
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