1 - Opening of the Dutch Cottage Museum

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• We holiday in France a lot and meet up with a lot of Dutch people. We have yet to meet anyone who knows of Canvey nor knows of the Dutch connection. We showed them some of Geoff Barsby’s books he serialised a few years back. When they came to read about the Dutch cottage they were adamant it was never originally built as a cottage but a mill. Not a windmill, but one that would have a small horse or donkey walking round to rotate the mill stones to grind the corn. Now in the grounds of the museum are most certainly mill stones and machinery that would facilitate that use. Would anyone care to comment or agree with this. The Dutch people said such mills were fairly common in Holland. Has anyone seen them there? Thanks for a response. John T Pharro

  By John T Pharro (04/11/2012)

• Your theory is not new John. Years ago a Kingsley Mitchell came up with this possibility amongst others. Barsby wrote about it in one of his Days gone by mags in the 80s/90s. They have a copy in the Heritage Centre

  By Janet Penn (10/11/2012)

• well John i might be the first to know than, i worked with a guy from Benfleet at the BP refinery in Europoort, west of Rotterdam, his name is Dennis, this was back in 1992/1993.

  We became friends and we visited each other many times, he lives in South Benfleet not far from Canvey of course.

  We talk about Canvey and i always say, “Canvey island…built by the Dutch and nobody wants to live there”

  We do have a connection with the 1953 floods, terrible disaster for  the Dutch and English, i read about the mad Dutchman, what a guy !!

  Finding this website gave me a totally different perspective on Canvey Island, i often say to my mate Dennis, wait till some project developer discovers Canvey, than everybody is going to want to live there.

  I have put this website under my favourites, its so interesting !!

  Good luck to all involved in anyway with Canvey and keep the good work up !!

  By rob scharroo (06/04/2018)