Old Custom House
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Old Custom House by Mark Percy as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Old Custom House
Image: © Mark Percy Taken: 20 Jun 2022
In 1808 the Crown purchased the previous much larger manor house on the site and demolished it. At a cost of £450, the new Custom House was completed in 1815 at a time of rampant smuggling. https://www.leigh-on-sea.com/blog/detail/beating-the-customs-officer.html By 1858, when the railway arrived, the Custom House was in private ownership. For the loss of the fields behind the property, the railway company paid the owners £250 in compensation.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.540146
Longitude
0.650442