Smugglers Tunnels

The Archive have no way of knowing whether the stories of smugglers tunnels on Canvey are true or false. It is true that smuggling was rife especially in the Lobster Smack area which is why the Coastguards were stationed there first housed in a hulk in Hole Haven then later in the Coastguard cottages.

It has been said that Canvey being below sea level there is no way tunnels could have been built, but Canvey was not always so low in the water. We must also consider that the so called tunnels could just have been holes in the ground for temporarily storing smuggled goods. We will probably never know the answers as all we have are stories and those who say they have been in the tunnels are no longer with us. We have spoken, some years ago, to a man who knew where one such tunnel was. He was very reluctant to talk about it because of the ridicule he had received.

At the end of the day whether they existed or not the stories are very much part of Canvey's history.