A Brief History of our Museum
The building that houses the Museum was built in 1934 for the Canvey and District Motor Transport Co. Ltd., cementing its presence on the island by constructing an impressive new depot with castellated frontage. After a year the Canvey depot passed to Benfleet and District Motor Services Ltd. Then in 1951 it passed to Westcliff-on-Sea Motor Services Ltd. In 1954 it was acquired by Eastern National, a year after the disastrous floods which struck Canvey Island in 1953. The familiar WMS red and cream was soon swept away, too, by 1956. Eastern National operated the depot until April 1978.
Castle Point Transport Museum Society then acquired the leasehold of the depot, later purchasing the freehold, and has since assembled a collection of over thirty preserved commercial vehicles, some owned by the society, while others are privately owned, now forming the Canvey Island Transport Museum’s main display.
Visitors can see classic examples from the rapidly vanishing chassis makers like AEC, Bedford, Bristol, Guy, and Leyland, plus legendary body builders like Eastern Coach Works, Duple, Harrington and Massey Brothers.
While many vehicles are fully restored, others are being rebuilt and undergoing maintenance by their owners or groups of members in our workshops or pit area.
Visitors can also see traditional techniques like wood frame construction and aluminium panel beating that are still being used today, despite these being replaced in modern vehicles by pressed steel and shaped flbreglass.
In addition, the Museum has its own impressive, functioning Model Railway layout, plus there’s a wide variety of transport artefacts on display. The Museum shop sells die-cast models, souvenirs and other transport related merchandise.