Saint Mary the Virgin, Foulness Island Saint Mary the Virgin, Foulness Island Saint Mary the Virgin is a parish of the Church of England on Foulness Island, in Essex, England. Before the 15th century, the island of Foulness was divided among several neighbouring parishes. The inhabitants were expected to attend church services in their respective mainland parish churches but in practice this must have been difficult and at times impossible, as in those days there was no bridge linking Foulness to the mainland. In 1407, Lady Joan de Bohun, Countess of Essex, obtained a licence from the Bishop of London to found a chantry of a
Foulness Island and all reference to the scheme had ceased by 1871. The Board kept the £25,000, the only money that the London ratepayers ever received for their sewage, despite claims at the time that it was worth over £4 million. Around 100 years later, the Roskill Commission investigated potential sites for a third London airport. Four sites were considered, including construction of an off-shore airport on Maplin Sands. The Commission chose a site at Cublington but the UK government rejected the Commission's proposal and accepted a dissenting report recommending that a new airport should be developed at Foulness. The Maplin Development