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 below the island, and a well was constructed on Great Shelford Marsh. It reached a depth of , but no water was found. At the end of the 1700s, Francis Bannester, who owned Rushley Island nearby, attempted to find water by boring, but again failed to do so. However, his son, also called Francis, persisted and found fresh water some below Rushley in 1828. Just six years later, there were more than 20 such springs scattered through the six islands of which Foulness is one, and fourteen farms on the island had their own wells by 1889. Evidence for housing