Spotlight on Stamford Hill chassidim who are settling on Canvey Island, a seaside town about an hour from London

Photos: Mendel Photography

By the Numbers

6  families made the pioneering move a decade ago

150 families are today living in their new vibrant kehillah on the seashore

The British town of Canvey Island may sit below sea level, but for the waves of chassidish families dropping anchor here, it means keeping their heads above the water as a housing crisis sends residents out of the capital in search of an affordable solution

The small crowd gathered around the gray war memorial at Canvey Island’s annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony were attired all in black — save for the obligatory bright crimson poppy pinned to their lapels. The dignitaries and citizens of this small reclaimed British island silently laid a wreath, somberly honoring the memory of the nation’s war dead. Following the customary readings and prayers, the local Member of the Parliament and town councillors stood alongside patriotic local residents under the cloudy sky, heads bowed as the bugler played “The Last Post.” So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary… except the small clutch of Satmar chassidim, listening in respectful silence.

The booming chassidic community of Stamford Hill, the North London neighborhood that is the epicenter of chassidic life in the United Kingdom, might be just an hour’s drive west, but it may as well be on a different planet. Its residents enjoy all the amenities of a thriving frum kehillah, but put up with the not-insignificant downsides including overcrowding and high housing costs. Here in Canvey Island in the county of Essex, the first chareidi kehillah to be successfully established outside of London in well over 130 years, the heimish residents, all former residents of Stamford Hill, can’t get enough of the refreshing sea air, spacious surroundings with plenty of green space — and most crucially, housing at a third of the price. They’re also cognizant of the fact that they’re not on home turf and need to stay on good terms with their new neighbors.

From the nucleus of six intrepid families making the big move ten years ago, the Canvey community has grown to about 150 families — numbering more than 1,000 people — complete with two shuls, schools, a grocery store, a yeshivah, and a simchah hall. It’s a bold step, given the entrenched reluctance of frum families to move outside of London, their traditional comfort zone. While many yeshivish families have ventured out to fringe London suburbs such as Edgware and even Elstree and Borehamwood, or headed north for lower prices in Manchester and Gateshead, none have taken the step of actually decamping from London altogether and establishing a new community elsewhere. Now, with Canvey on the map, and Westcliff, a town a half hour drive from Canvey seeing similar developments, things are shifting. Are the chassidim setting a new trend in the evolving landscape of Jewish settlement in the UK?