General

Southend-on-Sea, commonly referred to simply as Southend, is a town and wider unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, 40 miles (64 km) east of central London. It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point. It is home to the longest leisure pier in the world, Southend Pier. London Southend Airport is located 1.5 NM (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) north of the town centre.

Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of a few poor fishermen’s huts and farms at the southern end of the village of Prittlewell. In the 1790s, the first buildings around what was to become the High Street of Southend were completed. In the 19th century, Southend’s status of a seaside resort grew after a visit from Princess Caroline of Brunswick, and Southend Pier was constructed. From the 1960s onwards, the town declined as a holiday destination, Southend redeveloped itself as the home of the Access credit card, due to it having one of the UK’s first electronic telephone exchanges. After the 1960s, much of the town centre was developed for commerce and retail, and many original structures were lost to redevelopment. An annual seafront airshow, started in 1986 when it featured a flypast by Concorde on a passenger charter flight, used to take place each May and became one of Europe’s largest free airshows. The show has not been held since 2012 due to a lack of sponsorship and funding cuts.

History

Originally the “south end” of the village of Prittlewell, Southend was home to a few poor fisherman huts and farms that lay at the southern extremity of Prittlewell Priory land. In the 1790s landowner Daniel Scratton sold off land either side of what was to become the High Street, and the Grand Hotel (now Royal Hotel) and Grove Terrace (now Royal Terrace) were completed by 1794, and stagecoaches from London made it accessible. Due to the bad transportation links between Southend and London, there was not rapid development during the Georgian Era like Brighton. It was the coming of the railways in the 19th Century and the visit of Princess Caroline of Brunswick that Southend’s status of a seaside resort grew.

During the 19th century Southend’s pier was first constructed and the Clifftown development built, attracting many tourists in the summer months to its seven miles of beaches and bathing in the sea. Good rail connections and proximity to London mean that much of the economy has been based on tourism, and that Southend has been a dormitory town for city workers ever since. Southend Pier is the world’s longest pleasure pier at 1.34 mi (2.16 km). It has suffered fires and ship collisions, most recently in October 2005, but the basic pier structure has been repaired each time.

Sport

Southend has two football teams, one of league stature, Southend United. The other, Southend Manor, play in the Essex Senior League. Southend United currently compete in EFL League One. There are two rugby union clubs Southend RFC which play in London 1 North and Westcliff R.F.C. who play in London & South East Premier. Southend was formerly home to the Essex Eels rugby league team. Southend was home to the Essex Pirates basketball team that played in the British Basketball League between 2009 and 2011.

Essex County Cricket Club play in Southend one week a season. Previously the festival was held at Chalkwell Park and most recently Southchurch Park, but it has now moved to Garons Park next to the Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre. The only other cricket is local. The Old Southendians Hockey Club is based at Warner’s Bridge in Southend.

Hadleigh

Rochford

Shoeburyness

Westcliff