Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and

unitary authority area A unitary authority is a local government, local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the ...

with borough status in southeastern

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It is bordered to the north by

Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a population of 8,471. History ...

and to the west by Castle Point. It is home to the longest pleasure pier in the world, Southend Pier. London Southend Airport is located north of the city centre. Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of a few poor fishermen's huts and farms at the southern end of the village of

Prittlewell Prittlewell is an inner city area of Southend-on-Sea in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the ''south end'' 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 A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

grew after a visit from Princess

Caroline of Brunswick Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Caroline Amelia Elizabeth; 17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) was Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821, being the estranged wife of King George IV. She was P ...

, and Southend Pier was constructed. From the 1960s onwards, the city declined as a holiday destination. Southend redeveloped itself as the home of the Access credit card, due to its having one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges. After the 1960s, much of the city centre was developed for commerce and retail, and many original structures were lost to redevelopment. An annual seafront airshow, which started in 1986 and featured a flypast by

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and t ...

, used to take place each May until 2012. On 18 October 2021, it was announced that Southend would be granted city status, as a memorial to the Member of Parliament for Southend West,

Sir David Amess ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

, a long-time supporter of city status for the borough, who was fatally stabbed on 15 October 2021. Southend was granted city status by letters patent dated 26 January 2022. On 1 March 2022, the letters patent were presented to Southend Borough Council by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

History

Originally the "south end" of the village of

, Southend was home to a few poor fishermens' huts and farms at the southern extremity of Prittlewell Priory land. In the 1790s, landowner Daniel Scratton sold off land on either side of what was to become the High Street. 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 The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the Hanoverian Kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Georgian era is often extended to include the relatively short reign of ...

as there was in Brighton. But after the coming of the railways in the 19th century and the visit of Princess

, Southend's status as a seaside resort grew. During the 19th century Southend's pier was first constructed and the Clifftown development built, attracting many summer tourists to its seven miles of beaches and sea bathing. 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 Seaside pleasure pier in England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out ...

at . It has suffered fires and ship collisions, most recently in October 2005, but the basic pier structure has been repaired each time. As a holiday destination, Southend declined from the 1960s onwards, as holidaying abroad became more affordable. Southend became the home of the Access credit card, as it had one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges (it is still home to RBS Card Services – one of the former members of Access), with offices based in the former

EKCO EKCO (from Eric Kirkham Cole Limited) was a British electronics company producing radio and television sets from 1924 until 1960. Expanding into plastic production for its own use, Ekco Plastics produced both radio cases and later domestic plasti ...

factory, Maitland House ( Keddies), Victoria Circus and Southchurch Road. Since then, much of the city centre has been developed for commerce and retail, and during the 1960s many original structures were lost to redevelopment – such as the Talza Arcade and Victoria Market (replaced by what is now known as The Victoria Shopping Centre) and Southend Technical College (on the site of the ODEON Cinema, now a campus of South Essex College). However, about 6.4 million tourists still visit Southend per year, generating estimated revenues of £200 million a year. H.M. Revenue & Customs (HMRC), (formerly H.M. Customs and Excise), are major employers in the city, and the central offices for the collection of VAT are located at Alexander House on Victoria Avenue. An annual seafront airshow, started in 1986 when it featured a flypast by

whilst on a passenger charter flight, used to take place each May and became one of Europe's largest free airshows. The aircraft flew parallel to the seafront, offset over the sea. The RAF Falcons parachute display team and RAF

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...

aerobatics team were regular visitors to the show. The last show was held in 2012; an attempt to revive the show for September 2015, as the Southend Airshow and Military Festival, failed. On 15 October 2021, the Member of Parliament for Southend West, Sir David Amess, was fatally stabbed during a constituency meeting in Leigh-on-Sea. On 18 October 2021, the Prime Minister,

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, announced that the Queen had agreed to grant Southend-on-Sea with city status as a memorial to Amess, who had long campaigned for this status to be granted. Preparations, led by Amess, for Southend to enter a competition for city status in 2022 as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee were underway at the time of his death. A "City Week" was held throughout the town between 13 and 20 February 2022, beginning with the inaugural "He Built This City" concert named in honour of Amess. The concert was held at the Cliffs Pavilion and included performers such as Digby Fairweather, Lee Mead, and Leanne Jarvis. Other events such as a city ceremony and the Southend LuminoCity Festival of Light were held during the week. Sam Duckworth, who knew Amess personally, performed at some of the events. On 1 March, Southend Borough Council was presented letters patent from the Queen, by Charles, Prince of Wales, officially granting the borough city status. Southend became the second city in the ceremonial county of Essex, after Chelmsford, which was granted city status in 2012.

Governance

Local government district

Southend-on-Sea was formed as a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in ...

in 1892 with the functions of local government shared with Essex County Council. In 1913, the borough was enlarged by the former area of Leigh on Sea Urban District. In 1914 the enlarged Southend gained the status of

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent t ...

, exempt from

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

control and a single-tier of local government. The county borough was enlarged in 1933 by the former area of Shoeburyness Urban District and part of Rochford Rural District. On 1 April 1974, under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, Southend became a district of Essex with borough status and its

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

was abolished. However, in 1998 it again became the single tier of local government when it became a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

. Upon receiving city status on 1 March 2022, the council voted to rename itself ' Southend-on-Sea City Council'.

Council

Seventeen wards each return three councillors, a total of 51. Councillors serve four years and one third of the council is elected each year, followed by one year without election. Following the 2019 election results, the composition of the council is: The council was controlled by the Conservative Party after they gained control in the 2000 election. They maintained a minority administration after the 2012 local elections, however the council was run by a coalition of Lib Dems, Labour and Independents after June 2014, with the Conservatives gaining overall control again in 2018. In 2019, the coalition regained control. Most day-to-day decisions are by an eight-member executive headed by the council leader. The Latin motto, 'Per Mare Per Ecclesiam', emblazoned on the municipal coat of arms, translates as 'By heSea, By heChurch', reflecting Southend's position between the church at

and the sea as in the Thames estuary. The city has been twinned with the resort of

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest c ...

in Poland since 1999 and has been developing three-way associations with Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Southend Borough Council was criticised as one of the worst financially managed local authorities in England by the Audit Commission report for 2006–07 one of three to gain only one of four stars, the others being

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and the Isles of Scilly. Areas of criticism were the use of consultants and the spending of £3.5 million on taxis during the 2006–07 financial year. However, in March 2012, Southend Borough Council was awarded the title of 'Council of the Year 2012' by the

Local Government Chronicle The ''Local Government Chronicle'' (''LGC'') is a British weekly magazine for local government officers, and is published by Metropolis. The magazine was launched in 1855 by bookseller and publisher Charles Knight . It was then published by ...

. During the 2015 general and local election there was a turnout of 62.17%, equating to 80,899 votes cast.https://www.southend.gov.uk/info/200400/elections_and_registering_to_vote/308/election_results Southend-On-Sea Borough Council

Southend Civic Centre Southend Civic Centre is a municipal building in Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The structure is the meeting place of Southend-on-Sea City Council. History The first municipal building in Southend was the municipal offices in ...

was designed by borough architect, Patrick Burridge, and officially opened by the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of ...

on 31 October 1967.

Members of Parliament

Southend is represented by two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members oft ...

(MPs) at Westminster. The MP for

Southend West Southend West is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The seat is currently held by Anna Firth who won the 2022 by-election, following the murder of the incumbent MP, David Amess. History The constituency was created ...

was

(

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

), who served from 1997 until his murder in 2021.

Anna Firth Annalissa Firth (, born 1965 or 1966) is a British politician and former barrister who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend West since the 2022 by-election. A member of the Conservative Party, she was also a councillor on S ...

has served as the MP for the constituency since the following

2022 Southend West by-election A by-election was held on 3 February 2022 in the parliamentary constituency of Southend West following the killing of the Conservative MP David Amess on 15 October 2021. Amess had been the MP for the constituency since 1997, and previously re ...

. Since 2005 the MP for

Rochford and Southend East Rochford and Southend East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Sir James Duddridge, a Conservative. History This seat was created for the 1997 general election primarily from the abol ...

has been

James Duddridge Sir James Philip Duddridge, (born 26 August 1971) is a British politician and former banker serving as Minister of State for International Trade. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochford and Southend East since 2005. He is a ...

(Conservative), who replaced Sir

Teddy Taylor Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor (18 April 1937 – 20 September 2017) was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Southend E ...

. Despite its name the majority of the constituency is in Southend, including the centre of the city; Rochford makes up only a small part and the majority of Rochford District Council is represented in the Rayleigh constituency.

Demography

Southend is the seventh most densely populated area in the United Kingdom outside of the London Boroughs, with 38.8 people per hectare compared to a national average of 3.77. By 2006, the majority, or 52% of the Southend population were between the ages of 16–54, 18% were below age 15, 18% were above age 65 and the middle age populace between 55 and 64 accounted for the remaining 12%.

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

's research data shows that for 2008–09, Southend had 4,000 children living in poverty, a rate of 12%, the same as

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The ...

, but above the 11% child poverty rate of Essex as a whole. The

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

's 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivatio
Deprivation Indices
data showed that Southend is one of Essex's most deprived areas. Out of 32,482 Lower Super Output Areas in England, area 014D in the Kursaal ward is 99th, area 015B in Milton ward is 108th, area 010A in Victoria ward is 542nd, and area 009D in Southchurch ward is 995th, as well as an additional 5 areas all within the top 10% most deprived areas in England (with the most deprived area having a rank of 1 and the least deprived a rank of 32,482). Victoria and Milton wards have the highest proportion of ethnic minority residents – at the 2011 Census these figures were 24.2% and 26.5% respectively. Southend has the highest percentage of residents receiving housing benefit (19%) and the third highest percentage of residents receiving council tax benefit in Essex. The

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

of Southend spills outside of the borough boundaries into the neighbouring Castle Point and

districts, including the towns of

Hadleigh Hadleigh may refer to: *Hadleigh, Suffolk, a town in Suffolk **Hadleigh Railway, a seven and a half mile long single-track railway branch-line from Bentley to Hadleigh, Suffolk (now closed) **Hadleigh High School, a high school in Hadleigh, Suffolk ...

, Benfleet,

Rayleigh Rayleigh may refer to: Science *Rayleigh scattering *Rayleigh–Jeans law *Rayleigh waves *Rayleigh (unit), a unit of photon flux named after the 4th Baron Rayleigh *Rayl, rayl or Rayleigh, two units of specific acoustic impedance and characte ...

and

, as well as the villages of

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 1890 ...

and

Hullbridge Hullbridge is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Rochford district of Essex in east England. Bordered to the north by the River Crouch, and semi-isolated from the nearby towns of Hockley and Rayleigh, Hullbridge has a populatio ...

. According to the 2011 census, it had a population of 295,310, making it the largest urban area solely within the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Southend-on-Sea at current basic price
published
(pp. 240–253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of

British Pounds Sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and th ...

. In 2006, travel insurance company

InsureandGo InsureandGo (officially known as Insure & Go Insurance Services Limited) is a British travel insurance company which is owned by AllClear Insurance. As well as the United Kingdom, InsureandGo also has operations in the Republic of Ireland and ...

relocated its offices from Braintree to Maitland House in Southend-on-Sea. The company brought 120 existing jobs from Braintree and announced the intention to create more in the future. However the business announced the plan to relocate to Bristol in 2016. The building is now home to Ventrica, a customer service outsourcing company. Southend has industrial parks located at Progress Road, Comet and Aviation Ways in Eastwood and Stock Road in Sutton. Firms located in Southend include Olympus Keymed,

Hi-Tec Sports Hi-Tec Sports, trading as Hi-Tec, is a privately held producer and distributor of sportswear and accessories, headquartered in the Netherlands. History Hi-Tec Sports was founded in 1974, in Shoeburyness, Essex, England, by Frank Van Wezel. Th ...

and

MK Electric MK Electric is a company that makes electrical accessories. The company's headquarters are in Basildon, Essex, England, from where it sells goods worldwide. History In 1912 Charles Arnold and Charles Belling formed Belling and Company maki ...

. Southend has declined as a centre for credit card management with only

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) ...

card services (now branded

NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

) still operating in the city. A fifth of the working population commutes to London daily. Wages for jobs based in Southend were the second lowest among UK cities in 2015. It also has the fourth highest proportion of people aged over 65. This creates considerable pressures on the housing market. It is the 11th most expensive place to live in Britain. Southend-on-Sea County Borough Corporation had provided the borough with electricity since the early twentieth century from Southend power station. Upon nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948 ownership passed to the

British Electricity Authority The British Electricity Authority (BEA) was established as the central British electricity authority in 1948 under the nationalisation of Great Britain's electricity supply industry enacted by the Electricity Act 1947. The BEA was responsible f ...

and later to the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

. Electricity connections to the national grid rendered the 5.75

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after Jame ...

(MW) power station redundant. Electricity was generated by diesel engines and by steam obtained from the exhaust gases. The power station closed in 1966; in its final year of operation it delivered 2,720

MWh A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bi ...

of electricity to the borough.

Transport

Airport

London Southend Airport was developed from the military airfield at

; it was opened as a civil airport in 1935. It now offers scheduled flights to destinations across Europe, corporate and recreational flights, aircraft maintenance and training for pilots and engineers. It is served by

Southend Airport railway station Southend Airport railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving London Southend Airport, the village of Sutton and northern parts of Southend-on-Sea. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is ...

, on the

Shenfield–Southend line The Shenfield–Southend line is a branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line in Essex, in the east of England. It links in the west to , in Southend-on-Sea, in the east. The vast majority of services connect to or from the Great Eastern Main L ...

Buses

Arriva Southend bus 5404 (H264 GEV), 2009 Clacton Bus Rally

Local bus services are provided by two main companies.

Arriva Southend Arriva Southend is a division of Arriva Southern Counties, a subsidiary of transport group Arriva which operates bus services in and around the Southend-on-Sea, Rochford, Rayleigh areas of Essex. They operate most services east of Southend and a ...

was formerly the council-owned Southend Corporation Transport and First Essex Buses was formerly

Eastern National Eastern National (also known as EN) is a nonprofit Cooperating Association based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, that partners with the National Park Service in the United States. It was created by charter in 1948 to "provide quality educat ...

/Thamesway. Smaller providers include

Stephensons of Essex Stephensons of Essex is a privately owned bus company based in Rochford, Essex. It operates local bus services throughout Essex and West Suffolk, from headquarters at Rochford, near Southend-on-Sea, and depots at Maldon, Boreham, Braintree and ...

. Southend has a bus station in Chichester Road, which was developed from a temporary facility added in the 1970s; the previous bus station was located on London Road and was run by Eastern National, but it was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a Sainsbury's supermarket. Arriva Southend is the only bus company based in Southend, with their depot located in Short Street; it was previously sited on the corner of London Road and Queensway and also a small facility in Tickfield Road. First Essex's buses in the Southend area are based out of the depot in

but, prior to the 1980s, Eastern National had depots on London Road (at the bus station) and Fairfax Drive.

Railway

357036 at Southend Central.jpg, A c2c train at Southend Central station Southend Victoria railway station.JPG, Southend Victoria station Southend Cliff Railway in 2008.jpg, Southend Cliff Railway Southend is served by two lines on the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

network: * Running from

Southend Victoria Southend Victoria railway station is the eastern terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, and is one of the primary stations serving the resort city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex (th ...

north out of the city is the

, a branch of the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and th ...

, operated by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the Ja ...

. Services operate to

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

, via . * Running from , in the east of the borough, is the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , ...

operated by

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

. It runs west through , , to London Fenchurch Street, either via and or and . Additionally, one service from Southend Central each weekday evening terminates at Liverpool Street. From 1910 to 1939, the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The U ...

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited serv ...

's eastbound service ran as far as Southend and Shoeburyness. Besides its main line railway connections, Southend is also the home of two smaller railways. The

Southend Pier Railway The Southend Pier Railway is a narrow gauge railway in the English city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It runs for along the length of Southend Pier, providing public passenger transport from the shore to the pier head. History 19th century ...

provides transport along the length of Southend Pier, whilst the nearby

Southend Cliff Railway The Southend Cliff Railway, or Southend Cliff Lift, is a funicular in the English city of Southend-on-Sea, constructed in 1912. The lift operated for the first time on Bank Holiday Monday, in August of that year. Technical details The line ...

provides a connection from the promenade to the cliff top above.

Roads

Two A-roads connect Southend with London and the rest of the country: the

A127 The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is a major road in Essex, England. It was constructed as a new arterial road project in the 1920s, linking Romford with Southend-on-Sea, replacing the older A13. Formerly classified as a tr ...

(''Southend Arterial Road''), via Basildon and

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

, and the A13, via Tilbury and

London Docklands London Docklands is the riverfront and former docks in London. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Newham, and Greenwich. The docks were formerly part of the Port o ...

. Both are major routes; however, within the borough, the A13 is now a single carriageway local route, whereas the A127 is entirely dual carriageway. Both connect to the M25 and eventually London.

Climate

Southend-on-Sea is one of the driest places in the UK. It has a

marine climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring ...

with summer highs of around and winters highs being around . Summer temperatures are generally slightly cooler than those in

. Frosts are occasional. During the 1991–2020 period there was an average of 29.6 days of air frost. Rainfall averaged . Weather station data is available from

Shoeburyness Shoeburyness (; also called Shoebury) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. east of the city centre. It was an urban district of Essex from 1894 to 1933, when i ...

, which is adjacent to Southend in the eastern part of the urban area.

Education

File:P1020316.JPG,

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

accommodation in Southend File:Cecil Jones College - geograph.org.uk - 307915.jpg, Cecil Jones Academy File:Westcliff High School for Boys.jpg,

Westcliff High School for Boys Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an 11–18 selective academy grammar school for boys in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. In September 2001 the school was awarded ‘Beacon’ status for its breadth of achievements and quality of work. T ...

File:Southend - University of Essex..JPG,

South Essex College South Essex College of Further and Higher Education, also known as South Essex College, is a further education college located over three main sites in Basildon, Southend-on-Sea and Grays in Essex, England. The college provides courses for studen ...

Southend Campus File:Southend Adult Community College - geograph.org.uk - 700459.jpg, Southend Adult Community College

Secondary schools

All mainstream secondary schools are mixed-sex comprehensives, including

Belfairs Academy Belfairs Academy (formerly Belfairs High School) is a non-selective secondary school with academy status in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. Inspection judgements As Belfairs High School, the school was inspected by Ofsted in 2010 and judged Good. Fol ...

;

Cecil Jones Academy Cecil Jones Academy (formerly Cecil Jones High School and then Cecil Jones College) is a secondary school and sixth form situated in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Cecil Jones Academy opened on the 1st of September 2015. The academy is part o ...

;

Chase High School Chase High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form, located in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. History The school opened in 2006 on the site of the former Prittlewell Technology College, and opened a new extension in April ...

;

Southchurch High School Southchurch High School is a coeducational secondary school located in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. It opened on 1 September 2016, replacing the former Futures Community College. Futures Community College was created in 2006 as a trustee s ...

;

Shoeburyness High School Shoeburyness High School is a coeducational secondary academy school in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The school is larger than the average sized secondary academy, with almost 1800 students on roll. 275 of the enrolled students are in the sixth form. ...

and

The Eastwood Academy The Eastwood Academy (formerly The Eastwood School) is a secondary school in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. Notable pupils Celtic footballer Cameron Carter-Vickers Cameron Robert Carter-Vickers (born December 31, 1997) is an American profession ...

. In 2004, Southend retained the grammar school system and has four such schools:

Southend High School for Boys (To the determined, nothing is difficult) , established = 1895 (founded), 1939 (moved to current premises) , closed = , type = Grammar school , religious_affiliation = Anglican , president ...

;

Southend High School for Girls Southend High School for Girls is a grammar school with academy status situated on Southchurch Boulevard in the east of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. It caters for students from the age of 11 through to 18 years old. Academics As of 2022, ...

;

and

Westcliff High School for Girls Westcliff High School for Girls, also known by its initialism WHSG, is a selective grammar school and academy for girls in Southend-on-Sea, Essex and surrounding areas. It teaches students from the age of 11 through to 18 years old, and admis ...

. Additionally there are two single-sex schools assisted by the Roman Catholic Church: St Bernard's High School (girls) and

St Thomas More High School St Thomas More High School is a Roman Catholic bilateral academy school located in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. It caters for boys between the ages of 11 and 18 but has a mixed sixth form. The school is larger than the average sized sec ...

(boys). Both, while not grammar schools, contain a grammar stream; entrance is by the same exam as grammar schools.

Further and higher education

The main higher education provider in Southend is the

which has a campus in Elmer Approach on the site of the former Odeon cinema. In addition to a number of secondary schools that offer further education, the largest provider is

in a purpose-built building in the centre of town. Formerly known as South East Essex College, (and previously Southend Municipal College) the college changed name in January 2010 following a merger with Thurrock and Basildon College. Additionally there is

PROCAT PROCAT is a further education college based in Basildon, Essex, England, with an additional campus in Canvey Island. ''PROCAT'' is an acronym of "Prospect College of Advanced Technology", and the college specialises in engineering and construction ...

that is based at Progress Road, while learners can travel to USP College (formerly SEEVIC College) in

Thundersley Thundersley is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Benfleet, in the Castle Point borough, in southeast Essex, England. It sits on a clay ridge shared with Basildon and Hadleigh, east of Charing Cross, London. In 1951 ...

. The

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School (East 15) is a British drama school in Loughton, Essex.Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. As of 2020, Essex University, where East 15 is located, has been ranked No. ...

, a drama school has its second campus in Southend, while the Southend Adult Community College is in Ambleside Drive. Southend United Futsal & Football Education Scholarship, located at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

's stadium

Roots Hall A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

, provides education for sports scholarships.

Sport

Southend has two football teams, one of professional stature,

. The other, Southend Manor, play in the

Essex Senior League The Essex Senior Football League is an English men's football league. It contains clubs from the Essex FA, Hertfordshire FA, London FA, Middlesex FA and the Amateur Football Alliance. It is a feeder league to Division One North of the Isthm ...

. Southend United currently compete in the

Vanarama National League The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

. There are two

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

clubs

Southend RFC Southend Rugby Club (also known as Southend Saxons) is an English rugby union football club based in Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

which play in London 1 North and

Westcliff R.F.C. Westcliff Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Eastwood, a suburb of Southend-on-Sea in Essex. The club was formed in 1922 as Old Westcliffians Rugby Football Club, for ex-pupils of Westcliff High School and took the curre ...

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 The Essex Pirates were a British Basketball League team from Southend-on-Sea, in the county of Essex. They were founded in 2009 and played their home games at the Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre. Following the loss of a major sponsor, the franc ...

basketball team that played in the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howev ...

between 2009 and 2011.

Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 wh ...

play in Southend one week a season. Previously the festival was held at

Chalkwell Park Chalkwell Park is a recreational park in Chalkwell, Southend-on-Sea, in Essex, England. It covers and contains several flower gardens, two children's playgrounds, a skateboard/ BMX park and football, cricket, basketball and tennis fields. The ar ...

and most recently

Southchurch Park Southchurch Park is a recreational park in the parish of Southchurch, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The park is in area and contains sports pitches, including a cricket ground, formal gardens, a boating lake and a café. Cricket ground The ...

, but it has now moved to

Garons Park Garon Park is a recreational park and cricket ground in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. It is currently the home of Old Southendian Football Club and Old Southendian & Southcurch Cricket Club. Cricket ground The ground was first used by the ...

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. The eight-lane, floodlit, synthetic athletics track at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre is home to

Southend-on-Sea Athletic Club {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Southend-on-Sea Athletic Club is an Athletics (sport), athletics club based in Essex. The club has one track, which is based at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre. The formation of Southend-on-Sea Athletic Club ...

. The facilities cover all track and field events. The centre has a 25m swimming pool and a world championship level diving pool with 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10m boards, plus springboards with the only 1.3m in the UK.

Entertainment and culture

Southend Pleasure Pier

Southend-on-Sea is home to the world's longest pleasure pier, built in 1830 and stretching some from shore.

Kursaal

The Kursaal was one of the earliest theme parks, built at the start of the 20th century. It closed in the 1970s and much of the land was developed as housing. The entrance hall, a listed building, used to house a bowling alley arcade operated by

Megabowl Tenpin Ltd (stylized "tenpin"), is one of the largest tenpin bowling brands in the United Kingdom, consisting of 48 bowling centres ranging from 12 to 36 lanes (depending on the width of the centre), which often have on-site restaurants and b ...

and casino, however the bowling alley closed in 2019 and the casino closed in 2020. The building currently stands unused. Kursaal Ballrooms - geograph

Southend Carnival

Southend Carnival has been an annual event since 1906, where it was part of the annual regatta, and was setup to raise funds for the Southend Victoria Cottage Hospital. In 1926 a carnival association was formed, and by 1930 they were raising fund for the building of the new General Hospital with a range of events including a fete in Chalkwell Park. The parades, which included a daylight and torchlight parades were cut down to just a torchlight parade during the 1990s.

Cliff Lift

A short funicular railway, constructed in 1912, links the seafront to the High Street level of the town. The lift re-opened to the public in 2010, following a period of refurbishment.

Other seafront attractions

An amusement park Adventure Island, formerly known as Peter Pan's Playground, straddles the pier entrance. The seafront houses the "Sea-Life Adventure" aquarium. The cliff gardens, which included

Never Never Land Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. Altho ...

and a Victorian bandstand were an attraction until slippage in 2003 made parts of the cliffs unstable. The bandstand has been removed and re-erected in Priory Park. Beaches include Three Shells and Jubilee Beach. A modern vertical lift links the base of the High Street with the seafront and the new pier entrance. The older

, a short

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...

, is a few hundred metres away. The London to Southend Classic Car run takes place each summer. It is run by the South Eastern Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club and features classic cars which line the seafront. The Southend Shakedown, organised by

Ace Cafe The Ace Cafe is an old transport cafe located near Wembley, North West London, England. Situated next to the North Circular Road, it is historically a notable venue in motorcycle culture. The original cafe opened in 1938 and closed in 1969. I ...

, is an annual event featuring motorbikes and scooters. There are other scooter runs throughout the year, including the Great London Rideout, which arrives at Southend seafront each year.

Festival events

The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival is an annual event that began in 2009 and is run by the White Bus film and theatrical company based at The Old Waterworks Arts Center located inside a Victorian era Old Water Works plant.

Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...

attended the opening night gala in both 2010 and 2011, and has become the Festival Patron. Since 2008 Chalkwell Park becomes home to the Village Green Art & Music Festival for a weekend every July, but has not run since 2019 due to covid.

Shopping

Southend High Street runs from the top of Pier Hill in the South, to Victoria Circus in the north. It currently has two shopping centres – the Victoria (built during the 1960s and a replacement for the old Talza Arcade, Victoria Arcade and Broadway Market) and The Royals Shopping Centre (built late 1980s and opened in March 1988 by actor

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap '' Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 ...

, replacing the bottom part of High Street, Grove Road, Ritz Cinema and Grand Pier Hotel). Southend High Street has many chain stores, with Boots in the Royals, and Next anchoring the Victoria. This was not always the case with many independent stores closing in the 1970s and 1980s – Keddies (department store),

J L Dixons J L Dixons department store opened in Southend, England, in 1913 and shut its doors in 1973. Background The store was located on the corner of London Road and what was called The Broadway, now known as the High Street with its main competitors ...

(department store),

Brightwells Brightwells Department Store was started in the 19th century by John Rumbelow Brightwell in Southend-on-Sea High Street as a drapery. This became a department store which was incorporated in 1909 as J.R. Brightwell Ltd. Its direct competitors wer ...

(department store), Garons (grocers, caterers and cinema), Owen Wallis (ironmongers and toys), Bermans (sports and toys), J Patience (photographic retailers) &

R. A. Jones Robert Arthur Jones (20 November 1849 – 23 May 1925) was born in Liverpool but moved to Southend-on-Sea after working for a clock and watchmaker in Manchester. In 1890 he set up his jewellery business on Southend's High Street. He went on to bec ...

(jewellers) being the most notable. One of Southend's most notable business, Schofield and Martin, was purchased by

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

in 1944 with the name being used until the 1960s. The Alexandra Street branch was the first Waitrose store in 1951 to be made self-service. Southend is home to the largest store in the Waitrose portfolio. The longest surviving independent retail business in Southend was Ravens which operated from 1897 to 2017. A Southend family business started in 1937 that was still active in 2014 was

Dixons Retail Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World (with stores increasingly dual branded 'Currys PC World'), Dixons Travel and its ...

. The city of Southend has shopping in other areas. Leigh Broadway and Leigh Road in Leigh-on-Sea, Hamlet Court Road in

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

, Southchurch Road and London Road are where many of Southend's independent business now reside. Hamlet Court Road was home to one of Southend's longest-standing business, Havens, which opened in 1901. In May 2017 the store announced they would be closing their store to concentrate as an online retailer. There are regular vintage fairs and markets in Southend, held at a variety of locations including the Leigh Community Centre, the Kursaal and the Railway Hotel. A record fair is frequently held at West Leigh Schools, Ronald Hill Grove, Leigh on Sea.

Parks

Southend is home to many recreation grounds. Its first formal park to open was

Prittlewell Square Prittlewell Square is a park situated in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England overlooking the Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary ca ...

in the 19th century. Since then Priory Park and Victory Sports Grounds were donated by the town benefactor

R A Jones Robert Arthur Jones (20 November 1849 – 23 May 1925) was born in Liverpool but moved to Southend-on-Sea after working for a clock and watchmaker in Manchester. In 1890 he set up his jewellery business on Southend's High Street. He went on to be ...

, who also has the sports ground Jones Corner Recreation Ground named after his wife. Other formal parks that have opened since are

and

Southchurch Hall Southchurch Hall is Grade I listed Medieval moated house located in Southchurch, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The Hall was home to farming families until the 1920s. In 1930 it was extensively restored and presented to the town of Southend by ...

along with

Garon Park Garon Park is a recrea