149-452: Shoeburyness ( / ˌ ʃ uː b r i ˈ n ɛ s / SHOO -bree- NESS ), or simply Shoebury , is a coastal town in the City of Southend-on-Sea , in the ceremonial county of Essex , England; it lies 3 miles (5 km) east of the city centre. It was formerly a separate town until it was absorbed into Southend in 1933. In Saxon times, the area was called Shoebury . Sometime between 1086 and
298-432: A Scotch Kiln , was rectangular and open-topped with fire holes along the bottom; it was a permanent cowl. It was filled with bricks and it allowed the hot gases to rise amongst them. The downdraught kiln was circular and about 15 ft in diameter; the hot gases rose but were deflected back down onto the bricks. This was more efficient in fuel consumption; opening ports in the roof allowed more fuel to be introduced during
447-467: A ball in the hotel assembly room in honour of Lord Nelson . The visit of Princess Caroline boosted Southend's popularity with tourists. Travellers would often arrive by sailing boat or later by Thames steamer , which presented problems as boats could only dock during high tide. The Southend coast consists of mudflats that extend far from the shore, with a high tide depth that seldom exceeds 5.5 metres (18 ft). Large boats were unable to port near to
596-455: A child's injury prompted a survey, leading to repairs and replacement to much of the pier railway throughout the decade. In response, the council allocated £370,000 over two years, starting in 1972, to ensure the pier remained maintained, however the pier head burnt down in 1976 and in 1978 the pier railway was closed due to its poor condition. Prior to the pier railway closure, the Kursaal closed
745-455: A common place name in southeast England . The southeast of England consists of rock strata that are more recent than most of Great Britain. It consists of a large denuded anticline , an anticline that has been eroded away leaving a series of escarpments separated by low lying vales, The Cretaceous ridges are known as the North Downs and South Downs . The Downs have been cut through, with
894-512: A dormitory town for the capital. On 14 April 1955, Air Charter inaugurated its first vehicle ferry service between Southend and Calais using a Bristol 170 Mark 32 Super Freighter. It was the sign of the future for tourism in the town, with the British public moving from UK holidays to foreign vacations that saw the start of the downturn on for the British seaside towns, though Southend still had strong numbers visiting. Between 1948 and 1962, it
1043-559: A dumping ground for their bomb loads during the war if their primary target was not possible to hit. In 1942, the area along the seafront from the Pier to Chalkwell was transformed into HMS Westcliff , a huge naval transit and training camp run by Combined Operations . The police helped the Combined Operations Service find the owners of the empty properties so they could requisition properties to billet their staff. HMS Westcliff
1192-519: A few fishermen's huts and farm 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 as a seaside resort grew after a visit from the Princess of Wales , Caroline of Brunswick , and the construction of both the pier and railway, allowing easier access from London. From
1341-489: A flypast by Concorde , used to take place each May until 2012. On 18 October 2021, it was announced that Southend would be granted city status , in memorial to the Conservative Member of Parliament for Southend West, Sir David Amess , a long-time supporter of city status for the borough, who was murdered on 15 October 2021. Southend was granted city status by letters patent dated 26 January 2022. On 1 March 2022,
1490-504: A further 33 deaths. When peace was confirmed in 1919, official celebrations were organised by the town. A large Naval review off the Southend shore took place, with a twenty-one gun salute being fired on Peace Day on the 23 July. The town organised a carnival, fetes and a firework display. After the war Southend continued to grow in both residents and visitors, with many moving out of London to live in better conditions. Its population in 1921
1639-539: A greater number of genteel families there this season than was ever known before" . By the end of the decade, the number of bathing machines had increased, the hamlet was recorded as containing the Ship Inn and 25 houses and cottages, and reported visitors such as Lord Cholmondley . In 1790, the local lord of the Manor of both Prittlewell and Milton (now Westcliff-on-Sea) and landowner Daniel Scratton set aside 35-acres of land at
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#17328875534221788-536: A growing population. Southend's development as a resort however seem to stall, until the Bank Holidays Act of 1871 with holidays becoming available to more of the population. The growth in visitor numbers due to the new bill saw the Local Board purchase the pier in 1873, construct Marine Parade in 1878, while the cliffs west of the pier were purchased and transformed into tree lined walkways during 1886. In 1889,
1937-507: A level crossing, to transfer their goods to Thames Barges at East Beach, which took the bricks to London , which up to World War II brought refuse back that was used to power the brick kilns, pumping out nasty fumes. In 1866, the Gas Light & Coke Company built a gas works to supply the Garrison, which a private company was then formed to manage the supply to Shoeburyness, which subsequently
2086-550: A new road towards in Rochford in 1937. The London Taxi Drivers Charity for Children completed their first taxi drive to Southend in 1931, with 40 Hackney Carriages bringing children to the town, who were given 6d to spend on the seafront. At the 1931 Census the population of Southend was recorded at 110,790, however the town would grow further by absorbing South Shoebury district and parts of Rochford district in 1933. Southend tried their first autumn illuminations during 1935, following
2235-508: A new shaly clay was discovered at Fletton . This period coincided with the housing and railway boom in London and cheap river-transport in Thames sailing barges . Brickfields existed elsewhere, but often the clay layer was deeper or there was no chalk nearby. In modern times bricks are made at a brickworks . " Brickyard " can serve as a synonym of "brickfield". Brickfield or Brickfields became
2384-524: A noisy fashionable seaside town, with Benjamin Disraeli visiting regularly between 1833 and 1884, Prince Arthur visiting in 1868, while the Empress of France, Eugénie and her son, Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial also came to the town. However the growth of Southend saw a Local Board of Health be created in 1866, and the large steam powered Middleton brewery was opened by Henry Luker & Co in 1869 to serve
2533-465: A number of the featured videos on the DinoTracker website filmed in the area doubling for locations around the world. Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea ( / ˌ s aʊ θ ɛ n d ɒ n ˈ s iː / ), commonly referred to as Southend ( / s aʊ ˈ θ ɛ n d / ), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in south-eastern Essex , England. It lies on
2682-563: A peak of 7 million the following year. Southend would use the Kursaal and Pier as nodal attractions to promote the town to tourists during the 50s and 60s. On 31 January 1953, Southend seafront was affected by the North Sea flood , with Peter Pan's Playground left underwater. However the town was not affected as badly as other parts of Essex. The town however was more joyous in June, with the town holding
2831-420: A place of fashionable resort, and answering the expectations of the proprietors, being only 42 miles from London and two coaches, and the post passes through it three times a week; water carriage is also convenient, being only eight hours sail, with a fair wind, from London Scratton leased the parcels of land to building firm Pratt, Watt & Louden and John Sanderson, an architect, both of Lambeth. Another site
2980-399: A power source by lineshafts and belting. The gang consisted of a 'temperer', who cut the clay out of the washback and loaded it into a wheeled barrow, and took it to the berth where he emptied it into the hopper. The 'flatie' took the extruded clay and rolled it in sand, and handed it to the moulder. The moulder had a rectangular mould that he sprinkled with sand, that slotted onto a base on
3129-455: 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 benefits (19%) and the third highest percentage of residents receiving council tax benefits in Essex. As of May 2024, The Office of National Statistics have recorded
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#17328875534223278-688: A regular source of entertainment. In 1928, the Southend Recorder reported that tents stretched from the Common to Thorpe Hall Avenue, while in the same year local landmark Uncle Toms Cabin was built on the Common. At the beginning of the Second World War , the depositing of a magnetic ground mine in the mud at the mouth of the Thames by the Luftwaffe was observed at Shoeburyness. Various sinkings of ships near
3427-700: A settlement in the 6th century, which at this point that the name Shoebury, or in Anglo-Saxon Scobrih, or in Danish, Scabivig was first documented. A Camp was built by the Dane Hastein in circa 894, but little remains as the Artillery Barracks were built over part of the site. Shoebury (North and South were recorded as one) was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, having a population of 33 and sitting within
3576-587: A sixth form, while primary education is delivered by St George's Catholic Primary School, Friars Primary School, Hinguar Community Primary School, Richmond Avenue Primary and Nursery School and Thorpedene Primary School & Nursery. Shoeburyness Leisure Centre in Delaware Road provides a swimming pool, gym and indoor courts. Shoeburyness formerly had an operating cinema, The Palace in Ness Road which opened in 1913 and closed in 1955. Gunners Park and Shoebury Ranges
3725-441: A stiff clay mix . This process was dependent on the weather. The brickmaking was done by 'gangs' of persons who were usually a family unit. They each had a 'berth', situated in front of a washback. It contained a bench with a pugmill behind. The pugmill had an inlet hopper, and moved the clay mix along a six-foot tube using an Archimedes screw . The pugging process cut up the clay and made it more pliable. Pugmills were attached to
3874-457: A total of 44 properties between Grade II and Grade II*, with both parish churches amongst this list. The majority of the listings are on the former garrison site, including the Cart and Wagon Shed heritage and community centre. Pig's Bay is a coastal area in the east of Shoeburyness. The main entrance to the site is at Blackgate Road, Shoeburyness. This is also the gateway to the island of Foulness ,
4023-527: A week of celebrations to commemorate the Coronation of Elizabeth II . This included an air race at the airport featuring aerobatic displays by supersonic jets, a military tattoo, a coronation ball at the Kursaal featuring Ted Heath and his Music and a grand fireworks display on the seafront. In 1956, the Great Eastern line was electrified which encouraged more Londoners move to the town, further making it into
4172-433: A year or so. The finer ash was added to the slurry, and the larger remains used in the cowls. The cowl was fired and a 'scintler' moved outer bricks during the firing to aid airflow. The centre of the cowl fired at 900 deg C. When the firing was complete, 'sorters' dismantled the cowl. Bricks were sorted into: Later, in the larger brickfields these cowls were replaced by permanent kilns . The updraught kiln , also called
4321-405: Is a unitary authority , performing the functions of both a county and district council. There is one civil parish within the city at Leigh-on-Sea , which has a Town Council that was established in 1996. The rest of the city is an unparished area . The city is split into seventeen wards, with each ward returning three councillors. The 51 councillors serve four years and one third of the council
4470-519: Is a 25-hectare nature reserve managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT). Other parks include Shoeburyness Park, Friars Park, Bishopsteignton Park, Shoebury Common and St. Mary's Nature Reserve. A skate park is located in Anson Chase. Shoebury Garrison is one of Southend's 14 listed conservation areas, being first designated in 1981 before a further extension in 2004. Historic England have listed
4619-426: Is a field or other open site where bricks are made. Land may be leased by an owner to a brickmaster, by whom the manufacture of bricks may be conducted. Historically, the topsoil was typically removed and the clay beneath was stripped and mixed with chalk and ash to make bricks . In pre-19th-century England, [i]n most areas the brickfield owner hired a brickmaster at a price per thousand bricks to superintend
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4768-468: Is at Shoeburyness railway station , where services run to London Fenchurch Street in the City of London . Shoeburyness Depot is the easternmost depot on the c2c line. The eastern end of the A13 is at Shoeburyness and is the only A Road in the town. Shoeburyness is served by Arriva and Stephensons of Essex bus companies. Shoeburyness High School is the only secondary school within the town and incorporates
4917-691: Is defined as "the vague feeling of uncomfortableness caused by sitting on a bus seat still warm from someone else's bottom". Shoeburyness is referenced in the Billy Bragg song "A13 Trunk Road to the Sea" and in the Ian Dury song " Billericay Dickie ". Shoeburyness was featured in the Viral Marketing for the Universal Pictures 2022 American science fiction action film sequel Jurassic World Dominion , with
5066-438: Is elected each year, followed by one year without election. As of the 2024 local elections a coalition led by Labour run the council. Southend's first elected council was a local board , which held its first meeting on 29 August 1866. Prior to that the town was administered by the vestry for the wider parish of Prittlewell . The local board district was enlarged in 1877 to cover the whole parish of Prittlewell. The town
5215-514: Is now a Scheduled Monument . The Romans built a fortified settlement called Essobira at the Ness, that was attacked by the British in AD50 under Caratacus and later by Boudica 's rebels. Evidence of Essobira has not been found, however a Roman Kiln was found in 1892, 300 yards from Suttons, a historical house. A further Roman kiln was found in the grounds of the garrison in 1895. The Saxons re-established
5364-606: 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
5513-551: Is parish name of Shoebury Magna (in Latin Magna Shoberi ) or Greater Shoebury . South Shoebury was prone to flooding and Marsh fever, and in 1530 the parish had to sell St Andrew's bells to pay for repairs to the sea defences. Shoebury Common first appeared as The Great Marsh on a map in 1687, and in 1899 the land owner, Colonel Burges handed the Common to the Shoeburyness Urban District Council for
5662-420: Is part of Rochford District . The MoD Shoeburyness site at Pig's Bay is situated nearby and the facility is run by the company QinetiQ . The Garrison site is now part of a conservation area set up by Southend City Council. Shoeburyness has two beaches: East Beach and Shoebury Common Beach, both Blue Flag beaches . East Beach is a sandy/pebbly beach around a quarter of a mile long and is sandwiched between
5811-450: Is served by two supermarkets, Asda and Lidl . Shoeburyness has several industrial estates, with Towerfield Road, Vanguard Way and Campfield Road serving the area. The town is served by five doctors surgeries and three dentists, with its nearest hospital located at Southend University Hospital . There is only one tier of local government covering Shoeburyness, being the unitary authority of Southend-on-Sea City Council . Shoeburyness
5960-518: Is split into West Shoebury and Shoeburyness wards, which are both represented by three councillors. Shoebury was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, having a population of 33 and lying in the Rochford Hundred. Some time after 1086, the separate parishes of North Shoebury and South Shoebury were created. In Wakering Road, north of Constable Way stands a marker where the historical boundary between
6109-549: Is the site of a defence boom , built in 1944, to prevent enemy shipping and submarines from accessing the River Thames . This replaced an earlier, similar boom built 100 yards (91 m) east. After the war, artillery and other regiments continued to be garrisoned at Shoebury until 1976 when the garrison headquarters closed. Up and to the early 1980s, the Shoebury's were still two distinctive villages, separated by farm land. During
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6258-452: The 2011 census , it had a population of 295,310. Save the Children 's research data shows that for 2008–09, Southend had 4,000 children living in poverty, a rate of 12%, the same as Thurrock , but above the 11% child poverty rate of Essex as a whole. The Department for Communities and Local Government 's 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation Deprivation Indices data showed that Southend
6407-399: The 2024 United Kingdom general election , Bayo Alaba of Labour won 38.8% of the vote to win the seat of Southend East and Rochford, with a 57% turnout. The new MP for Southend West and Leigh is David Burton-Sampson of Labour, who won 35.6% of the vote on a turnover of 63%. This was the first time since the initial seat in parliament was created in 1918, that Labour have been elected, as
6556-495: The Countess of Warwick a year later. The site had previously been planned to be home to a new joint town hall, library and school but spiraling costs had seen the town hall and library being dropped. In 1903, it was reported that around 1 million people had paid admission to use the pier, while 250,000 passengers had alighted from pleasure steamboats. Further facilities were built for the growing visitor numbers, including extending
6705-575: The Dunkirk evacuation . The town itself was first hit by German bombing in May 1940, when the Nore Yacht club was hit while 10 soldiers were killed near the airport. Southend High School for Boys was hit in a raid in June 1940. By June 1940, much of the town was sealed off, with all bar 10% of the population that were engaged in essential services, evacuated and only military personnel remaining. A cordon of 20 miles
6854-485: The Great Eastern Railway opened its station at Southend Victoria, and a new iron built replacement for the pier opened. The town was officially incorporated in 1892, with the Local Board of Health being replaced by a municipal corporation, and a year later added the on-sea to the town's name. During 1892, the famous Southend department store Keddies opened its doors for the first time. Between 1871 and 1901
7003-498: The Ice age by sand, gravel and river alluvium. The cliffs have been affected by slip planes affected by groundwater, with major slips having occurred in 1956, 1962, 1964 and 1969. In 2001, a small slippage occurred, which was followed by a major slippage in November 2002, which irreparably damaged the cliffs bandstand and restaurant. At a later date, a report came to light from a month before
7152-500: The Medway Valley being the most prominent. The Hoo peninsula is an Eocene ( Thanet sands ) ridge. The London basin is an Eocene structure composed of London Clay . All this solid geology is covered with a layer of brown structureless loam (Head), and muds deposited by the rivers. Both the head and the fluvial mud are called brickearth . Water is also needed, the rivers are saline so wells and boreholes need to be dug through
7301-483: The Second Anglo-Dutch War . The hamlet of South-end, a few fishermen's huts and Thames Farm farmhouse stayed this way until the mid 18th century, when in 1758 a large house was built, which by 1764 had become the Ship Inn. The area was further developed by the building of oystermen cottages called Pleasant Row in 1767, and a year later the settlement was recorded in the parishes records for taxation purposes for
7450-517: The Western Front . The pier was frequently used to reach troop ships, with the Admiralty stationing a war signal station at the pierhead, and Southchurch Park was taken over as an army training ground. During the war, the public could still walk the length of the pier. As the war drew on, Southend also became an evacuation point for casualties and several hotels were converted to hospitals, including
7599-511: The 1960s onwards, the city declined as a holiday destination. After the 1960s, much of the city centre was developed for commerce and retail, and many original structures were lost to redevelopment. As part of its reinvention, Southend became the home of the Access credit card , due to its having one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges . An annual seafront airshow, which started in 1986 and featured
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#17328875534227748-580: The 1970s, a study by Southend Borough Council identified a lack of retail availability in the east of the borough. North Shoebury was identified as the site, with a supermarket of 50,000 square feet planned at its centre. Before any development took place, Essex County Council Archaeology Section of the Planning Department and Southend Museum started the North Shoebury Project in 1980 under the guidance of John Wymer , whose digs established that
7897-586: The 2024 election. Paul Channon , son of Henry replaced his father as the MP for Southend West from 1959 until he stepped down in 1997. He was replaced by Sir David Amess, who served from 1997 until his murder in 2021. Anna Firth of the Conservatives had replaced Amess at the by-election in January 2022 with 86% of the vote but lost her seat at the 2024 election. Southend is the seventh most densely populated area in
8046-457: The Bill and it received Royal Assent on the 14 May. By July, Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Thompson laid the foundation stone, and the first section of the pier opened a year later. However, Southend was still a quiet health resort, as the pier did not extend far enough out and visitors had issues disembarking. In June 1852, after several attempts at building a railway to Southend, Royal Assent
8195-697: The British war machine. In 1939, the Royal Navy had commandeered Southend Pier, renaming it HMS Leigh , with the army building a concrete platform on the Prince George extension to house anti-aircraft guns. The navy also took over the Royal Terrace for its personnel. The pier was used by the navy to help control the River Thames , along with the Thames Estuary boom that was built at Shoebury Garrison during 1939, and organised over 3,000 East Coast convoys by
8344-681: The Caroline baths. A large house was built by Abraham Vandervord in 1792 in Old South-end which would later become the Minerva public house. Due to the bad transportation links between Southend and London, there was not rapid development during the Georgian Era as there was in Brighton . Margate , although further away from London than Southend, offered cheaper boat and stagecoach fares and had more to offer
8493-512: The Central Museum and Beecroft Art Gallery, but in 2018 it was abandoned due to rising costs. The town's commercial growth during the 60s and 70s, declined with the departure of many of their former tenants, including HM Revenue and Customs in 2022, and many of the former offices have been converted to apartments. On 15 October 2021, the Member of Parliament for Southend West, Sir David Amess,
8642-659: The English coast in the preceding months were thought by many to be due to U-boat torpedoes, though the Admiralty suspected magnetic mines were being used. The heroic recovery of an intact mine on 23 November 1939, by Lieutenant Commanders Ouvry and Lewis from HMS Vernon made it possible for the Navy to study it and devise countermeasures to neutralise it; among these were the degaussing cables installed in merchant ships in Allied and British fleets, and, of course, wooden minesweepers . East Beach
8791-453: The Garrison's arrival the land had been home to several warrens, after the Normans had introduced rabbits to the area. In comparison, North Shoebury's population in 1894 was just 184. The village of South Shoebury had been built up around the High Street and Rampart Street, but it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that the town grew, with the area known as Cambridge Town being established. The area
8940-567: The Guinness connection, the seat became known in the media as "Guinness-on-Sea". In 1950, the one seat was split into two, Southend East and Southend West due to the growth in the town. Sir Stephen McAdden served as the MP for Southend East from 1950 until his death in 1979. His replacement Sir Teddy Taylor served Southend East, then its replacement seat Rochford and Southend East from 1980 until he retired in 2005. James Duddridge served as Sir Teddy's replacement from 2005 until stepping down at
9089-605: The Metropole into the Queen Mary Naval Hospital. Arthur Maitland Keddie, from the Keddies department store organised day trips for wounded soldiers from the Queen Mary Naval Hospital to Thundersley and Runwell . The town was first bombed by German Zeppelins on 10 May 1915 with the death of one woman, while a second attack happened on the 26 May again with one death. Another bombing raid by Gothas took place in 1917 with
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#17328875534229238-399: The Pavilion on the pier. In 1944, while towing a Mulberry harbour caisson to Goole in Hampshire, it was found to be leaking so it was brought into the Thames Estuary off Thorpe Bay to be checked, but after being left by the tugs, it moved partially into the channel, and without support of the mudflat snapped in half and remains there to this day. Further disaster happened when in August 1944,
9387-433: The Pig's Bay MoD site and the former Shoeburyness Artillery barracks. Access to the large gravel/grass pay-and-display car park is via Rampart Terrace. The beach is closed when there is live fire at the MOD site. Shoebury Common Beach is bounded to the east by the land formerly occupied by the Shoeburyness Artillery barracks and by Thorpe Bay to the west. Shoebury Common Beach is the site of many beach huts located on both
9536-405: The United Kingdom outside of the London Boroughs, with 38.8 people per hectare compared to a national average of 3.77. The greater urban area of Southend spills outside of the borough boundaries into the neighbouring Castle Point and Rochford districts, including the towns of Hadleigh , Benfleet , Rayleigh and Rochford , as well as the villages of Hockley and Hullbridge . According to
9685-447: The area had continuous human habitation from the Mesolithic period. The planned store became the ASDA supermarket, which opened in 1981, while one of the former farm barns became the Parsons Barn public house. This was joined by the Bishopsteignton housing development, that was completed between 1981 and 1988. The site was the former farm of listed building, the White House, which had been sold in 1919 to Southend Estates Company. Following
9834-405: The beach and no boats could approach at low tide. Many potential visitors would travel beyond Southend on to Margate or other resorts with better docking facilities. Due to this, local dignitaries led by the former Lord Mayor of the City of London Sir William Heygate , campaigned in the early 1820s to gain permission from parliament to build a pier. On the 7 May 1829, the House of Lords passed
9983-597: The bench. The clay was thrown into the mould with great force. That done, tapping the mould released the newly formed brick (green brick). They were removed from the bench by the 'off bearer' who stacked them next to the bench. A 'barrow loader' stacked 30 green bricks in a barrow. The 'pusher outer' wheeled the green bricks to a 'hack' where they would dry off. The hack would contain 1000 bricks stacked on boards, seven courses high. These were dried for 5 weeks losing about 2 pounds (0.91 kg) in weight- these were now called 'white bricks'. The traditional method of firing bricks
10132-467: The bricks had time to cool before they were removed. the kiln was reloaded with green bricks and in turn the kiln would be fired once more. There was always an empty kiln ready to take fresh green bricks so production was not interrupted by waiting for a firing to be completed. A kiln of this type is still in use at a brickworks in Rainham. The next development was the Long Continuous Kiln where bricks were stacked on flat wagons which were slowly passed through
10281-477: The city had previously been held by the Conservatives. From the creation of the first Member of Parliament seat for Southend in 1918, there has been a history of long serving MPs. Rupert Guinness of the Guinness family was Southend's first MP, and only stepped down when he was given a peerage. His wife, Gwendolen Guinness replaced him in 1927, until she retired and her son-in-law Henry Channon replaced her in 1935, serving until his death in 1958. Because of
10430-413: The civil parish containing the urban district continued to be called "South Shoebury". In 1931 the parish had a population of 6720. In 1933 both Shoeburyness Urban District Council (which managed the South Shoebury civil parish) and North Shoebury civil parishes were abolished and absorbed into the County Borough of Southend on Sea , except for a more rural eastern part of the old North Shoebury parish which
10579-433: The closure of the Old Ranges in 1998 the old garrison land and buildings were sold, and in 2000 redevelopment of the site to housing started. In 2022, a heritage centre was opened on the former garrison after 35 years of campaigning. Shoeburyness sits on the Thames Estuary and is at the far east of the district of Southend-on-Sea , bordered to the west by Thorpe Bay at Maplin Way and to the North by Great Wakering which
10728-417: The combustion. Clay alone would be too brittle. The popular Kentish yellows ( London stock bricks ) used 10-17% of chalk. The surface of the porous yellow stock, reacted chemically with the sulphur dioxide in the polluted air to form an impermeable glaze as well as an attractive colour. When the liquid slurry was ready it was 'laundered' along wooden pipes into square washbacks, the water seeped away leaving
10877-618: The control of the Rochford Hundred . The land was owned by three different people, Walter; Bishop Odo of Bayeux and the Swein of Essex, son of Robert FitzWimarc . The parish church of South Shoebury, St. Andrew was originally constructed in the 12th century under the control of Prittlewell Priory , with the West Tower being added in the 15th century and the South porch in the 16th century. The church
11026-487: The council using Section 4 of the Town and Country Act 1962 to compulsory purchase the remaining properties. The development, which became Victoria Circus Shopping Centre, opened in 1970 and saw a large area of much loved Southend demolished. Further developments put forward by the council included building a ring road around the town centre. First discussed by the council in 1955, plans were started to be developed in 1961, with
11175-602: The declaration of war , the British government began the internment of German citizens and several thousand were held on three ships, the Royal Edward, Saxonia and the Ivernia which were moored off the pier until May 1915. The War Office selected a piece of land north of the town in 1914 for a new aerodrome, with Squadron no. 37 of the Royal Flying Corps moving in a year later. Many soldiers passed through Southend en route to
11324-498: The drawing board. In 1980, the town's reinvention as a commercial centre had seen it shrug off its tag as a dormitory town for London, however the future of the pier was in doubt and a campaign, which included Sir John Betjeman, pushed the council to keep the pier open. The pier may have been saved, now run by Lecorgne Amusements, but the town lost another attraction in 1983, when the Southend Aircraft Museum closed for
11473-554: The electrification of the London, Tilbury and Southend railway line acting as impetus as bridges over the line which were on the route of the planned ring road needed replacing. In 1965, the Ministry of Transport gave the council a grant of £869,986 to the planned cost of £1.2 million to build the North and East sections of the ring road. The council used compulsory purchase orders to buy up many of
11622-610: The end of the war. HMS Leigh was attacked by the Germans on the 22 November when they dropped magnetic mines and machine gunned the pier, but none of the mines caused any damage and the navy's anti-aircraft guns destroyed one of the German planes. It was the last time there was a concentrated attack on the pier. Southend Airport was requisitioned by the RAF at the outbreak of war, becoming a satellite of Hornchurch and being renamed RAF Rochford. The town
11771-473: The esplanade to Chalkwell in 1903, and in 1909 adding the "wedding cake" bandstand at the top of the cliffs, opposite Prittlewell Square, which was one of six bandstands that stood in Southend. In 1909, an indoor roller-skating rink was opened in Warrior Square. The new facilities were not only serving the growing visitor numbers, but also the residents, with the inhabitants having grown by 1911 to 62,723,
11920-497: The example set in 1913 by Blackpool. The town became a favourite with motorcycle riders during the 1930s, with the phase, Promenade Percy , coming from this pastime. In the same year, the council purchased land on the Cliffs at Westcliff to build a 500 seater theatre and concert venue to be called Shorefield Pavilion with working starting four years later only to be suspended by the start of the war. Southend became an essential part of
12069-478: The fastest growing population in England, and was being regarded an Eastern suburb of London. During 1913, the Day Technical School split, with the girls moving to the new Southend High School for Girls at Boston Avenue, while the day technical school was renamed Southend High School for Boys. In 1914, the town gained county borough status, and the corporation formed the first police force. Shortly after
12218-536: The fifth Temeraire novel Victory of Eagles (2008) by Naomi Novik , Shoeburyness is the setting of a fictitious climactic battle in which Wellesley and Nelson drive Napoleon out of England in early 1808. Shoeburyness is home to "the commuter", protagonist in the eponymous song and music video by Ceephax Acid Crew . Shoeburyness is one of the better-known entrants in Douglas Adams ' and John Lloyd 's 1990 spoof dictionary The Deeper Meaning of Liff . It
12367-532: The final time. However in the same year the council put up £800,000 with the Historic Buildings Fund investing £200,000 in restoring the pier. Further invest saw a new narrow gauge railway fitted to the pier, which was reopened by Princess Anne on 2 May 1986. A contract was given to Brent Walker to run the pier in 1986, but in September of that year it was damaged by the ship Kings Abbey , destroying
12516-403: The firing when necessary. The Hoffmann Continuous Kiln was the first move towards mass production. It was a series of downdraught kilns, connected in a circle or in a long rectangle. Each kiln had an access channel to the next so as soon as the one kiln was fully firing process, the waste heat would begin to fire the next. The fires would thus burn around in sequence. When the firing was complete,
12665-486: The first time. The records also recorded a salt works and a lime kiln. A visitor to the settlement in 1780 said "not anything in the worth place notice" , but a year later the first bathing machine was brought to the hamlet. By 1785, the Chelmsford Chronicle were reporting that plans were being contemplated to build a hotel with the plan to make South-end, equal, if not rival any of the watering places to which
12814-466: The following employment, unemployment and economic inactivity in Southend-on-Sea. In the 2021 census, it was reported that 69.1% of the working population work in full-time employment, with 10.9% working more than 48 hours a week. As of the 2021 census, the population was recorded as 180,686, with 51.3% of the population being female, and 48.7% recorded as male. Brickfield A brickfield
12963-496: The genteelest company usually resort; there being nothing wanted but a place of accommodation, where the agreeable distance from the metropolis, and the excellence of the roads, added to the incomparable fineness of the water, have induced so much polite company down these last two summers Nothing came of the subscription but the Chronicle reported in 1787, "Southend is likely to become a place of fashionable resort, and that there are
13112-470: The incident once the inquiry had been completed. The English painter J. M. W. Turner depicted the fishermen of Shoeburyness in his oil painting Shoeburyness Fishermen Hailing a Whitstable Hoy . The painting was exhibited in 1809, and was part of a series Turner made of the Thames estuary between 1808 and 1810. The painting has been in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada since 1939. In
13261-541: The letters patent were presented to Southend Borough Council by Charles, Prince of Wales . Southend was first recorded in 1309 as Stratende , a small piece of land in the Manor of Milton (now known as Westcliff-on-Sea ), within the Parish of Prittlewell . Its next recorded mention was in a will from 1408, where the area south of Prittlewell was called Sowthende . In March 1665, the British naval ship, The London, blew up while moored just of South-end on its way to fight in
13410-510: The liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery , with over 6,000 tonnes of explosive on board, lost its mooring off the Isle of Sheppey, opposite Southend, in strong winds and wedged itself onto the mudflat, breaking its back. Prior to this, HMS Leigh had been the mustering point for 576 ships in June 1944 before they headed for Normandy and D-Day. Force L, the follow up forces that were to follow the initial D-Day invasion force were located at Southend. After
13559-468: The lifeboat station . Two years later, management of the pier returned to the council. The seafront would see several plans put forward in the late 70s and the 1980s to build a marina on the seafront by numerous developers including Brent Walker, including an artificial island alongside the pier, though the council ended the plans after they were objected to by the RSPB due to loss of intertidal areas for wildlife
13708-493: The majority of the amusement park in 1973. The town became one of the earliest to receive an electronic telephone exchange in 1971, and by 1972 Access , Britain's second credit card, opened their offices in the former EKCO site in Priory Crescent. A year later HM Customs and Excise opened the central offices for the collection of VAT . In 1972, Southend Air Museum opened its doors for the first time at Aviation Way. This
13857-422: The men who worked them still being enlisted. It wasn't until 1946 that the town started to return to normal, and by 1949-50 visitor numbers had returned with over 5.75 million visiting the pier alone. The visitors would have used the replaced pier railway, newly installed in 1949, or may have visited the newly opened Golden Hind replica containing waxworks by Louis Tussaud next to the pier. These numbers grew to
14006-530: The municipal coat of arms, translates as 'By [the] Sea, By [the] Church', reflecting Southend's position between the church at Prittlewell and the sea as in the Thames estuary. The city has been twinned with the resort of Sopot in Poland since 1999 and has been developing three-way associations with Lake Worth Beach, Florida . Due to boundary changes, the seats in Southend changed at the 2024 election to Southend East and Rochford and Southend West and Leigh. In
14155-443: 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 . The city is one of the most densely populated places in the country outside of London. It is home to the longest pleasure pier in the world, Southend Pier , while London Southend Airport is located to the north of the city centre. Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of
14304-411: The parish. Shoeburyness railway station opened in 1884, as the eastern terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway . The parish of South Shoebury was made an urban district in 1894, which was renamed Shoeburyness in 1895. The urban district of Shoeburyness and parish of North Shoebury were both abolished in 1933, being absorbed into the county borough of Southend-on-Sea. Development during
14453-412: The perfect location for office development, and the council in 1960 finally started work on a new Civic Centre on land previously purchased to build a new further education college. The Civic Centre would encompass a new police station that opened in 1962, a courthouse in 1966, council offices and chamber in 1967, a new College in 1971 and a Library in 1974. The planned fire station was dropped and
14602-460: The plans included redeveloping the area north of the High Street, which included the Talza and Victoria Arcades, had been discussed with developer Hammerson . Although the plans were rejected by central government, Hammerson started a programme of buying property in the area, and in 1964 the council accepted Hammerson's plans for the site. Hammerson had by this point had purchased 93% of the freeholds, with
14751-634: The promenade and the beach. A Coast Guard watch tower at the eastern end of the beach keeps watch over the sands and mudflats while listening out for distress calls over the radio. A cycle path skirts around the sea-front linking the East Beach to Shoebury Common Beach, and thence into Southend and onto Chalkwell , in Westcliff-on-Sea . Shoeburyness does not have an actual town centre. There are parades of shops in West Road, Ness Road and The Renown. The town
14900-514: The properties along the planned route and work started in 1966, with the first section opening in 1967 with the first high pressure sodium street lamps in Britain. The West and South sections of the ring road were never completed. In the same year, work was started on dualing Victoria Avenue to Carnarvon Road, while part of the High Street was pedestrianised by 1968. By this point Victoria Avenue had seen further development, with offices opening along
15049-532: The property he owned was not sold by auction until 1797, with the Heygate family purchasing the buildings. John Sanderson, the other developer was also declared bankrupt, with only Grove House built, and his estate was not sold until 1802, with much of the site still open land. In contrast, Old South-end doubled in size during the same period including two public houses, the Ship Inn and the Anchor and Hope Inn, five shops and
15198-628: The railway construction, hired architects Banks & Barry to design Clifftown . The first houses were made available for sale in 1871, with even the smaller properties offering a glimpse of the sea, and eventually the development would include the Clifftown Congregational Church, the Nelson Road shopping parade and Prittlewell Square, Southend's first park. The arrival of the railway did not at first greatly increase visitor numbers, with Southend still being seen as quiet resort and not
15347-464: The recreation and benefit of the inhabitants of South Shoebury and others . By 1851, the population of South Shoebury stood at 151, but just ten years later the census had shown the population had grown to 1,502. The growth in population was caused by the opening of nearby brickfields by the Frapping family, and the construction of the Artillery Barracks that was the start of Shoebury Garrison . Prior to
15496-718: The same month, a bombing raid damaged houses in the Fleetwood Avenue in Westcliff. During 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited Shoebury Garrison twice for weapon demonstrations, with the Experimental Establishment carrying out numerous trials of weird and wonderful weapons. An air raid in February 1941 destroyed the London Hotel in the High Street, while the foreshore was often used by German bomber aircraft as
15645-464: The section opposite the Civic Centre including Portcullis House in 1966, the first offices opened by HM Customs and Excise in the town. In 1969, Southend-on-Sea Borough Police amalgamated with Essex Constabulary to become the Essex and Southend-on-Sea Joint Constabulary . This merger was campaigned against by the council and the local MPs . The town's decline as a holiday resort continued, with
15794-539: The show. An attempt to revive the show for September 2015, as the Southend Airshow and Military Festival, failed. The town started to regenerate its visitor attractions, with the Sealife Centre opening in 1993. In 1995, the owners of Peter Pan's Playground purchased the land East of the pier and started to expand, creating Adventure Island , being rated best-value amusement park in Britain in 2024. The Kursaal,
15943-430: The sidings at Network Rail 's Shoeburyness c2c electrical multiple unit depot by means of two unmanned level crossings across Shoeburyness High Street and Blackgate Road, respectively. The front locomotive of the passenger train involved in the 1997 Southall rail crash – when an InterCity 125 train collided with a freight train, killing seven people – was scrapped here, being cut up by Serco three years after
16092-450: The site and take full responsibility for the output of the operations. He in turn contracted with moulders to temper, mould and hack the bricks. Each moulder then hired his own 'gang' of subsidiary labourers and acted as their employer. Subsequently, the field (if not too damaged ecologically) could be used for horticulture . In Kent such fields were often planted with fruit trees. Brickfields were mainly created from 1770 to 1881, when
16241-411: The site of where the current Cliff lift is. To celebrate Queen Victoria 's diamond jubilee, a statue of her pointing out to sea was placed at the top of Pier Hill, although the locals stated she was pointing at the gents toilets! A foundation stone was laid by Lord Avebury in 1901 for the new Day Technical School, School of Art and Evening Class Institute with the completed building being opened by
16390-501: The slip which showed there was already signs of a slippage. A £2.8 million cliffs stabilisation programme was completed in 2013. In May 2023, work started to investigate further slippage at Belton Hills in Leigh-on-Sea, with remedy work said to cost £500,000. The British Geological Survey provided a summary in 1986 of the geology of the country around Southend and Foulness: Southend is governed by Southend-on-Sea City Council, which
16539-475: The third largest island off the coast of England. The bay is the site of MoD Shoeburyness , a military installation established in 1849 and which is still used as a firing range. The Bay is home to Shoeburyness Boom , a World War II and Cold War defensive boom that is a Scheduled Monument. One of the other uses of the site is the storage and scrapping of old railway vehicles. It has its own private railway network, stretching for around six miles, linked to one of
16688-403: The thirteenth century, it was divided into two parishes called North Shoebury and South Shoebury . The two villages remained small rural settlements until the 1850s, when a barracks was established in the parish of South Shoebury, later becoming MoD Shoeburyness . A garrison town, known as Shoeburyness, grew around the barracks, taking its name from the ness on the coast at the southern end of
16837-465: The three Cretaceous chalk layers to the impermeable Gault Clay . Taking the parish of Frindsbury as a referenced example: about 1 foot (0.30 m) of acidic topsoil covers about 6 feet (1.8 m) of head, which lies on the alkaline Thanet Sands. There are five layers of sands with different properties – the light grey sands are themselves marketable and are used in the brickmaking process, and as moulding sand for metal foundries . A field
16986-548: 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
17135-488: The top of the cliffs to the west of South-end called Grove Field and the Grove. The site was split into three leasehold sites with 99 year leases, with the development called New South-End, and the original settlement being renamed Old South-end. A new road was created that cut through the development, which would later become the High Street. The Chelmsford Chronicle wrote at the time, There seems but little doubt of its becoming
17284-411: The town. In 1990, Southend was the first local authority to outsource its municipal waste collection to a commercial provider. However, in 1998 it again became the single tier of local government when it became a unitary authority . Upon receiving city status on 1 March 2022, the council voted to rename itself ' Southend-on-Sea City Council '. The Latin motto, 'Per Mare Per Ecclesiam', emblazoned on
17433-530: The towns population grew 100 fold from 2,800 to 29,000. Marine Park & Gardens opened during 1894, which in 1901 was redeveloped into The Kursaal amusement park. In the same year, the Metropole Hotel opened on Pier Hill, which would later be renamed the Palace Hotel, while the town first received both electric street lighting and trams, and had fitted an electric staircase fitted by Jesse W. Reno on
17582-559: The twentieth century saw the formerly separate settlements of Shoeburyness and North Shoebury absorbed into the built-up area of Southend. The first record of occupation in Shoebury has been found from the Mesolithic period, with Neolithic and Bronze Age stone tools and Beaker pottery having also been discovered. An Iron Age settlement has been found, that had ramparts that were believed to be originally 40ft wide and 12ft tall, with evidence of round houses , ditches and Postholes that
17731-561: The two civil parishes existed. When parish and district councils were established in December 1894, the parish of North Shoebury was included within the Rochford Rural District whilst the parish of South Shoebury was made an urban district. One of the first actions of the new urban district council was to request a change in the council's name from South Shoebury to Shoeburyness. The change of name took effect in January 1895. The name of
17880-399: The visitor numbers on the pier falling to a million during 1969-70 and the attraction lost £45,000. The town saw the number of visitors had fallen from the 1950s by 73%, which was against the backdrop of more Brits travelling abroad, growing from just 1.5 million holidays in 1951, to 4.2 million by 1971. The pier slowly began to decline and with it the structure began to deteriorate. In 1971,
18029-521: The visitor. Development was piecemeal in the early 19th century, with a Theatre being built in Old South-end by Thomas Trotter in 1804. Southend was however mentioned in Jane Austen 's novel Emma of 1815. The resort first received Royal patronage in 1801 when Princess Charlotte of Wales visited to sea bathe on the order of her physician. Her mother, Princess Caroline of Brunswick stayed at 7-9 The Terrace during 1803, and in 1805 Lady Hamilton held
18178-568: The war Southend soon opened up to visitors again, with pier officially being given permission to open by the Home Office in March 1945, although the Prince George Extension was still out of bounds to the public. The Chelmsford Chronicle reported that the public returned in their droves, with 79,000 visitors turning up in the first nineteen days, though it wasn't until 30 September that the pier
18327-527: 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. The seven kilometres of cliffs from Hadleigh Castle to Southend Pier consist of London Clay overlaid in
18476-547: Was fatally stabbed during a constituency meeting in Leigh-on-Sea . On 18 October 2021, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson , 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
18625-548: Was against the backdrop of the government planning to build a new airport on Maplin Sands at Foulness Island , which the council purchased a share in the consortium of developers hoping to shape the benefits for the town, but the airport plans were pulled by the new Labour government in 1974. During 1976, plans called Prospects 1976 was released to improve the town's ability to attract holidaymakers, including bastions with facilities at Chalkwell and Westcliff, but they never got off
18774-520: Was believed to be the most heavily defended place in Essex, ranging from three and half miles of anti-tank cubes on the seafront, machine gun and anti-aircraft posts, road blocks and barrage balloons. On 31 May 1940, six cockle fishing boats: the Endeavour , Letitia , Defender , Reliance , Renown and the Resolute were joined by the Southend lifeboat Greater London at the pier on their way to assist at
18923-421: Was deemed to much. Plans were resurrected again in 2020 for a marina off the coast at Shoeburyness. In May 1986, the Southend Airshow was started, featuring a fly past by Concorde , and after the first year where entry was charged by the council, it would grow to become Europe's biggest free airshow. The final show took place on 2012, with the council announcing in January 2013 it could no longer afford to run
19072-475: Was enlarged in 1929 with the Prince George extension, at a cost of £58,000, to manage the increasing number of visitors arriving by paddle steamer. A Southend icon, EKCO, opened their large factory at Priory Crescent on the site of a former cabbage patch in 1930. To cope with the increase demand for housing, estates like Earls Hall were built during 1930, with the Manners Way estate joining it just north along with
19221-536: Was enlarged in 1933 by the former area of Shoeburyness Urban District and part of Rochford Rural District . Southend Civic Centre was designed by borough architect, Patrick Burridge, and officially opened by the Queen Mother on 31 October 1967. On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , Southend became a district of Essex, with the county council once more providing county-level services to
19370-626: Was eventually built in Sutton Road. These replaced cramped facilities located in Alexandra Road and Clarence Street. The council in 1960 put forward a redevelopment plan, called Prospect of Southend to central government, to improve both the commercial and retail growth in the town, but the original plan and an amendment, which requested compulsory purchase orders, were both rejected by the Minister for Housing Development and Local Government. Part of
19519-473: Was found dating from the 6th century, with a display of the finds displayed at Southend Central Museum since 2019. The road widening was cancelled after a campaign known as Camp Bling . A year earlier there was a slippage on the Cliffs, which saw the bandstand close. The cliffs were stabilised in 2013, with the council planning to build a new museum at the location to host the Anglo Saxon discoveries, as well as
19668-517: Was given to build the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway with the line finally opening at Southend in 1856. The line had been planned to terminate opposite the pier, however residents in The Royal Terrace opposed this, and the station was built further back. In 1859, the Grove Field area was leased to Sir Morton Peto , and with a consortium which included Thomas Brassey , the contractors for
19817-509: Was leased from Scratton by Pratt, Watt & Louden for a brick works for the development. The first house in Grove Terrace was completed by January 1792 and it was reported that the hotel had been roofed and 60 dwellings had been started on. By the summer two public houses, the Duke of York and the Duke of Clarence had opened. However, by September that year The Times was reporting that the resort
19966-476: Was leased from the farmer and it was 'uncallowed' (the topsoil removed). The soil had been farmed and in the Medway area it had been chalked every five years with 'fat chalk' extracted from the ' dene holes '. The head, or clay was now dug from the field in winter by workers (diggers) on piecework rates. This was calculated on the volume extracted. 44 ft by 8 ft by 6 ft would make 33000 bricks. The dug clay
20115-403: Was left exposed in heaps to weather. The washmill was usually a sunken circular pit that was brick lined. It was 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, and 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter. A horse pulled a centrally pivoted beam with rakes that broke up the weathered clay and mixed it into a slurry. It was here that the correct proportion of chalk, some river mud and even rags were added. The rags would help
20264-437: Was likely to attract the lower and middle classes, not the wealthy clientele that was being aimed at. At this time, Pratt, Watt & Louden transferred the lease to Thomas Holland, a builder and solicitor from Grays Inn , however his finances were not sound and he was soon selling off building materials. By December 1792, the operators of the Duke of York, brewers Sea and Woollet closed the public house, but by September 1793 it
20413-416: Was made a municipal borough in 1892. In 1897 the borough was enlarged to also include the neighbouring parish of Southchurch , with further enlargement in 1913 by taking over the area formerly controlled by Leigh-on-Sea Urban District Council . In 1914 the enlarged Southend became a county borough making it independent from Essex County Council and a single-tier of local government. The county borough
20562-512: Was named after a local public house called the Duke of Cambridge. The town was described by the military historian Patrick Barry as a dreary place... the broadest and most sterile foreshore perhaps in England It was home to the last recorded case of indigenous malaria in the British Isles during the 1930s. The brickfields use to run two narrow railways, that crossed the High Street without
20711-406: Was officially derequisitioned by the Navy. The town, which had been heavily fortified, slowly started to remove the defences during 1945, however the dust and noise attracted unhappiness with the holidaymakers, with two elderly ladies complaining to the police that it should be stopped while they were on their vacation for the week. Many of the fairground attractions only opened at weekend due many of
20860-463: Was officially opened, in secret, by Lord Mountbatten in 1943. The well known jeweller R.A. Jones store was damaged by bombing in October 1942. An amusing moment during the war was Lord Haw-Haw announcing in his radio broadcasts that German forces had sunk the British ships HMS Westcliff and HMS Leigh. The town started to fall under constant V1 and V2 rocket attacks until December 1944, with one hitting
21009-526: Was purchased by Brent Walker in 1988 with plans to redevelop the site as a water theme park, but the company entered liquidation and the site remained empty. The council purchased the Kursaal, and after a multimillion-pound redevelopment by the Rowallan Group, the main Kursaal building was reopened in 1998 with a bowling alley, a casino and other amusements. In 2003, during excavations for a road widening scheme at Priory Crescent, an Anglo-Saxon royal burial
21158-495: Was recorded as 106,050, but as the census was postponed to the summer months due to a planned general strike, it was greatly inflated by holidaymakers. The Corporation purchased three former German U-boat engines to generate power for the tram network, siting them at Leigh, London Road and Thorpe Bay. During 1924, the Sunken Gardens at the side of the pier became Peter Pan Playground, a children's pleasure garden. The pier head
21307-403: Was recorded that 22% of the town's population were working in holiday related industries. The council were concerned that the town was too reliant on tourism and being a dormitory town, that they decided to try and grow the commercial industry in the town, which coincided with plans in central government to de-centralise services. The Miles Report of 1944 had already identified Victoria Avenue as
21456-424: Was restored during the 19th century by renown architect Sir Charles Nicholson . The manor house, known as South Shoebury Hall, is a medieval timber-framed house with an 18th-century brick frontage and other alterations. Other historical properties include Suttons, a Grade II listed manor house that was built in 1681, which is now on the most endangered list of Historic England. South Shoebury has also been called under
21605-480: Was set up, with the town being designated part of the coastal defence area, but with the risk of invasion dropping, in 1941 it was reduced to 10 miles. By 28 October 1940, RAF Rochford had been renamed RAF Southend, no longer being a satellite of Hornchurch, although they still had Fighter Control at the base. A day later 264 Squadron arrived for night fighter duties equipped with the Boulton Paul Defiant . In
21754-524: Was still in their ownership. The Grand Hotel, now known as The Royal Hotel opened on the 1st July 1793, and most of Grove Terrace was available to let. Later that year New South-End was listed for the first time by the parish for the annual rate, and by the summer of 1794 the Terrace, Grove Terrace, the Mews and Library had finally been completed. However, by February 1795, Thomas Holland had been declared bankrupt, and
21903-403: Was taken over by Shoeburyness Urban District Council. The council was created in 1894, separating the civil and ecclesiastical side of the parish, until it was absorbed into Southend Borough in 1933 which also absorbed the former North Shoebury parish. In between the two World Wars, Shoeburyness became a popular holiday resort, with a blacksmiths sitting next to the beach until the 1930s being
22052-491: Was to use a cowl (or clamp). A cowl was a stack of 750 'white bricks' laid on edge, and about 6 inches (15 cm) apart leaving channels for the fuel. The stack would be 32 courses high. The white brick stack was covered with rejected bricks that would help retain the heat. The fuel was known as 'rough stuff' or 'London mixture'. It was made in winter by 'scrying' sifting out the half burnt coal from domestic rubbish which had been retrieved from London by barge, then left to rot for
22201-503: Was transferred to the parish of Great Wakering . Shoeburyness is part of the Southend East and Rochford constituency, and the current serving Member of Parliament is Bayo Alaba . Shoeburyness is known to be the driest town in England, with an average precipitation of 527mm/20.8in per annum. For comparison, New York City receives well above twice this amount. The eastern terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend line ( c2c line)
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