114-462: 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 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
228-463: 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
342-527: A county council. It thus is not a unitary authority as those are such authorities created under the Local Government Act 1992 . The 36 metropolitan borough councils are also the sole elected local government units in their areas (except for parish councils in a few locations), but share strategic functions with joint boards and arrangements. On the other hand, the City of London Corporation and
456-570: 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
570-460: 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 the first time. The records also recorded
684-506: 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
798-546: 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,
912-448: A high degree of autonomy as counties corporate . Some smaller settlements also enjoyed some degree of autonomy from regular administration as boroughs or liberties . The Local Government Act 1972 created areas for local government where large towns and their rural hinterlands were administered together. The concept of unitary units was abandoned with a two-tier arrangement of county and district councils in all areas of England, except
1026-481: 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 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,
1140-579: A local government authority which combines the functions of a county council and a district council. Strictly speaking, the term does not necessarily mean a single level of local government within an area, because in some cases there are also parish councils in the same area. Although the term was not applied to them, county boroughs between 1889 and 1974 were effectively unitary authority areas, that is, single-tier administrative units. Before 1889, local government authorities had different powers and functions, but from medieval times some cities and towns had
1254-534: 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 was eventually built in Sutton Road. These replaced cramped facilities located in Alexandra Road and Clarence Street. The council in 1960 put forward
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#17327722098321368-552: 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
1482-530: 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
1596-528: A number of multiple member wards from which councillors are elected in the same way as in two-tier district council elections. The exceptions, which are divided into electoral divisions as in county council elections, are Cornwall, County Durham, the Isle of Wight, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire. Districts are usually named after a town, city, geographical area or county (historic and or ceremonial). With no effect on powers or functions, districts can have
1710-490: 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 a greater number of genteel families there this season than
1824-419: 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
1938-458: 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
2052-647: 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 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
2166-521: 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 the genteelest company usually resort; there being nothing wanted but
2280-543: A structure based on unitary authorities is called 'restructuring'. The Secretary of State responsible for local government invites proposals from local areas to restructure into unitary authorities, and the Secretary decides whether or not the change should be implemented. The restructuring is carried out by an Order. There are no examples in the UK of councils restructuring back into a two-tier system. Unitary authorities combine
2394-560: A type of local authority responsible for all local government services in an area. They combine the functions of a non-metropolitan county council and a non-metropolitan district council, which elsewhere in England provide two tiers of local government. Unitary authorities are constituted under the Local Government Act 1992 , which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of non-metropolitan counties that do not have multiple districts. Most were established during
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#17327722098322508-402: 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
2622-434: 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
2736-626: 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
2850-455: 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
2964-434: 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 the city had previously been held by
3078-499: The 2024 general election , and in her Autumn budget statement , Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves outlined that a forthcoming English Devolution Bill would include plans for "working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas", suggesting that a new round of local government reorganisation could be likely. The process of changing from a two-tier local government to
3192-494: 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
3306-635: 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
3420-489: 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
3534-504: 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
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3648-634: The Isles of Scilly where the small size and distance from the mainland made it impractical. In 1986 a broadly unitary system of local government was introduced in the six metropolitan counties and Greater London , where the upper-tier authorities were abolished and their functions were split between central government, the borough councils and joint boards. A review in the 1990s was initiated to select non-metropolitan areas where new unitary authorities could be created. The resulting structural changes were implemented between 1995 and 1998. Bristol, Herefordshire,
3762-516: The RSPB due to loss of intertidal areas for wildlife 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
3876-526: 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
3990-415: The 'bigger is better' assumption and highlight that larger councils breed mistrust of councillors and reduction in public engagement and voter turnout. Outside the UK, multi-level local government is the prevailing system, with major towns normally having a local authority. The average size of a local authority in England is 170,000, three times that of Europe. Most unitary authority areas are divided into
4104-507: The 1990s , with more created in 2009 and 2019–23 . The size of the areas governed by unitary authorities varies greatly; the authorities created in the 1990s were generally created from single districts and covered a single large town or city, while those created since 2009 often cover entire non-metropolitan counties. The term " unitary authority " was first used in the Redcliffe-Maud Report in 1969 in its current sense of
4218-595: 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
4332-458: The 32 London borough councils, although they have a high degree of autonomy, share strategic functions with the directly elected Mayor of London and London Assembly . Unitary authorities should not be confused with another formation in English local government, the combined authority . George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley Too Many Requests If you report this error to
4446-457: 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
4560-772: 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
4674-707: 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
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4788-518: 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,
4902-493: 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
5016-529: 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 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
5130-569: 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
5244-646: 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 was officially derequisitioned by the Navy. The town, which had been heavily fortified, slowly started to remove
5358-457: 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 the war Southend soon opened up to visitors again, with pier officially being given permission to open by
5472-489: The Isle of Wight and Rutland were established as counties of a single district; the district councils of Berkshire became unitary; the counties of Avon , Humberside and Cleveland were broken up to create several unitary authorities; and a number of districts were split off from their associated counties. The changes caused the ceremonial counties to be defined separately, as they had been before 1974. The review caused 46 unitary authorities to be created. A further review
5586-468: 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 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
5700-622: 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
5814-576: 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 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
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#17327722098325928-735: 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, the liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery , with over 6,000 tonnes of explosive on board, lost its mooring off
6042-489: The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire . These changes would see the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place. One authority, West Northamptonshire , would consist of the existing districts of Daventry , Northampton and South Northamptonshire and
6156-533: 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
6270-505: 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
6384-472: 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 a flypast by Concorde , used to take place each May until 2012. On 18 October 2021, it
6498-554: The council announcing in January 2013 it could no longer afford to run 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,
6612-618: 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
6726-478: 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 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
6840-617: 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
6954-477: 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,
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#17327722098327068-497: 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
7182-482: 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
7296-459: 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 the 1960s onwards, the city declined as a holiday destination. After the 1960s, much of
7410-455: The first time at Aviation Way. This 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
7524-518: 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. Unitary authorities of England The unitary authorities of England are
7638-583: 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
7752-457: The non-metropolitan districts of Aylesbury Vale , Chiltern , South Bucks , and Wycombe in Buckinghamshire were replaced by a single unitary authority known as Buckinghamshire Council on 1 April 2020. The existing unitary authority of Milton Keynes was not affected; from 1 April 2020, therefore, the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire has been composed of two unitary authority areas. In March 2018, an independent report commissioned by
7866-700: The other authority, North Northamptonshire would consist of Corby , East Northamptonshire , Kettering and Wellingborough districts. This was confirmed in May 2019, with the new councils being created in April 2021. In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan counties of Cumbria , North Yorkshire and Somerset would be reorganised into unitary authority areas. The new authorities, Cumberland , Westmorland and Furness , North Yorkshire Council and Somerset Council were first elected in May 2022 and formally assumed their powers on 1 April 2023. The Labour Party returned to power following
7980-427: 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 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
8094-439: The pier railway closure, the Kursaal closed 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
8208-489: 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 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
8322-508: The powers and functions that are normally delivered separately by the councils of non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. These functions are housing, waste management, waste collection, council tax collection, education, libraries, social services, transport, planning, consumer protection, licensing, cemeteries and crematoria. The breakdown of these services is as follows: Unitary government has been criticised for damaging local democracy. Opponents to unitary authority criticise
8436-539: 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
8550-645: 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
8664-551: 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 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
8778-750: 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
8892-408: 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
9006-502: 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
9120-468: The status of royal borough , borough or city . A district having a charter is dependent on the charter's wording: as a charter trustee to a place in the district; having joint charter to the place and district or to the district itself. Notes The Council of the Isles of Scilly is a sui generis single-tier authority, created in 1890 and since 1930 has held the "powers, duties and liabilities" of
9234-401: The structure began to deteriorate. In 1971, 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
9348-561: 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
9462-657: The town lost another attraction in 1983, when the Southend Aircraft Museum closed for 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
9576-471: The town's ability to attract holidaymakers, including bastions with facilities at Chalkwell and Westcliff, but they never got off 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
9690-408: 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
9804-537: 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
9918-523: 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
10032-528: 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
10146-404: 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 a few fishermen's huts and farm at the southern end of the village of Prittlewell . In the 1790s,
10260-465: 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
10374-559: 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
10488-442: Was "minded to approve the proposals" and a final decision to implement the two unitary authority model was confirmed in February 2018. Statutory instruments for the creation of two unitary authorities, to be named Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and Dorset Council , have been made and shadow authorities for the new council areas were formed ahead of their creation on 1 April 2019 . Buckinghamshire County Council and
10602-531: 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 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
10716-510: 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, the letters patent were presented to Southend Borough Council by Charles, Prince of Wales . Southend
10830-528: 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
10944-415: Was damaged by the ship Kings Abbey , destroying 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
11058-479: 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
11172-478: 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
11286-455: 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 the top of the cliffs to
11400-565: 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 the Second Anglo-Dutch War . The hamlet of South-end,
11514-477: 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
11628-581: 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
11742-523: Was initiated in 2007 and was enacted in 2009. The review established Cornwall and Northumberland as counties of a single district; established unitary authorities in County Durham , Shropshire and Wiltshire covering the part of the county that was not already split off in the 1990s review; and divided the remainder of Bedfordshire and Cheshire into two unitary authority areas. The review caused nine unitary authorities to be created. In 2017, it
11856-518: 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
11970-435: 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
12084-413: 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
12198-465: 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
12312-416: Was proposed that two unitary authority areas be formed to cover the ceremonial county of Dorset . One of the authorities would consist of the existing unitary authorities of Bournemouth , Poole and the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch , the other would be composed of the remainder of the county. In November 2017, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid stated that he
12426-530: 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
12540-498: 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
12654-486: 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
12768-530: 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
12882-400: 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 was recorded that 22% of the town's population were working in holiday related industries. The council were concerned that the town
12996-418: 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 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
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