Where to Stay in Southend-on-Sea, England

What is Southend-on-Sea known for?

On the north shore of the Thames estuary in Essex, an easy trip down from London, it grew into the great pleasure town of the river, and it keeps the longest pleasure pier in the world reaching far out over the mud, a bright seafront of amusements and lights, the old cockle sheds of Leigh down the shore, and the wide sands and mudflats of the estuary. The brown estuary runs to the sea. The long pier reaches far out.

What are the main landmarks in Southend-on-Sea?

The pier is the pride of Southend. The great iron pier that runs more than a mile out over the estuary mud, the longest pleasure pier on earth, with a little train along its length, reaches far out to sea, the emblem of the town, on the water. A fun palace lines the front.

The old Kursaal and the seafront rides and lights fill the shore nearby, while the cockle sheds of Leigh, the priory, and the wide sands mark the country around Southend.

What is the history of Southend-on-Sea?

Southend grew from the end of a village. It began as the south end of old Prittlewell, a fishing hamlet by the estuary, near an ancient priory and the grave of a Saxon prince buried with his gold. The railway made the resort.

When the line reached the coast, Londoners poured down to the sea, and Southend grew into a bright seaside town of lodging houses and pleasure by the water. The pier reached out over the mud. Because the tide drew far back over the flats, the town built a pier longer and longer to reach the water, until it ran more than a mile out to sea, the longest in the world, with its own little railway.

Amusements lined the front. A great fun palace and rows of lights, rides, and stalls filled the seafront, and the East End of London came down by the trainload, so that Southend lived by its pier, its sands, and its day-trippers, keeping its seafront, its cockles, and its estuary. The trains still bring the crowds.

Southend keeps its pier and its sands on the Thames estuary.

Where is Southend-on-Sea?

Southend-on-Sea lies in the south of Essex in eastern England, on the north bank of the Thames estuary. The town spreads along low cliffs and a long seafront where the great river widens to the sea, on flat land above wide mudflats and sands, with the estuary and the far Kent shore to the south. The wide estuary runs east.

Mudflats stretch at low tide.

What is the climate of Southend-on-Sea?

Southend-on-Sea has a mild, dry temperate climate. Cool wet weather crosses the coast all year, though this dry corner of England gets the most sun and least rain in the land, kept mild by the estuary. The sun shines more here.

The estuary keeps it mild.

How do you get to Southend-on-Sea?

Southend-on-Sea lies on the Thames estuary in south Essex, an hour from London. Two rail lines and the road run down to it from the city, and the pier train runs out to sea. Trains bring the day-trippers.

London lies west up the line.