City of Southend: A Potted History

The modern city of Southend-on-Sea has come a long way since its 18th-century origins as an oyster fishing hamlet at the south end of Prittlewell parish.Now Southend is a regional employment, shopping and educational centre, attracting 6.5 million visitors a year and housing 180,000 permanent residents.The construction of the Royal Hotel in the 1790s began Southend’s transformation into a resort, but it was the arrival of the railway in 1856 which was the real catalyst for growth.The town’s boundaries expanded three times: in the 1890s, 1910s and 1930s.During the Second World War, Southend played a key part in the defence of London and in the organisation of merchant shipping convoys.By the 1950s and 1960s the town was known far-and-wide as a mecca for leisure and entertainment.The awarding of city status in 2021, following the senseless murder of Southend West MP, Sir David Amess, who had long campaigned for it, was bitter-sweet but it was also the latest symbol of how Southend has gr