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Southend on Sea - Our
Town
Southend Borough Council Southend Local Life South During the 15th century "Sowthende" was probably just a farming and fishing settlement at the south end of Prittlewell, a village since Saxon times and home of a recently discovered royal chamber tomb. Being on the South coast of Essex its on the north side of the Thames estuary, just travel East from central London and in about 40 miles its where you start to get your feet wet. End Southend is also the end of two main roads, the A13 (the London Road) and the A127 (the Southend Arterial Road) as well as two railway lines the old LTS (London Tilbury and Southend) and the former Great Eastern Railway branch line to London Liverpool Street. Being at the end means it is not a town many people stop at on the way to somewhere else, so not many visitors just passing through. On Sea Southend became fashionable as a seaside resort in Georgian times, then more popular because of the railways; so it started to grow due to tourism although its being within commuter range of London has caused it later growth. It has seven miles of beaches, a foreshore local nature reserve of international importance for migrating birds, the longest pleasure pier in the world and is linked to the Polish town of Sopot which has the longest wooden pier in Europe. |
