Whilst exploring the site of Rochford Airfield, extending around the current London-Southend Airport, we came across what appeared to be an overgrown Anderson shelter used as a shed – seemingly abandoned. Thanks to guest Jack Swestun for spotting the structure. The curved corrugated iron sections looked old enough to make it an Anderson, but the…
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Out of 88 Avro Vulcan’s built, XL426 was the 44th to be built and currently resides at Southend Aiport, maintained by the Vulcan Restoration Trust. Weighing over 90,000KG, the bomber first entered service in September 1962.
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Victoria Avenue in Southend began to be developed in the post-war period as a centre for tall brutalist offices and civic buildings. These remained largely undeveloped until the mid-2010s when work began to revitalise the ugly structures. Liam remembers having his driving theory exam in Baryta House further down the road in 2015, only to…
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Southchurch Hall is a moated house, clearly rather grand, dating back to the Middle Ages (14th Century) with extensions added in the Tudor era and 1930s. The de Southchurch family were the original residents of the house, and its great hall was likely to have been built on the site of a Saxon hall. Solars…
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The building originates back to 1905, when the site was first opened as the towns first free library. The Grade II listed site remained as a library until 1974 when it moved to the brutalist-style concrete-faced building to the left of it. Much of its early Edwardian Victorian-style architecture both inside and out remains relatively…
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Prittlewell Priory is a medieval priory founded in the 12th Century by monks of Cluniac Priory of St. Pancreas. It became a private residence after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. at this time much of the building was destroyed so much of it was altered in the 1700s, and again a century later. In 1842…
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1-15 Royal Terrace and the Royal Hotel were built well before the Victorian era – in the time of Georgian rule in the 1790s. Originally Southend was a place popular with fishermen, and it was not actually known as ‘Southend’ until this time when it was called ‘New South End’. Southend previously only referred to…
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Liam from Beyond the Point has worked with school to produce a feature-length documentary on the school’s history including both an insight into life there and behind the scenes areas of the building with kind permission and help from the Headmaster, staff, and caretaker. As well as video footage and interviews, we also took extensive…
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Brutalism is an architectural style that resulted from post-war space-age and post-modernist design influences seen in buildings from the 1950s up to 1970s and rarely later. It is notable for its iconic bare concrete finish and angular block-like shapes. Southend’s second central library was built in 1974 to replace the 1905 library which is now…
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Courtesy & copyright of Southend Airport Today, the airport is an expanding hub however the airport has quite a history. In the 1960’s it was the third busiest airport in the UK and remained so until the 1970’s when Stansted Airport took over the title. Located between Rochford and Southend, it has a six thousand…
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