The History And Exploration Of Southend-On-Sea

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Stephen and Yhana - History and Adventure Hunters

Жыл бұрын

Southend-On-Sea is an iconic city in Essex, home to the longest pier in the world, an incredible theatre, lots of bars, restaurants, cafes and a famous sea front that attracts millions of visitors each year.
The village of prittlewell is now a district located at the northern edge of Southend-On-Sea, Historically, Prittlewell is the original town, Southend being the south end of Prittlewell, and not much more then a small coastal hamlet consisting of a few fisherman cottages.
An important archeological discovery was made in Prittlewell in 1923 and 1930 -
When Roman burials were unearthed, but more excitedly evidence of numerous Anglo-Saxon burials were discovered too, a significant number of which were high-status or warrior burials containing weapons, imported goods, jewellery and decorative beads, some of which were made out of glass. The high status of the area during the Anglo-Saxon period was confirmed by the discovery of a substantial and undisturbed 7th-century chamber tomb in 2003. The burial site was uncovered by archaeologists from Museum of London.
This chamber tomb is thought to belong to King Sæberht of Essex, and many of the finds can be explored on the museum of London website.
The story of the excavation was also thought so significant as to be the subject of a special documentary titled "King of Bling", as part of the Time Team series.
Now lets fast forward through history a little, as apart from that incredible tomb, the dark ages haven’t really left us much in way of historical context, and although there is evidence of prehistoric settlement here, it was the medieval period that saw the true beginnings of prittlewell and ultimately Southend-On-Sea.
One of the earliest mentions of Prittlewell was in the domesday book of 1086, the book mentions that before 1066, the area was owned or at least occupied by one free man.
This Anglo-Saxon of no name - had 2 cobs with livestock consisting of 8 cattle. 30 pigs and 100 sheep.
For those who have never heard the word cob before, its a measurement of land varying from 14 to as much as 28 feet, so this chap had a parcel of land measuring no more then 56 feet in length.
He certainly squeezed a lot of animals onto there.
By 1086, the Tenant-in-chief, here in the manor of prittelwell was a guy called Swein of Essex, the entry also makes a mention of their being a church too.
Which is interesting, as the oldest church here is Saint Mary's Parish Church, it is built mainly of Kentish ragstone, the same stone used to build much of the Roman wall of London.
Parts of the church date back to Saxon times and In the north wall of the chancel there is the remains of a seventh century Saxon arch with Roman brick.
The church continued to be enlarged during the medieval period, with the tower being added in the 15th century.
Our next stop here in Prittlewell is Prittlewell Priory, which was founded by the Cluniac Order as a cell to the Priory of St Pancras at Lewes, East Sussex. Prittlewell was one of the lesser monasteries, housing no more than 18 monks. In 1536 much of the building was destroyed, and what remained was much altered during the 18th century. Alterations were made again in the early 20th century, when the refectory was restored and partly rebuilt. A number of original features do survive, including a 12th-century doorway with chevron and dog-tooth ornamentation.
It’s an interesting historical site that still survives here at the very heart of Southend.
But It would take another three hundred or so years, for Southend to truly establish itself, and when it did, Southend would develop as a bathing resort.
Due to the bad transportation links between Southend and London, there was not rapid development during the Georgian Era as there was in places like Brighton. But after the coming of the railways in the 19th century and a visit by Princess Caroline of Brunswick, Southend's status as a seaside resort steadily grew. During the 19th century Southend's pier was first constructed, and the cliff areas developed attracting many summer tourists to its seven miles of beaches and sea bathing. With the eventual Good rail connections and proximity to London meant that much of the economy had and still is based on tourism,
Southend Pier is the world's longest pleasure pier at 1.34 mi or 2.16 km. It has suffered fires and ship collisions, the most recent incident occurring in October 2005, but the basic pier structure has been repaired each time.
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Пікірлер: 102

@pribumibandung Жыл бұрын

Hi my friend thankyou so much for this great sharing. Exelent👍👍🥰

@TravelingTramps Жыл бұрын

Enjoyed visiting "Southend-On-Sea," with you Stephen and Yhana. We enjoyed learning some of the history and seeing the beautiful area and buildings! The Priory was as gorgeous as it was interesting. Stone coffin and all! Enjoyed seeing the worlds longest pier. Thanks so much for bringing us along.

@ms.kayak7seas Жыл бұрын

Hi and thanks, Stephen and Yhanna for sharing.

@MangOeChannel Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing with us. Good work. Wish you have a wonderful day and more success 🙏😊

@ModernDayPilgrim Жыл бұрын

Loved learning all the history here. And what a beautiful place. The tower was magnificent too! The dogtooth ornamentation was amazing. So much incredible history here. Thanks Stephen, great informational video! 😃💯🙌🏼

@gonza-fish5280 Жыл бұрын

Hi Esteban and Yhana. I am learning all the history here. And what a beautiful place.Thanks for sharing. Like 31

@lisasescapades Жыл бұрын

This is so interesting and the different time periods of the church is fascinating. We don’t see this type of history in the USA. I just met a lady from Essex that lives here now. We talked a lot about the history difference.

@WanderingwithWatto Жыл бұрын

Hey Stephen. Really enjoyed learning about Southend in sea. Loved the look round the priory. Definitely my kind of place. 7 miles of beaches. I didn’t know that. I knew about the railway in the pier so enjoyed seeing it. Looks like you had a great days exploring. Say hi to Yhana 🙋🏻. And have a great week. ATB 👍🏻🚶🏻‍♂️🚶‍♀️. Watto.

@FXWalesAnnaAlf Жыл бұрын

Hi Stephen it was really interesting hearing that Southend has the longest pleasure pier in the world and is officially the warmest and driest place in the UK ! Enjoyed the history and St Mary's Church was lovely but I especially loved the Priory and seeing the original floors and the medieval stone coffin . Thanks for this , very enjoyable , hope you're having a good Bank Holiday :) ~ Anna

@wanderingoutyonder Жыл бұрын

Hi guys! Lots of interesting info in this about an area that we know very little about - so that is always a pleasure! The church was fantastic - we love those old buildings like that - and churches always seem to be so majestic! Thanks for the share! Keep making memories & adventure on! ~Karen & Shannon WOY