Make the trip for …
Southend-on-Sea, a traditional British resort, may not be an obvious art destination, but it is an emerging street-art destination. Southend City Jam, its inaugural street art festival, took place last September. More than 100 local and international artists created murals for the city centre and seafront, and many are now permanent fixtures. This year’s event is set for 1-3 September. There is a map of the art at southendcityjam.co.uk, or for a quick fix, the railway bridge over the High Street has three excellent examples. The LuminoCity light festival also launched last year, and returned last month.
Now what?
The free Beecroft Art Gallery has a collection of 2,000 works donated to the town by Walter Beecroft, a local solicitor, in 1952. His tastes were eclectic: 17th-century Dutch masters, an early work by Constable, a Jacob Epstein bronze. The gallery also houses Southend’s fashion collection – including 500 bathing suits – while the Jazz Centre downstairs hosts live music on Saturdays.
The Forum is home to the contemporary Focal Point Gallery, which also curates Big Screen Southend in Elmer Square, showing daily video art. NetPark, in nearby Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea, claims to be the world’s first digital art park. It has 15 artworks experienced via smartphone and headphones, including music and spoken-word poetry. Southend’s Central Museum has a permanent display of archaeological finds from the Prittlewell Princely Burial, the earliest dated Anglo-Saxon princely burial in England (about AD580-605).
When to go
There’s always something going on in Southend, and it’s a lovely resort to wander around in spring and summer. Alternatively, the Halloween Parade, which began in 2021, is a fun, free event – and a chance to get creative with costumes.
Souvenir shopping
Upmarket Leigh-on-Sea (less than 10 minutes by train or a one-hour coastal walk) is full of independent shops and galleries. The annual Leigh Art Trail runs from 8-16 July – last year, 69 artists exhibited work at 50 venues.
Get outside
Southend is the proud location of the longest pleasure pier in the world: 1.34 miles. Visitors can stroll to the end and back (or jump on the narrow-gauge train), stopping at the Pier Head for fish and chips.
Drinks and dinner
Twenty One is a cafe, gallery and live music venue on the seafront, with lots of vegan options. The Royal Hotel, built in 1791, is a buzzy spot for a pre-dinner bellini. Follow it with ribeye steak with chimichurri at the Mews, a bar and atmospheric first-floor restaurant.
In Leigh, Food By John Lawson is an experimental no-menu restaurant. The three-course Friday lunch, based on seasonal vegetables and sustainable fish, is great value (£29.95 including a glass of wine).
Stay
The Roslin Beach Hotel on Thorpe Bay has 62 rooms (doubles from £99 room-only), many with sea views, plus a spa, bar and restaurant.
Getting there
Southend Victoria has trains to London Liverpool Street, and Southend Central is on the line from London Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness.
