Welcome to the Southend Cliff Gardens

Welcome to the Southend Cliff Gardens. . Southend Cliffs are part of a natural feature that forms a ridge of high ground lying alongside the River Thames from Southend and westwards towards Benfleet and beyond. By their very nature, the Cliffs are somewhat unstable and have a history of movement and landslips., Until the late 18th century the Cliffs remained undeveloped. Since then the Cliffs have gradually evolved along with the development of Southend-on-Sea into the Gardens we see today., The first area to be developed was The Shrubbery. This was originally laid out as gardens and was for the residents of Royal Terrace in the mid 1790. The gardens originally extended to the sea. However by 1897 they had been separated from the beach by new road, Western Esplanade., Prittlewell Square was laid out [illegible] regarded as a fine example of town planning. The Square was gifted to Southend Council in 1918 and opened for public access. The present layout with the large formal pond and fountains dates from the early 1930s., The importance of Southend as a seaside resort escalated around the end of the 19th Century and this was reflected in the development of the Cliff Gardens with the introduction of many features to cater for the many summer visitors., The Cliff Lift was opened in 1912. The War Memorial was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) and was unveiled in 1921., The western part of the Gardens was developed from 1923 onwards with the brick Sun Shelter being completed by 1930 and the wooden Shoreland Shelter being constructed around same time. Both these structures have been completely renovated as part of the order restoration project., By 1939 the whole of the Southend had evolved into the layout we see today., In 2001 the Council was awarded a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the Gardens. The project completed in 2006 and structures such as the Cliff Lift Stations, Sun Shelter and Shorefield Shelter have been fully restored. Other features such as the War Memorial, Flag Pole and the 6 wooden Victorian Shelters have been completely refurbished., Prittlewell Square been reinstated as an excellent example of a Victorian community garden. The promenade in Royal Terrace has been wholly restored and The Shrubbery has been reopened to the public as an informal garden., Southend Cliff Gardens is an important example of English seaside resort garden and with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund remains one of the best loved features of Southend.