Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff, and in the past spelt as Westcliffe-on-Sea[2][3]) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, located within the ceremonial county of Essex, England.[4] It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 37 miles (55 km) east of London. The Westcliff-on-Sea area is described by Southend-on-Sea City Council as having a border in the east with Milton Road, Hamlet Court Road and Gainsborough Drive; Prittlewell Chase to the North and Valkyrie Road/ London Road/ Southbourne Grove in the west.[5] Traditionally Westcliff included Chalkwell.[a]
Geography
View south-east over the Thames Estuary to the Isle of Grain, Kent from the shore at Westcliff-On-Sea
The cliffs formed by erosion of the local quaternary geology give views over the Thames Estuary towards the Kent coastline to the south. The coastline has been transformed into sandy beaches through the use of groynes and imported sand. The estuary at this point has extensive mud flats. At low tide, the water typically retreats some 600 m from the beach, leaving the mud flats exposed.
History
The southern area of what is now known as Westcliff, south of the London Road, was known as Milton or Milton Hamlet until the period 1860–1880[8] when the Milton Estate and surrounding land was sold to speculators who preferred the name Westcliff-on-Sea.[9] The name Milton was derived from being in the middle between Leigh and Southchurch,[8] with the settlement said to be from where Leigh Road meets Chalkwell Park to the mayor's residence at Porters.[8] The protestant martyr John Frith was captured on the shore at Milton trying to escape in 1532.[10] By the time the station opened in 1895, it was named Westcliff not Milton.[11] The area between Milton Road and Hamlet Court Road was named The Hamlet by the original developers Brassey, Peto, Betts & Co. when they developed it as a "high class suburban retreat".[9] Milton Hall (demolished 1900) was on the site of the what is now Nazareth House[12] on the London Road. Hamlet Court was a large house in the area between Hamlet Court Road, Canewdon Road, and Ditton Court Road and was demolished in 1929.[11]
Governance
Westcliff-on-Sea is covered by several wards under Southend-on-Sea City Council, including some that fall outside of the designated area of Westcliff. The wards are:
The ward starts at Southbourne Grove in the West, Prittlewell Brook to the North, Wenham Drive in the East and London Road/West Road in the south.[13] The ward borders Blenheim Park, Prittlewell and Victoria.[14] In 2021 it had a population of 11,284.[15]
Several areas of Westcliff have been classified as conservation areas: Clifftown bordering Southend town centre and including Prittlewell Square gardens, Shorefield and the Leas towards the sea front, and Milton focused on the Park Estate between Park Street and Milton Road. The Milton Conservation Area includes the Grade II listed building which was formerly the Wesleyan Chapel (Park Road Methodist Church)[17] it was completed in 1872 to the design of Elijah Hoole (1837-1912)[18] and was Southend's first permanent Methodist Church.[19]
Westcliff contains a number of other Grade II listed buildings, Our Lady Help of Christians and St Helen's Church in Milton Road, the Church of Saint Alban the Martyr in St John's Road, the former Havens department store in Hamlet Court Road, Marteg House in Annerley Road, Westcliff Library in London Road and the Palace Theatre.[20] Westcliff Library, designed by Patrick Burridge, the councils architect in 1956, built on a site damaged by bombing in World War II. The building was listed as Grade II in 1998.[21]
The main shopping area in Westcliff-on-Sea is Hamlet Court Road, where the department store Havens established itself in 1901, and remained the anchor store until its closure in 2017.[23] Hamlet Court Road took its name from a manor house called the Hamlet Court, which stood on land now occupied by Pavarotti's restaurant and adjoining shops, facing towards the sea with sweeping gardens down to the rail line. The road later developed into a strong independent retail area and quickly became famous outside the area as the Bond Street of Essex.[24][25] There were many haberdashers and specialist shops, and it was not too unusual to see chauffeurs waiting for their employers to emerge from the shops.
The economic recessions of the 1980s and 1990s saw the area decline. The road underwent a £1 million regeneration in the early 2000s and a further regeneration in 2010. Further plans have been put forward by Southend-on-Sea City Council to pedestrianise half of the street,[26] while the local historical organisation, the Milton Society is campaigning to regenerate the road on the lines of Margate and the Cathedral Quarter in Derby.[27]
The Milton Ward in Westcliff is one of the most deprived areas in England. The ward is mostly in the top 20% most deprived areas in the East of England, but some of the ward is in the top 10% most deprived areas in the country.[28]
Leisure
The Parade at Westcliff-on-Sea (1903)
The two main theatres in Westcliff are the Cliffs Pavilion, which overlooks the seafront, and the Palace Theatre situated on the London Road.[29]
Westcliff-on-Sea is also home to the Thames Estuary Yacht Club and the Genting Casino Westcliff. Westcliff RFC currently play in National League 2 East, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system.
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