Shoeburyness

The first record of occupation in Shoebury has been found from the Mesolithic period, with Neolithic and Bronze Age stone tools and Beaker pottery having also been discovered. An Iron Age settlement has been found, that had ramparts that were believed to be originally 40ft wide and 12ft tall, with evidence of round houses, ditches and Postholes that is now a Scheduled Monument. The Romans built a fortified settlement called Essobira at the Ness, that was attacked by the British in AD50 under Caratacus and later by Boudica's rebels. Evidence of Essobira has not been found, however a Roman Kiln was found in 1892, 300 yards from Suttons, a historical house. A further Roman kiln was found in the grounds of the garrison in 1895.{{cite book|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/essex/vol4/pp143-145|title=An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 4, South east|publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office|date=1923|pages=143–145}}

The Saxons re-established a settlement in the 6th century, which at this point that the name Shoebury, or in Anglo-Saxon Scobrih, or in Danish, Scabivig was first documented.{{cite book|title=White's Directory of Essex|date=1848}} A Camp was built by the Dane Hastein in circa 894, but little remains as the Artillery Barracks were built over part of the site. Shoebury (North and South were recorded as one) was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, having a population of 33 and sitting within the control of the Rochford Hundred. The land was owned by three different people, Walter; Bishop Odo of Bayeux and the Swein of Essex, son of Robert FitzWimarc.{{cite web|url=https://www.rochfordtown.com/heritage-tapestry/tapestry-panels/domesday-days/history/|title=History - Domesday Days|website=Rochford Town History|access-date=31 March 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/XX0000/north-and-south-shoebury/|title=Shoebury|website=Open Domesday|access-date=31 March 2023}}

File:St Andrew, South Shoebury - south elevation - geograph.org.uk - 3929032.jpg

The parish church of South Shoebury, St. Andrew was originally constructed in the 12th century under the control of Prittlewell Priory, with the West Tower being added in the 15th century and the South porch in the 16th century. The church was restored during the 19th century by renown architect Sir Charles Nicholson.{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1322327?section=official-list-entry|title=CHURCH OF ST ANDREW|website=Historic England|date=23 November 1951}} The manor house, known as South Shoebury Hall, is a medieval timber-framed house with an 18th-century brick frontage and other alterations. Other historical properties include Suttons, a Grade II listed manor house that was built in 1681, which is now on the most endangered list of Historic England.{{cite news|url=https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/19814348.shoebury-manor-dating-back-1600s-at-risk/|title=Shoebury Manor dating back to 1600s 'at risk'|newspaper=Evening Echo|date=30 December 2021}} South Shoebury has also been called under is parish name of Shoebury Magna (in Latin Magna Shoberi){{cite book|title=Registrum Roberti Winchelsey Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi A. D. 1294-1313 Volume 52|author=Archbishop of Canterbury|date=1956|page=1147}} or Greater Shoebury.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkgBxak9f9cC&dq=%22north+shoebury%22&pg=PA907|title=The History of Rochford Hundred, (together with the Parishes Comprised Within the Union,)|author=Philip Benton|volume=2-3|page=907|date=1888|publisher=Unicorn Press |isbn=978-0-9516587-1-0 }}

{{see also|North Shoebury}}

File:Shoebury, High Street - geograph.org.uk - 914072.jpg

South Shoebury was prone to flooding and Marsh fever, and in 1530 the parish had to sell St Andrew's bells to pay for repairs to the sea defences. Shoebury Common first appeared as The Great Marsh on a map in 1687,{{cite web|url=http://www.daphnejohnson.co.uk/Shoeburyness/ShoeburyCommonHistory.html|title=Is the Peace, Tranquillity and Beauty of Shoebury Common under Threat from the Council's Proposals?|website=Daphne Johnson}} and in 1899 the land owner, Colonel Burges handed the Common to the Shoeburyness Urban District Council for the recreation and benefit of the inhabitants of South Shoebury and others.{{cite report|url=https://democracy.southend.gov.uk/documents/s3405/Appendix%201.pdf|title=In the Matter of an Application to Register Land Known as Shoebury Common Road, Shoebury, Southend-On-Sea, Essex as a Town or Village Green|author=Ruth Stockley|id=Application Number: VG 01/2013|date=2013|page=24}}

By 1851, the population of South Shoebury stood at 151, but just ten years later the census had shown the population had grown to 1,502. The growth in population was caused by the opening of nearby brickfields by the Frapping family,{{cite web|url=https://fortheloveofhistoryhome.wordpress.com/2021/04/19/the-almost-forgotten-manor-suttons/|title=The almost forgotten Manor – Suttons|website=For the Love of History|date=19 April 2021}} and the construction of the Artillery Barracks that was the start of Shoebury Garrison.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6901|title=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of South Shoebury, in Southend on Sea and Essex. Map and description|website= A Vision of Britain through Time}} Prior to the Garrison's arrival the land had been home to several warrens, after the Normans had introduced rabbits to the area.{{cite book|title=Shoeburyness. A History|author=Judith Williams|date=1 December 2006|publisher=Phillimore |isbn=978-1-86077-435-5}} In comparison, North Shoebury's population in 1894 was just 184.{{cite periodical|title=North Shoebury|periodical=The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales|date=1894–1895}} The village of South Shoebury had been built up around the High Street and Rampart Street, but it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that the town grew, with the area known as Cambridge Town being established. The area was named after a local public house called the Duke of Cambridge.{{cite book|title=The Essex Village Book|author=The Federation of Essex Women's Institute|date=19 October 1988|publisher=Published jointly by Countryside Books and the FEWI |isbn=978-1-85306-013-7}} The town was described by the military historian Patrick Barry as

{{Block quote|a dreary place... the broadest and most sterile foreshore perhaps in England}}{{cite book|title=Shoeburyness and the guns: a philosophical discourse|author=Patrick Barry|date=1865|isbn=978-1-275-49149-6}}

It was home to the last recorded case of indigenous malaria in the British Isles during the 1930s.

The brickfields use to run two narrow railways, that crossed the High Street without a level crossing, to transfer their goods to Thames Barges at East Beach, which took the bricks to London, which up to World War II brought refuse back that was used to power the brick kilns, pumping out nasty fumes. In 1866, the Gas Light & Coke Company built a gas works to supply the Garrison, which a private company was then formed to manage the supply to Shoeburyness, which subsequently was taken over by Shoeburyness Urban District Council.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jxexCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22shoeburyness+urban+district+council%22&pg=PA28|title=Always under Pressure: A History of North Thames Gas since 1949|author=Malcolm E. Falkus|date=1 Jan 1988|isbn=978-0-333-46819-7|pages=27–28|publisher=Springer }} The council was created in 1894, separating the civil and ecclesiastical side of the parish, until it was absorbed into Southend Borough in 1933 which also absorbed the former North Shoebury parish.{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F232245|title=Shoeburyness Urban District Council|website=The National Archives|access-date=29 March 2023}}

In between the two World Wars, Shoeburyness became a popular holiday resort, with a blacksmiths sitting next to the beach until the 1930s being a regular source of entertainment. In 1928, the Southend Recorder reported that tents stretched from the Common to Thorpe Hall Avenue, while in the same year local landmark Uncle Toms Cabin was built on the Common.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the depositing of a magnetic ground mine in the mud at the mouth of the Thames by the Luftwaffe was observed at Shoeburyness. Various sinkings of ships near the English coast in the preceding months were thought by many to be due to U-boat torpedoes, though the Admiralty suspected magnetic mines were being used.Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, vol. 1, The Gathering Storm (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1948), p. 505. The heroic recovery of an intact mine on 23 November 1939, by Lieutenant Commanders Ouvry and Lewis from HMS Vernon made it possible for the Navy to study it and devise countermeasures to neutralise it; among these were the degaussing cables installed in merchant ships in Allied and British fleets, and, of course, wooden minesweepers.{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/war-is-boring/how-britain-beat-germanys-wwii-magnetic-sea-mines-bfec5558704c|title=How Britain Beat Germany's Magnetic Sea Mines|last=Simpson|first=James|date=23 November 2014|website=War Is Boring|access-date=31 May 2017}} East Beach is the site of a defence boom, built in 1944, to prevent enemy shipping and submarines from accessing the River Thames.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQ87AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84|title=The Secret History of Southend-on-Sea|last=Gordon|first=Dee|date=3 February 2014|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7509-5545-4|page=84}} This replaced an earlier, similar boom built {{convert|100|yd|m|0}} east.

After the war, artillery and other regiments continued to be garrisoned at Shoebury until 1976 when the garrison headquarters closed.

Up and to the early 1980s, the Shoebury's were still two distinctive villages, separated by farm land. During the 1970s, a study by Southend Borough Council identified a lack of retail availability in the east of the borough. North Shoebury was identified as the site, with a supermarket of 50,000 square feet planned at its centre.{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kELtGXWfO6cC&dq=%22north+shoebury%22+retail&pg=PA181|title=Retail and Commercial Planning (RLE Retailing and Distribution)|author=Ross Davies|date=2012|isbn=978-1-136-24621-0|pages=179–181|publisher=Routledge }} Before any development took place, Essex County Council Archaeology Section of the Planning Department and Southend Museum started the North Shoebury Project in 1980 under the guidance of John Wymer, whose digs

established that the area had continuous human habitation from the Mesolithic period.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnfwAVP-_SAC&q=%22north+shoebury+project%22|title=Excavations at North Shoebury Settlement and Economy in South-east Essex, 1500BC-AD1500|last1=Wymer|first1=J. |last2=Brown|first2= N. R|last3= Andrews|first3= D.D|date=1995|publisher=Essex County Council Archaeology Section, Planning Department in conjunction with the Scole Archaeological Committee |isbn=978-1-85281-130-3}}{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MoZnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22north+shoebury+project%22|title=Archaeological Digs in Essex|journal=Essex Journal|volume=16-19|date=1982}} The planned store became the ASDA supermarket, which opened in 1981, while one of the former farm barns became the Parsons Barn public house.{{cite web|url=https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/essex/parsons-barn-shoeburyness|title=Parsons Barn|website=Wetherspoons|access-date=9 April 2023}} This was joined by the Bishopsteignton housing development, that was completed between 1981 and 1988. The site was the former farm of listed building, the White House, which had been sold in 1919 to Southend Estates Company.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DB2tCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22north+shoebury%22+kents&pg=PT77|title=Southend in 50 Buildings|author=Ian Yearsley|date=15 April 2016|isbn=978-1-4456-5189-7}} Following the closure of the Old Ranges in 1998 the old garrison land and buildings were sold, and in 2000 redevelopment of the site to housing started.{{cite web|title=MOD Shoeburyness|url=http://www.shoeburyness.qinetiq.com/about/Pages/mod-shoeburyness-timeline.aspx|publisher=Qinetiq|access-date=12 March 2016}} In 2022, a heritage centre was opened on the former garrison after 35 years of campaigning.{{cite news|url=https://www.yellowad.co.uk/after-35-years-heritage-centre-finally-set-to-open-in-shoebury-garrison/|title=After 35 years heritage centre finally set to open in Shoebury Garrison|newspaper=Yellow Advertiser|date=5 August 2022}}

File:Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) girls at the Royal Artillery Experimental Unit, at Shoeburyness in Essex, using the Window Position Finder to sight shell bursts in the air or water, 1943. TR744.jpg (ATS) personnel at the Royal Artillery Experimental Unit, at Shoeburyness, using the Window Position Finder to sight shell bursts in the air or water, 1943.]]

Shoeburyness sits on the Thames Estuary and is at the far east of the district of Southend-on-Sea, bordered to the west by Thorpe Bay at Maplin Way and to the North by Great Wakering which is part of Rochford District.{{cite web|url=https://localplan.southend.gov.uk/sites/localplan.southend/files/2021-08/Shoeburyness%20Area%20Profile%20Nov%202020.pdf|title=AREA PROFILE: SHOEBURYNESS|id=SETTLEMENT ROLE AND HIERARCHY STUDY|author=Troy Planning & Design|date=November 2020}}

The MoD Shoeburyness site at Pig's Bay is situated nearby and the facility is run by the company QinetiQ.{{cite web|title=MOD Shoeburyness|url=http://www.shoeburyness.qinetiq.com/about/Pages/mod-shoeburyness-timeline.aspx|publisher=Qinetiq|access-date=12 March 2016}} The Garrison site is now part of a conservation area set up by Southend City Council.

Shoeburyness has two beaches: East Beach and Shoebury Common Beach, both Blue Flag beaches.{{cite news|url=http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2017-05-23/blue-flags-awarded-to-a-dozen-sunny-anglia-beaches/|title=Blue flags awarded to a dozen sunny Anglia beaches|work=ITV News|access-date=31 May 2017}}

File:Shoeburyness east-beach.jpg

East Beach is a sandy/pebbly beach around a quarter of a mile long and is sandwiched between the Pig's Bay MoD site and the former Shoeburyness Artillery barracks. Access to the large gravel/grass pay-and-display car park is via Rampart Terrace. The beach is closed when there is live fire at the MOD site.{{cite web|url=https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/south-east-england/essex/shoebury-east.htm|title=Shoebury East Beach|website=The Beach Guide|access-date=30 March 2023}}

File:Shoebury Common - geograph.org.uk - 2168716.jpg

Shoebury Common Beach is bounded to the east by the land formerly occupied by the Shoeburyness Artillery barracks and by Thorpe Bay to the west. Shoebury Common Beach is the site of many beach huts located on both the promenade and the beach.{{cite web|url=https://www.visitsouthend.co.uk/venue/shoebury-common/|title=Shoebury Common Beach|website=Visit Southend|access-date=30 March 2023}} A Coast Guard watch tower at the eastern end of the beach keeps watch over the sands and mudflats while listening out for distress calls over the radio.{{cite news|url=https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/23219541.hm-coastguard-southend-respond-shoebury-submerged-car/|title=HM Coastguard Southend respond to Shoebury submerged car|website=Evening Echo|date=30 December 2022}} A cycle path skirts around the sea-front linking the East Beach to Shoebury Common Beach, and thence into Southend and onto Chalkwell, in Westcliff-on-Sea.{{cite web|url=https://www.lovetoride.net/essex/pages/southend#:~:text=The%20seafront%20route%20between%20Chalkwell,any%20location%20along%20the%20route.|title=WHERE TO RIDE IN SOUTHEND|website=Love to Ride Essex|access-date=30 March 2023}}

File:Shop till you drop - geograph.org.uk - 2063663.jpg

Shoeburyness does not have an actual town centre. There are parades of shops in West Road,{{cite news|url=https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/19705441.shoeburyness-west-road-christmas-lights-switch/|title=Shoeburyness: West Road Christmas lights switch on|newspaper=Evening Echo|date=10 November 2021}} Ness Road and{{cite web|url=https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/83403040#/?channel=COM_LET|title=Commercial Opportunity - Ness Road, Shoeburyness|website=Rightmove|access-date=30 March 2023}} The Renown.{{cite web|url=https://hairandson.co.uk/property/the-renown-shoeburyness/|title=THE RENOWN, SHOEBURYNESS|website=Hair & Son|access-date=30 March 2023}} The town is served by two supermarkets, Asda{{cite web|url=https://storelocator.asda.com/east-of-england/shoeburyness/north-shoebury-road|title=Asda Shoeburyness|website=Asda|access-date=30 March 2023}} and Lidl.{{cite news|url=https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/19065066.lidl-reveals-opening-date-new-store-campfield-road-shoebury/|title=Lidl reveals opening date for new store on Campfield Road, Shoebury|newspaper=Evening Echo|date=4 February 2021}}

Shoeburyness has several industrial estates, with Towerfield Road, Vanguard Way and Campfield Road serving the area.{{cite web|url=https://localplan.southend.gov.uk/local-plan-refining-plan-options/part-3-neighbourhoods/38-shoeburyness|title=Southend Local Plan. 3.8 Shoeburyness|website=Southend City Council|access-date=15 April 2023}}

The town is served by five doctors surgeries and three dentists, with its nearest hospital located at Southend University Hospital.

There is only one tier of local government covering Shoeburyness, being the unitary authority of Southend-on-Sea City Council. Shoeburyness is split into West Shoebury and Shoeburyness wards, which are both represented by three councillors.{{cite web|url= https://www.southend.gov.uk/elections-registering-vote/ward-maps|title=Ward Maps|website=Southend City Council|access-date=29 March 2023}}

Shoebury was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, having a population of 33 and lying in the Rochford Hundred. Some time after 1086, the separate parishes of North Shoebury and South Shoebury were created. In Wakering Road, north of Constable Way stands a marker where the historical boundary between the two civil parishes existed.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3CJEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22north+shoebury%22&pg=PT43|title=Secret City of Southend|author=Ian Yearsley|date=15 September 2022|isbn=978-1-3981-1155-4}} When parish and district councils were established in December 1894, the parish of North Shoebury was included within the Rochford Rural District whilst the parish of South Shoebury was made an urban district.{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1895 |location=London |page=249 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBIMAQAAMAAJ&dq=annual+report+local+government+board+1895+shoebury&pg=PA225 |access-date=6 September 2023}} One of the first actions of the new urban district council was to request a change in the council's name from South Shoebury to Shoeburyness. The change of name took effect in January 1895.{{cite news |title=Shoeburyness Urban District Council: Change of name |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newspapers |access-date=6 September 2023 |work=Essex County Chronicle |date=18 January 1895 |location=Chelmsford |page=1}} The name of the civil parish containing the urban district continued to be called "South Shoebury".{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10246611|title=Relationships and changes South Shoebury CP/AP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=6 March 2024}} In 1931 the parish had a population of 6720.{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10246611/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics South Shoebury CP/AP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=6 March 2024}} In 1933 both Shoeburyness Urban District Council (which managed the South Shoebury civil parish) and North Shoebury civil parishes were abolished and absorbed into the County Borough of Southend on Sea, except for a more rural eastern part of the old North Shoebury parish which was transferred to the parish of Great Wakering.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DB2tCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22north+shoebury%22+parish+council&pg=PT8|title=Southend in 50 Buildings|author=Yearsley. I|isbn=978-1-4456-5189-7|date=2016}}[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10023713&c_id=10001043 Shoeburyness UD Essex through time: Administrative history of Local Government District] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001002338/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10023713&c_id=10001043 |date=1 October 2007 }}, visionofbritain.org.uk; accessed 18 November 2017.{{cite book |section-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hnOAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22north+shoebury%22+parish+council&pg=PA549 |section=Appendix M – Urban Powers Conferred |title=Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1897}}

Shoeburyness is part of the Southend East and Rochford constituency, and the current serving Member of Parliament is Bayo Alaba.

Shoeburyness is known to be the driest town in England, with an average precipitation of 527mm/20.8in per annum.https://secretldn.com/driest-place-in-the-uk/#:~:text=Well%2C%20rather%20ironically%2C%20the%20driest,the%201991-2020%20climate%20period. 26 August 2024 For comparison, New York City receives well above twice this amount.

{{Weather box

|location = Shoeburyness, Essex 1991-2020

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan high C = 7.8

|Feb high C = 8.3

|Mar high C = 10.6

|Apr high C = 13.5

|May high C = 16.6

|Jun high C = 19.8

|Jul high C = 22.3

|Aug high C = 22.4

|Sep high C = 19.4

|Oct high C = 15.3

|Nov high C = 11.1

|Dec high C = 8.4

|year high C =

|Jan low C = 2.7

|Feb low C = 2.4

|Mar low C = 3.7

|Apr low C = 5.4

|May low C = 8.3

|Jun low C = 11.2

|Jul low C = 13.6

|Aug low C = 13.8

|Sep low C = 11.5

|Oct low C = 8.9

|Nov low C = 5.5

|Dec low C = 3.2

|year low C =

|Jan precipitation mm = 43.0

|Feb precipitation mm = 36.1

|Mar precipitation mm = 32.7

|Apr precipitation mm = 36.1

|May precipitation mm = 41.6

|Jun precipitation mm = 44.1

|Jul precipitation mm = 41.1

|Aug precipitation mm = 48.6

|Sep precipitation mm = 43.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 57.8

|Nov precipitation mm = 54.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 48.8

|year precipitation mm =

|Jan rain days = 9.5

|Feb rain days = 8.3

|Mar rain days = 7.8

|Apr rain days = 7.5

|May rain days = 7.5

|Jun rain days = 7.8

|Jul rain days = 7.3

|Aug rain days = 7.1

|Sep rain days = 7.5

|Oct rain days = 10.2

|Nov rain days = 10.6

|Dec rain days = 10.7

|year rain days=

|Jan sun = 70.5

|Feb sun = 88.9

|Mar sun = 136.8

|Apr sun = 200.4

|May sun = 241.2

|Jun sun = 243.3

|Jul sun = 257.0

|Aug sun = 212.2

|Sep sun = 162.4

|Oct sun = 130.0

|Nov sun = 84.7

|Dec sun = 56.9

|year sun =

|source 1 = Met Office{{cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/shoeburyness#?tab=climateTables|title=Shoeburyness Climatic Averages 1991–2020|publisher=Met Office|access-date=17 December 2021}}}}

File:Shoeburyness railway depot - geograph.org.uk - 915140.jpg at the Shoeburyness depot]]

The eastern terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend line (c2c line) is at Shoeburyness railway station, where services run to London Fenchurch Street in the City of London. Shoeburyness Depot is the easternmost depot on the c2c line. The eastern end of the A13 is at Shoeburyness and is the only A Road in the town. Shoeburyness is served by Arriva and Stephensons of Essex bus companies.

Shoeburyness High School is the only secondary school within the town and incorporates a sixth form, while primary education is delivered by St George's Catholic Primary School, Friars Primary School, Hinguar Community Primary School, Richmond Avenue Primary and Nursery School and Thorpedene Primary School & Nursery.{{cite web|url=https://www.locrating.com/the-best-Primary-schools-in-Shoeburyness_Essex_England.aspx|title=The Best Primary Schools in Shoeburyness|website=Locrating|access-date=29 March 2023}}

Shoeburyness Leisure Centre in Delaware Road provides a swimming pool, gym and indoor courts.{{cite web|url=https://www.visitsouthend.co.uk/venue/shoeburyness-leisure-centre/|title=Shoeburyness Leisure Centre|website=Visit Southend|access-date=29 March 2023}} Shoeburyness formerly had an operating cinema, The Palace in Ness Road which opened in 1913 and closed in 1955.{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25595|title=Palace Cinema|website=Cinema Treasures|access-date=29 March 2023}}

Gunners Park and Shoebury Ranges is a 25-hectare nature reserve managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT).{{cite web|url= http://www.essexwt.org.uk/reserves/gunners-park-shoebury-ranges|title= Gunners Park and Shoebury Ranges |publisher=Essex Wildlife Trust|access-date= 30 August 2016}} Other parks include Shoeburyness Park, Friars Park, Bishopsteignton Park, Shoebury Common and St. Mary's Nature Reserve. A skate park is located in Anson Chase.

Shoebury Garrison is one of Southend's 14 listed conservation areas, being first designated in 1981 before a further extension in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.southend.gov.uk/info/200422/conservation_areas/408/shoebury_garrison_conservation_area|title=Shoebury Garrison Conservation Area – Southend-on-Sea Borough Council|access-date=19 October 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/shoeburyness-ward-southend-on-sea|title=

Listed Buildings in Shoeburyness Ward, Southend-on-Sea – British Listing Buildings.co.uk|access-date=19 October 2017}} Historic England have listed a total of 44 properties between Grade II and Grade II*, with both parish churches amongst this list. The majority of the listings are on the former garrison site, including the Cart and Wagon Shed heritage and community centre.{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/results/?searchType=NHLE+Simple&search=Shoebury&searchResultsPerPage=50|title=Shoeburyness|website=Historic England|access-date=10 April 2023}}

File:Shoeburyness, Pig's Bay MOD railway scrapyard - geograph.org.uk - 915432.jpg British Railways Mark 2 coaches in a siding at Pig's Bay. Just visible at the extreme left is some former Northern line 1972 Stock.]]

Pig's Bay is a coastal area in the east of Shoeburyness.{{cite web|url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/pigs-bay-southend-on-sea|title=Pig's Bay, Southend on Sea|website=Ordance Survey|access-date=29 March 2023}} The main entrance to the site is at Blackgate Road, Shoeburyness. This is also the gateway to the island of Foulness, the third largest island off the coast of England.

The bay is the site of MoD Shoeburyness, a military installation established in 1849 and which is still used as a firing range.{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1957-02-12/debates/d805691e-b9f4-4d3a-a71e-5c1efec26540/CommonsChamber|title=Explosions, Shoeburyness And Foulness (Damage)|website=Hansard Volume 564|date=12 February 1957}} The Bay is home to Shoeburyness Boom, a World War II and Cold War defensive boom that is a Scheduled Monument.{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1021091|title=Cold War defence boom, Pig's Bay, Shoeburyness|website=Historic England|access-date=29 March 2023}}

One of the other uses of the site is the storage and scrapping of old railway vehicles.{{cite web|url=https://www.helstonrailway.co.uk/about/rolling-stock/|title=Passenger Carriages Pressed Steel Co. Class 117 DMU Trailer Composite with Lavatory (TCL)|website=Helston Railway|access-date=29 March 2023}} It has its own private railway network, stretching for around six miles, linked to one of the sidings at Network Rail's Shoeburyness c2c electrical multiple unit depot by means of two unmanned level crossings across Shoeburyness High Street and Blackgate Road, respectively.{{cite periodical |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36938/shoeburyness_mil_tramways_ver_2.pdf|title=The Shoeburyness Military Tramways Byelaws|periodical=Statutory Instruments|publisher=Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the War Department |id=119/Essex /297|number=388|date=1960}}

The front locomotive of the passenger train involved in the 1997 Southall rail crash – when an InterCity 125 train collided with a freight train, killing seven people – was scrapped here, being cut up by Serco three years after the incident once the inquiry had been completed.{{cite web|url=http://www.departmentals.com/departmental/977144|title=QXA DB 977144 - MTA Brake Force Runner|publisher=Departmentals.com|access-date=12 March 2016}}

File:Joseph Mallord William Turner 033.jpg, 1809]]

The English painter J. M. W. Turner depicted the fishermen of Shoeburyness in his oil painting Shoeburyness Fishermen Hailing a Whitstable Hoy. The painting was exhibited in 1809, and was part of a series Turner made of the Thames estuary between 1808 and 1810. The painting has been in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada since 1939.[http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artwork.php?mkey=1897 Shoeburyness Fishermen Hailing a Whitstable Hoy, before 1809], National Gallery of Canada website; retrieved 18 June 2013.[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-shoeburyness-fisherman-hailing-a-whitstable-hoy-the-pilot-boat-the-red-cap-tw0879 Shoeburyness Fisherman Hailing a Whitstable Hoy], tate.org.uk; retrieved 18 June 2013.

In the fifth Temeraire novel Victory of Eagles (2008) by Naomi Novik, Shoeburyness is the setting of a fictitious climactic battle in which Wellesley and Nelson drive Napoleon out of England in early 1808.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/2016/05/18/the-temeraire-reread-victory-of-eagles|title=The Temeraire Reread: Victory of Eagles|date=18 May 2016|website=Tor.com|access-date=31 May 2017}}

Shoeburyness is home to "the commuter", protagonist in the eponymous song and music video by Ceephax Acid Crew.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHFL8WY-_cI#t=3m29s "The Commuter"] by Ceephax Acid Crew (2010) on YouTube; accessed 18 November 2017.

Shoeburyness is one of the better-known entrants in Douglas Adams' and John Lloyd's 1990 spoof dictionary The Deeper Meaning of Liff. It is defined as "the vague feeling of uncomfortableness caused by sitting on a bus seat still warm from someone else's bottom".

Shoeburyness is referenced in the Billy Bragg song "A13 Trunk Road to the Sea"{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/Billy-bragg-a13-trunk-road-to-the-sea-lyrics|title=Billy Bragg – A13 Trunk Road to the Sea}} and in the Ian Dury song "Billericay Dickie".{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/Ian-dury-billericay-dickie-lyrics|title = Ian Dury – Billericay Dickie}}

Shoeburyness was featured in the Viral Marketing{{cite web |title=Jurassic World Dominion Dinotracker |url=https://www.dinotracker.com/ |access-date=15 June 2022 |website=www.dinotracker.com }} for the Universal Pictures 2022 American science fiction action film sequel Jurassic World Dominion,{{cite tweet |user=Dinotracker |number=1527384093997944833 |title=The residents of Shoeburyness, U.K. ignored DPW warnings of growing prehistoric predator activity in their area. Unfortunately, their pets paid the price. |date=19 May 2022 |access-date=15 June 2022 }} with a number of the featured videos on the DinoTracker website filmed in the area{{Cite web |last=England |first=Sophie |date=25 June 2022 |title=Jurassic World marketing campaigns filmed in Southend |url=https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/20233533.jurassic-world-marketing-campaigns-filmed-southend/ |access-date=25 June 2022 |website=Echo News}} doubling for locations around the world.

• Larry Gains (1900 – 1983), Canadian black boxer, former World Colored Heavyweight Champion, lived and trained at Shoebury Hotel{{cite news|url=https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/24624839.shoebury-hotel-blue-plaque-plans-boxer-larry-gains/|title=Shoebury Hotel blue plaque plans for boxer Larry Gains|newspaper=Evening Echo|date=3 October 2024}}
• Tony Holland (1940–2007), BBC screenwriter, was born in Shoeburyness{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/dec/03/guardianobituaries.television | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Tony Holland | date=3 December 2007 | access-date=25 May 2010 | first=Juliet | last=Ace}}
• Godfrey Rampling (1909–2009), English athlete, resident{{cite web|url=https://democracy.southend.gov.uk/documents/s48578/Appendix%205%20Southend%20CAA%20Shoebury%20Garrison.pdf|title=Southend-on-Sea: Shoebury Garrison Conservation Area Appraisal|author=Southend Borough Council|date=5 March 2022|page=29}}
• David Nelson (VC) (1887-1918), student and instructor at the Royal Artillery School of Gunnery, Shoeburyness{{cite web|url=https://58fab.com/personnel/|title=Personnel|website=58th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery|access-date=17 March 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.keymilitary.com/article/long-awaited-centre-opens-near-southend|title=Long-awaited centre opens near Southend|website=Key Military|date=20 October 2023}}

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• {{Commonscatinline}}
• {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Shoeburyness |volume=24 |short=x}}

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Category:Towns in Essex

Category:Populated coastal places in Essex

Category:Southend-on-Sea (district)

Category:Coastal environment of Essex