One feature of the Cliff town development was Nelson Terrace where eight houses were built as shops with accommodation.
The Railway Hotel on the corner opposite Nelson Terrace was built before 1872.
Visitors to Southend now may see for themselves the still elegant town houses of the Cliff Town Estate. The nursery garden is now the bowling green and Prittlewell Square has a pond with fountains.
Southend Central Train Station
It was opened in 1856 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway and was the eastern terminus of the line until 1888, after which the line was later extended to Shoeburyness.
Cliff Town Church
The church which is today the Cliff town United Reformed Church was built in 1865.
The Public Hall
The site of the Theatre was first home to a Public Hall, built by the Public Hall Company, which opened in 1872 with a concert including such artists as Miss Catherine Poyntz, Madame Osborne Williams, Mr George Perrin, and Mr Maybrick.
The Public Hall had become known as the Alexandra Theatre by 1886 and was home to a variety of productions over the ensuing years, sometimes still called the Public Hall and sometimes the Alexandra Theatre.
The Royal Terrace
1-15 Royal Terrace and the Royal Hotel were built in the 1790's to be the nucleus of New South End, a fashionable seaside resort to rival Margate, Brighton and Weymouth. The Shrubbery fronting the houses was laid out as a private garden for residents and Royal Mews to the rear were their stables. The Terrace was named "Royal" following visits by Princess Caroline and for a short time attracted some of the fashionable society but difficult access from London by road and river and other factors discouraged further development until construction of the railway in 1856. It was, therefore, the only Georgian terrace to be built in Southend.
The separation of Royal Terrace from Clifton Terrace reflects the original estate boundary and the exclusiveness of the Georgian development.
Clifton Terrace
Clifton Terrace was built in a different design shortly after the main estate. It shows the importance of the cliff-top position with more imposing detailing. The wide roadway fronting the terrace provided a turning circle for horse-drawn vehicles stopped from entering Royal Terrace. Its original stabling remains in Clifton Mews to the rear.
St John the Baptist Church
St John the Baptist Parish Church opened on Pier Hill in 1842. The church of St John the Baptist is a building of stone in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, transepts and an organ chamber. The nave was built in 1840 and aisles added later, the chancel was erected in 1872-3, the chancel and transepts were enlarged in 1912 and a side chapel added at a cost of £5,000. There redoes of alabaster and sculptured stone was presented by the Rev. Francis and Mrs Dormer Pierce, and the oak screen, carved in mediaeval ecclesiastical style, was erected in memory of the men of the parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18. The register dates from the year 1842. Thomas Dowsett, Southend’s first Mayor is buried in the churchyard.
The Pier
The first Pier railway was on the wooden pier, opening around 1846. They had hand propelled carts running on a single wooden track, on windy days, a cart with a sail would be used, this railway was used until 1873. When the local board took over the wooden pier they replaced the hand propelled carts and the timber rails to iron, this new train was little more than three box like wagons and a flat carriage at the rear, two horses hauled the train the length of the pier. The service started in 1873, by the 1880s the track had become unsafe as the horses kept putting their hooves through holes/gaps in the decking and the service stopped.
The Grand Pier Hotel
Today’s generation of Southenders will be unfamiliar with the grand Pier Hotel that once stood proud on top of pier hill. It was a tall building, set behind the palace hotel, next to the Eastern national Coach company and across the Ritz Cinema. The location of this Hotel was very convenient, placed next to the High Street as well as the Beach. It was just called the Pier hotel until 1901 when they reopened it as “The Grand Pier Hotel”.
Extending the Trainline
The contract to build the line was let to Kirk and Parry in October 1882 and work commenced in January 1883. Southend station became a through station and there were no intermediate stations. Operations started on 1 February 1884 and the new Shoeburyness station which also had goods facilities. The first up train each morning was formed of some carriages and a locomotive that worked from Southend (where the engine shed was located) but it was not until 1889 that an engine shed was actually provided at Shoeburyness, and the Southend shed closed. An intermediate station at Thorpe Bay was opened in 1912 with a further station at Southend East, Extending the trainline.
The Empire Theatre
The New Empire Theatre was built in 1896 by theatre impresario Frederick Marlow. He had owned the public hall previously on the site, and converted it to The Empire Theatre in 1892. A fire on Boxing Day 1895 destroyed the building. Marlow took it upon himself to rebuild a bigger, better theatre, with five floors and electric lighting.
The theatre was the first of its kind in Southend and was called "the prettiest theatre outside of London" by local press at its opening in 1896. Marlow presented a varied programme of musicals, opera, concerts, plays, variety and music hall. He remained at the theatre until 1905 when it was taken over by the Southend-on-Sea Theatre Company Ltd.
Marine Parade
Marine Parade is the oldest Esplanade along Southend's beach. The part stretching from Pier Hill to the Kursaal was completed in 1878.
Alexandra Yacht Club
The club was formed on 15th January 1873, and it started not as a yacht club but as the Alexandra Club based in Alexandra Street.
On 12th October 1874, one of the members, a Mr Hatch, considered the club was in the wrong place and suggested that a house should be rented where a room could be set aside for billiards, and beds provided for members. On 6th September 1883, when it was agreed to purchase a house and land on the cliffs, property occupied by Mr Jack Chignell for £850. A company was formed with the object of erecting and equipping a new clubhouse for £3000, the money to be raised in £1 shares. An amendment to secure cheaper premises was lost and the club still remained operating on the same site. The Alexandra Yacht Club had always offered hospitality to national and international sailors and often acted as hosts to Royal Navy ships anchored off the Pier. The club has also been visited by a reigning monarch in the Royal Yacht.
The Post Office
This two storey red brick building was purpose built in 1896 as Southend's head post office. It was one of several post offices designed by the architect Henry Tanner (from HM office of works) in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1900 the Post office's employees numbered at least 17. The premises closed on the 13th March 1993 and soon converted into "The last post".
Minerva Hotel
The Minerva Hotel was built in 1793 by a well known proprietor of barges; Abraham Vandervord, who is buried in St John the Baptist Church graveyard. The building however was originally called 'The Great House'. It was regularly used in its early life by the Courts of the Manor of Prittlewell.
Pier Trains
By 1890 the first stage of the then 1¼ mile track was complete with two new trailer cars in operation. Passengers’ numbers were increasing, so alterations to the track were made and a passing loop was installed in 1893, also a new train of three coaches were added to the fleet. These were built by Falcon works in Loughborough.
The Pavilion
The original timber pier at Southend-on-Sea was built between 1829 and 1846, opening in stages from 1830. It suffered the predations of marine borer and weather damage and was replaced by the present iron pier in 1888, which was constructed alongside. The old pier was used as a materials store for the works, then demolished once the new one was completed.
A new pavilion — 42.7m by 22.9m and costing £6,643 — was constructed at the pier's landward end. The original high level entrance building was retained and a raised promenade constructed connecting it to the pavilion, removing what was formerly a steep slope.