Shoeburyness (; also called Shoebury) is a suburb of the city of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, in the

City of Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, in the ceremonial county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. east of the city centre. It was an

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

of Essex from 1894 to 1933, when it became part of the

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

of Southend-on-Sea. It is now in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...

of Southend-on-Sea, in the

district. It was once a garrison town and still acts as host to

MoD Shoeburyness MoD Shoeburyness is a military installation at Pig's Bay near Shoeburyness in Essex. History In 1849, the Board of Ordnance purchased land at South Shoebury with a view to setting up an artillery testing and practice range (until then, Plumstea ...

. Shoeburyness is divided into halves; Shoeburyness refers to all of the town, but

North Shoebury North Shoebury (once known as Shoebury Parva and Little Shoebury) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. North Shoebury was once an ecclesiastical parish. The 1870 ...

refers to the area that houses

Shoeburyness High School Shoeburyness High School is a coeducational secondary academy school in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The school is larger than the average sized secondary academy, with almost 1800 students on roll. 275 of the enrolled students are in the sixth form ...

and the nearby churches.

Description

The eastern terminus of the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , ...

(

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

line) is at

Shoeburyness railway station Shoeburyness railway station is the eastern terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend Line (Engineer's Line Reference FSS), serving the suburb of Shoeburyness, Essex. It is down the main line from London Fenchurch Street via ; the preceding ...

, services run to London Fenchurch Street in the City of London. The eastern end of the A13 is at Shoeburyness. The

site at

Pig's Bay Pig's Bay is a coastal area in East Shoebury, a small beachland area in the suburb of Shoeburyness in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. The main entrance to the site is at Blackgate Road, Shoeburyness. This ...

is situated nearby and the facility is run by the company QinetiQ. Shoeburyness has two beaches: East Beach and Shoebury Common Beach (also known as West Beach), both

Blue Flag beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a not-for-profit non-gov ...

es. East Beach is a sandy/pebbly beach around a quarter of a mile long and is sandwiched between the

MoD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

site and the former Shoeburyness Artillery barracks. Access to the large gravel/grass pay-and-display car park is via Rampart Terrace. East Beach is the site of a defence boom, built in 1944, to prevent enemy shipping and submarines from accessing the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. This replaced an earlier, similar boom built east. The majority of the boom was dismantled after the war, but around one mile still remains, stretching out into the Thames Estuary. East Beach benefits from a large grassy area immediately adjacent to the sands, which is suitable for informal sports and family fun. Nearby is the site of the Iron Age

Danish Camp Danish Camp is an Iron Age fortified settlement in Shoeburyness in Essex. It is a Scheduled Monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, list number 1017206. The site is in the Gunners Park and Shoebury Ranges nature res ...

. At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the depositing of a magnetic ground mine in the mud at the mouth of the Thames by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

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 U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

torpedoes, though the Admiralty suspected magnetic mines were being used. The heroic recovery of an intact mine on 23 November 1939, by Lieutenant Commanders Ouvry and Lewis from

HMS Vernon Two ships and a training establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Vernon'', possibly after Admiral Edward Vernon: * was a 14-gun armed ship listed between 1781 and 1782. * was a 50-gun fourth rate launched in 1832. She became ...

made it possible for the Navy to study it and devise countermeasures to neutralise it; among these were the

degaussing Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to redu ...

cables installed in merchant ships in

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

and British fleets, and, of course, wooden

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

. Shoebury Common Beach is bounded to the east by the land formerly occupied by the Shoeburyness Artillery barracks and continues into Jubilee Beach. Shoebury Common Beach is the site of many

beach hut A beach hut (also known as a beach cabin, beach box or bathing box) is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high tide mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, chan ...

s located on both the promenade and the beach. A

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

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. A cycle path skirts around the sea-front linking the East Beach to Shoebury Common Beach, and thence into Southend and a number of other towns, including Leigh-on-Sea.

In popular culture

The English painter J. M. W. Turner depicted the fishermen of Shoeburyness in his oil painting ''Shoeburyness Fishermen Hailing a

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32 ...

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 The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

since 1939. In the fifth '' Temeraire'' novel ''

Victory of Eagles ''Victory of Eagles'' is the fifth novel in the '' Temeraire'' alternate history/fantasy series by American author Naomi Novik. The series follows the actions of William Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire. The book was released in hardcover in ...

'' (2008) by

Naomi Novik Naomi Novik (born April 30, 1973) is an American author of speculative fiction. She is known for the ''Temeraire'' series (2006–2016), an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars involving dragons, and her ''Scholomance'' fantasy series (2020 ...

, Shoeburyness is the setting of a fictitious climactic battle in which Wellesley and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

drive

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

out of England in early 1808. Shoeburyness is home to "the commuter", protagonist in the eponymous song and music video by

Ceephax Acid Crew Andy Jenkinson (born 12 March 1979), known as Ceephax Acid Crew, is a British electronic musician and record producer who works primarily in the acid house and drum and bass subgenres. Jenkinson is also known simply by the pseudonym Ceephax ...

. Shoeburyness is mentioned in the ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

'' episode "The Harder They Fall" (S2 E6), at approximately 6'10". Shoeburyness is one of the better-known entrants in

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...

' and John Lloyd's 1990 spoof dictionary ''

The Deeper Meaning of Liff ''The Meaning of Liff'' (UK Edition: , US Edition: ) is a humorous dictionary of toponymy and etymology, written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, published in the United Kingdom in 1983 and the United States in 1984. Content The book is a ...

''. 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 Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

song "A13 Trunk Road to the Sea" and in the

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads an ...

song "

Billericay Dickie "Billericay Dickie" is a song by Ian Dury, from his debut album ''New Boots and Panties!!''. It is narrated by a bragging bricklayer from Billericay, and is filled with name-checks for places in Essex. The song is based around naughty rhymes such a ...

". Shoeburyness was featured in the Viral Marketing for the Universal Pictures 2022 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

sequel ''

Jurassic World Dominion ''Jurassic World Dominion'' is a 2022 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Emily Carmichael from a story by Derek Connolly and Trevorrow. The sequel to '' Jurassic World: Fallen ...

'', with a number of the featured videos on the DinoTracker website filmed in the area doubling for locations around the world.

Climate

Notable people

Tony Holland Anthony John Holland (18 January 1940 – 28 November 2007) was a British screenwriter, best known as a writer and co-creator (with Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith) of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Early life Holland was the oldest of ...

(1940–2007), BBC screenwriter, was born in Shoeburyness * Godfrey Rampling (1909–2009), English athlete, notably trained and spent a lot of time in the town, eventually announcing his retirement there

References

External links

* * {{authority control Towns in Essex Populated coastal places in Essex Southend-on-Sea (town)