It lies on the north side of the Thames
Estuary, 40 miles east of central London. It is bordered to the north by Rochford
and to the west by Castle Point. It is home to the longest leisure pier in the
world, built in 1830 and stretching some 1.33 miles (2.14 km) from shore.In the early 19th century, Southend was growing as a seaside
holiday resort. At the time, it was thought that spending time by the sea was
good for one's health, and since it was close to the capital, many Londoners
would come to Southend for this reason. However the coast at Southend consists
of large mudflats, so the sea is never very deep even at full tide – between 4 and 6 m – and recedes over one mile
(1.6 km) from the beach at low tide. Large boats were unable to stop at
Southend near to the beach and no boats at all were able to stop at low tide.
This meant that many potential visitors would go past Southend and on to Margate,
or other resorts where docking facilities were better.
