Derelict London - Photography, Social History and Guided Walking Tours
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  • Homepage
  • 22 Years of Derelict London
  • Author's Guided Tours of London
    • Minories to Poplar
    • Woolwich Alldayer
    • Roman Road
    • Whitechapel & Bethnal Green
    • Derelict Limehouse & Poplar
    • Lost Docks of Wapping
    • Isle of Dogs
    • Grand Surrey Canal
    • London's Lost Rivers Tours
    • Shadwell & Stepney
    • Silvertown
    • Bow Creek: River Lea from Bromley by Bow to Leamouth via Canning Town
    • Croydon Canal
    • Dartford guided walk
    • Hammersmith
    • East Finchley to Gospel Oak
    • London's Lost Music Venues
    • Tower Hamlets Special
  • 2025 New Pics
  • 2024 New Pics
  • Books by Paul Talling
  • Contact
  • Dereliction and Beyond...Then and Now Photos
    • Derelict London 2008 Book Then and Now Pics
    • Then and Now Pics South of the River
    • Then and Now Pics North of the River
  • London Transport
    • Derelict London Tube Trains and Stations
    • Derelict London Railway Stations,Lines and Rolling Stock
    • Derelict London Trams
  • Factories and Warehouses
    • North of the Thames Factories and Warehouses
    • South of the Thames Factories and Warehouses
  • Derelict London Homes
    • Homes North of the Thames
    • Homes South of The Thames
    • Derelict homes now Demolished
  • Derelict London Cinemas
  • Derelict London Hospitals
    • Hospitals North of the River
    • Hospitals South of the River
    • Hospitals: Then & Now pics
  • Derelict London Pools and Baths
  • Music History
    • London's Lost Music venues 2
  • Various Derelict London Buildings
  • Derelict London Pubs
    • North London
    • Derelict East London Pubs >
      • East London Pubs from Dereliction to Demolition
      • East London Pubs - Dead Pubs to Conversion
      • East London Pubs Back from the Brink
    • Central London
    • West & South West London
    • South & South East London Pubs
  • Derelict London Cemetery & Churches
  • Derelict London Hotels and Restaurants
  • Graffiti & Streetart
  • Misc London Derelict pics
  • Derelict London Cafes
  • People
  • Porticos and Pillars
  • Shopping Trolleys
  • Derelict London Shops
  • Signs and Murals
  • Derelict London Sportsgrounds
  • Post Offices
  • Derelict London Toilets
  • Toys
  • Derelict London Telephone Boxes
  • War - Bunkers and Pillboxes
  • Waterways and Wharves
  • Wildlife
  • Vehicles
  • Long Lost Burial Grounds
  • London Riots 2011: The Aftermath
  • Derelict London Boats
  • London's Long Lost Sports Grounds
  • Derelict Kent
    • Derelict Kent DA postcodes
    • Derelict Kent ME postcodes
    • Derelict Kent TN postcodes
  • Derelict Essex
    • Derelict Essex RM postcodes
    • Derelict Essex SS Postcodes
    • Derelict Essex CO postcodes
  • Derelict London Public Buildings
  • Derelict London Offices
  • Sponsors wanted!
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies Info
  • T-Shirts
Derelict London - Photography, Social History and Guided Walking Tours
Picture
​Derelict Essex SS postcodes (Southend, Shoeburyness, Canvey Island & Benfleet)

Derelict Essex SS postcodes (Southend, Shoeburyness, Canvey Island & Benfleet)

​Southend-on-Sea, SS1

Picture of derelict building in Southend on Sea
Derelict ​Southend
Commonly referred to as simply Southend  is 40 miles east of central London.  Southend-on-Sea is a bit of a misnomer, as technically it’s “Southend-on-Thames”, as the town is situated at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, with a view of the Kent coast.

Southend's status of a seaside resort grew after a visit from Princess Caroline of Brunswick (Princess of Wales from 1795 to 1820) and Southend Pier was constructed - the longest leisure pier in the world.  From the 1960s onwards, the town declined as a holiday destination, redeveloped itself as the home of the Access credit card, due to it having one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges. And much of the town centre was developed for commerce and retail, and many original structures were lost to redevelopment. However, about 6.4 million tourists still visit Southend per year.

Bands and musicians originating from Southend include Busted, Danielle Dax, Eddie and the Hot Rods,The Horrors, The Kursaal Flyers and Procol Harum

Southend-on-Sea is a bit of a misnomer, as technically it’s “Southend-on-Thames”, as the town is situated at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, with a view of the Kent coast.
The Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea
Boarded up hotel in Southend, Essex
Pete Doherty eating massive breakfast streetart on derelict building in Southend, Essex
Southend's status of a seaside resort grew after a visit from Princess Caroline of Brunswick
closed down punk & pagan shop in Southend
Closed down bar in Southend, Essex
Derelict BHS department store - British Home Stores - in Southend

​Southend, SS1- Grosvenor Rock Factory

​This empty former Methodist church building in Pleasant Road was for many years the factory of Grosvenor Confectionery run by a successful seaside rock-making family.
​Southend, SS1- Grosvenor Rock Factory
​This empty former Methodist church building in Pleasant Road was for many years the factory of Grosvenor Confectionery run by a successful seaside rock-making family.

'What with health awareness and Brussels, the once sunny world of British seaside rock-making has become a greyer place' wrote Management Today magazine in 1996. Grosvenor diversified into other hard candy specialities - a range of lollipops including a naked lady, rock that resembles a cigarette and bespoke rock produced as a PR give-away for Lotus, Legal & General and the Queen fan club - the group, not Her Majesty. The factory eventually closed down in the early 2000s and the building suffered a massive fire in 2008 with flames shooting as much as 20 feet into the air taking 30 firefighters 3 hours to extinguish. Another fire occurred in 2016 when the derelict building that was full of old arcade machines.
Abandoned decay of former factory in Southend, Essex
Derelict church building later used as a factory in Southen, Essex
derelict rock factory in Southend, Essex ravaged by two fires.
Ian writes to Derelict London: Hi Paul,  I just wanted to say what a great site yours is. I've been a massive fan of it over the years and was pleasantly surprised to see photos of Southend (I live in Leigh on Sea) so they are very familiar to me. The pictures of the old rock factory in Pleasant Road are especially relevant to me as my father worked there through all his working life until he died in 1997.  I worked there during the summer of 1978 in the school holidays to enable me to buy my first moped.  Keep up the good work.

​​Shoeburyness, SS3 

Shoeburyness MOD Property military debris sign
Shoeburyness, SS3
​Shoeburyness is a town in SE Essex at the eastern end of the A13 at the mouth of the Thames Estuary. It is within the borough of Southend-on-Sea around 3 miles east of Southend town centre.It was once a garrison town and still acts as host to MoD Shoeburyness.

the beach is the site of a defence boom, built in 1944, to prevent enemy shipping and submarines from accessing the River Thames.The majority of the boom was dismantled after the war, but around one mile still remains, stretching out into the Thames Estuary. 

​Shoeburyness, SS3 - Heavy Quick Firing Battery

​Shoeburyness Heavy Quick Firing Battery. A coast artillery defence
​Shoeburyness, SS3 - Heavy Quick Firing Battery
​The Heavy Quick Firing Battery was built in 1899 as a coast artillery training facility, Two 6 inch and two 4.7 inch quick firing guns were mounted on the top of the building
​Shoeburyness concrete Heavy Quick Firing Battery
​Shoeburyness, SS3 - Heavy Quick Firing Battery

Shoeburyness, SS3 - Experimental Casemate

Shoeburyness fortified gun emplacement as coastal defence
Shoeburyness, SS3 - Experimental Casemate
Built in 1872-3,  this casemate  (a fortified gun emplacement  where the gun is inside pointing out to sea shooting out through an embrasure (opening)
​
The guns used here were a 12.5 inch 38 ton and a 12 inch 25 ton Rifle Muzzle Loading gun. Their purpose was for coastal defence experimenting to develop a casemate for operational use
 Shoeburyness, Essex casemate  (a fortified gun emplacement  where the gun is inside pointing out to sea shooting out through an embrasure (opening)

Shoeburyness, SS3 - Shoebury Hospital

Shoeburyness, SS3 - Shoebury House a former Hospital after fire damage
Shoeburyness, SS3 - Shoebury Hospital
​This former hospital in Ness Road,originally built as a pre-war convalescent home, was last used for non-residential specialist health care until 2013. In June 2018, a planning application was submitted to Southend Council in a bid to demolish the derelict site and replace it with ten new homes. In August 2018 seven fire crews tackled a blaze here caused by arsonists damaging 50% of the building's roof and the floors below. The planning application for demolision has since been given the go ahead.
Shoeburyness, SS3 - derelict abandoned Shoebury Hospital in Essex
Shoeburyness, SS3 - Shoebury Hospital

South Benfleet, SS7

Nature takes over abandoned burnt out vehicle in Benfleet, Essex
Burnt out car in South Benfleet
​South Benfleet is a small town directly north of Canvey Island.

The name of the town originates from the time of the Saxon settlers in the 5th Century, when the area was largely marshland. They named the area Beamfleote, meaning "tree stream", being the area where the creeks from the River Thames adjoined the wooded area to the north. These photographs of a burnt out cars and redundant boats were taken alongside Benfleet Creek.
Picture of abandoned speedboat in Essex
Redundant boat in South Benfleet
Photographs of a burnt out cars and redundant boat  alongside Benfleet Creek.
Burnt out stolen car in Essex near Benfleet
Interior of burnt out abandoned car near Canvey Island
boat wreck on Benfleet Creek near Canvey Island, Essex
abandoned jetty and redundant boats on Derelict Essex on Derelict London website
abandoned boat on Benfleet Creek near Canvey Island, Essex
Saxons  named the area Beamfleote, meaning "tree stream", being the area where the creeks from the River Thames adjoined the wooded area to the north

Canvey Island, SS8

Discarded banner for Neil Diamond tribute concert in Canvey Island
Neil Diamond Tribute, Canvey island
​Canvey Island is a reclaimed island in the Thames estuary.  It is separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks. Lying only just above sea level it has a history of flooding at exceptional tides - a flood of 1953 devastated the island, killing 58 islanders.It has since been protected by modern sea defences comprising 2 miles of concrete sea walls.. The drainage system consists of sewers, culverts, natural and artificial dykes and lakes which feed seven pumping stations and gravity sluices that discharge the water into the Thames and creeks.

The island became the fastest growing seaside resort in Britain between 1911 and 1951. There is a holiday camp and 'seafront' with a small amusement park, while much of the island is mainly farmland, marshes and industrial areas.

Canvey Island is also notable for its relationship to the petrochemical industry. The island was the site of the first delivery in the world of liquefied natural gas by container ship, and later became the subject of an influential assessment on the risks to a population living within the vicinity of petrochemical shipping and storage facilities.

​Canvey Island, SS8 - Occidental Refinery

Down by the Jetty. The never finished Occidental Refinery, Canvey Island
Jetty of the never finished Occidental Refinery, Canvey Island
Down by the jetty....
​
 In 1970 Occidental Refineries Limited, a subsidiary of a US Corporation, applied to build an oil refinery on a marshland site on Canvey Island.This jetty, almost a mile in length, was built with the intention of pumping crude oil from ships into oil refinery. Crude oil storage capacity at the refinery was 3.75 million barrels in ten floating roof tanks (220ft in diameter and 56ft high) together with 160,000 barrels of ship ballast water storage. There was a massive concrete chimney for the furnaces.

Construction work stopped in 1975 when after having invested £55 million research predicted that the proposed refinery was unlikely to be profitable due to the Middle East oil crisis when the price of oil increased increased fivefold since 1970 and the consequent slump in demand for petroleum products. The project went into abeyance and local residents formed the Refinery Resistance Group which campaigned to stop hazardous industrial developments. No further work was undertaken on the refinery site.

The unused tanks and chimney were demolished by 1997 leaving just this jetty and the concrete foundations of the tanks. Part of the refinery site is now Canvey Wick nature reserve designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 2005.

​Nearby to the jetty is the The Lobster Smack, a grade II listed pub dating back to the 17th century. The pub was known to Charles Dickens who mentioned it in Great Expectations. Down by the Jetty (1975) was the legendary debut album by Canvey Island pub rockers Dr. Feelgood. The cover shot was taken outside the pub at the beach with the jetty in the background.
Picture
Looking out to the Thames. Jetty of the never finished Occidental Refinery. Canvey Island
Click for other Derelict Essex pages: 
​
​RM postcodes - Purfleet, West Thurrock and Grays

CO postcodes -  CO postcodes -  Clacton-on-Sea, Jaywick and Walton-on-the-Naze
Uused tanks and chimney were demolished leaving just the jetty and the concrete foundations of the tanks. Part of the refinery site is now Canvey Wick nature reserve designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Occidental Jetty in  Canvey Island was built with the intention of pumping crude oil from ships into oil refinery
Down by the Jetty was the  debut album by Canvey Island pub rockers Dr. Feelgood. The cover shot was taken outside the Lobster Smack pub at the beach with the jetty in the background.
Occidental applied to build an oil refinery on a marshland site on Canvey Island with a jetty almost a mile in length
​Nearby to this Canvey Island jetty is the The Lobster Smack, a grade II listed pub dating back to the 17th century. The pub was known to Charles Dickens who mentioned it in Great Expectations
Derelict abandoned jetty in Canvey Island, Essex
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