, there are 14 listed Conservation Areas in the city of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. Southend-on-Sea started out as a few fishermens' huts at the South End of Prittlewell, before becoming a holiday destination during the Victorian era.
In 1968 Southend Borough Council created the first conservation area in Clifftown, the home to the first Georgian and Victorian development of the town including its first park, Prittlewell Square.
Nationally Historic England have 124 recorded listed buildings within the city, with five of these being Grade 1 listed. In September 2024, Historic England added two new Grade II designated landmarks, the Shrubbery, an early 19th century walkway along the cliffs at Southend, and the Sun Shelter at Westcliff-on-Sea, which is the largest curved sun shelter on the east coast of England.
The Royal Terrace (originally called the Terrace), built between 1791 and 1793, is one of the few examples of 18th-century urban housing in Essex, and was called "Exceptional" in the 2007 architectural guide The Buildings of England. The Terrace has been Grade II listed since 1951. In 1973, the owners of the Royal Hotel at the end of the Terrace, put in planning permission to demolish the public house and replace it, which was rejected.
Southchurch Hall is a Grade I listed Medieval moated house located in Southchurch, built between c.1321 â 1364 with later extensions. In 1930 it was restored and presented to the people of Southend by the Dowsett Family. The Hall was listed in Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Houses.
St Mary's Church, Prittlewell is a Grade I listed church that has existed since Saxon times and is the oldest building in the city. Professor Stephen Rippon of the University of Exeter noted in a study "stone buildings in this period were extremely rare, suggesting Prittlewell was a 'minster' church of some importance", and the church was mentioned in Domesday Book.
Southend-on-Sea War Memorial is a Grade II* listed obelisk situated in Clifftown, Southend. The structure was completed in 1921 to designs by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner praised the "remarkably subtly proportioned" base and pedestal of the memorial.
The White Hall is a Grade II listed former tennis club house in Clatterfield Gardens in the suburb of Westcliff-on-Sea. The building, along with its neighbouring house were designed by the Head of the School of Architecture at Southend Municipal College, Douglas Niel Martin-Kaye for the Thurston family. The building from 1934, is designed in the International Style and was to be part of a modernist development that failed to materialise beyond the two buildings. The building is now home to the Sunshine Nursery.
Porters is a medieval Manor house. The name comes from the family, le-Porters, who owned the land during the 14th century. The current house was built either in the 15th or 16th century made from red brick, with cross wings at the east and west ends gabled on the north and south fronts. At the end of the 16th century, it was rebuilt with the space between the wings being filled in and a porch built on the north front. The property's first recorded owner was Humfrey Browne (died 1592). Between 1833 and 1835, Benjamin Disraeli stayed at Porters on numerous occasions. In 1912, Sir Charles Nicholson purchased the building to save it from demolition, living there until 1932, when it was sold to Southend Corporation who in 1935 opened it as the Mayor's parlour and civic house. The building was listed as Grade I in 1951.