Music Man Project

Southend-on-Sea was a local government district from 1866 to 1974 around the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. Its origin was a local board formed for the parish of St John the Baptist, which had been split off from Prittlewell for ecclesiastical purposes in 1842. It was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1892. In 1889, when Essex County Council was formed, Southend-on-Sea was within the administrative county of Essex. However, through expansion in area and population by 1914 it was split off from the administrative county as a county borough. The local authority was Southend Local Board from 1886 and Southend Corporation from 1892. The corporation changed the name of the town from Southend to Southend-on-Sea in 1893. In 1974 the county borough was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district with the same boundaries and some powers were transferred to Essex County Council.

Southend-on-Sea ( (listen)), 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, 40 miles (64 km) 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 pleasure pier in the world, Southend Pier. London Southend Airport is located north of the city centre. Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of a few poor fishermen's huts and farms at the southern end of the village of Prittlewell. In the 1790s, the first buildings around what was to become the High Street of Southend were completed. In the 19th century, Southend's status of a seaside resort grew after a visit from Princess Caroline of Brunswick, and Southend Pier was constructed. From the 1960s onwards, the city declined as a holiday destination. Southend redeveloped itself as the home of the Access credit card, due to its having one of the UK's first electronic telephone exchanges. After the 1960s, much of the city centre was developed for commerce and retail, and many original structures were lost to redevelopment. An annual seafront airshow, which started in 1986 and featured a flypast by Concorde, used to take place each May until 2012. On 18 October 2021, it was announced that Southend would be granted city status, as a memorial to the Member of Parliament for Southend West, Sir David Amess, a long-time supporter of city status for the borough, who was fatally stabbed on 15 October 2021. Southend was granted city status by letters patent dated 26 January 2022. On 1 March 2022, the letters patent were presented to Southend Borough Council by Charles, Prince of Wales.

Prittlewell railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the residential district of Prittlewell in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is 40 miles 67 chains (65.72 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Southend Airport and Southend Victoria stations. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is SSV; the station's three-letter station code is PRL. The platforms have an operational length for 12-coach trains.

The Prittlewell royal Anglo-Saxon burial or Prittlewell princely burial is a high-status Anglo-Saxon burial mound which was excavated at Prittlewell, north of Southend-on-Sea, in the English county of Essex. Artefacts found by archaeologists in the burial chamber are of a quality that initially suggested that this tomb in Prittlewell was a tomb of one of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Essex, and the discovery of golden foil crosses indicate that the burial was of an early Anglo-Saxon Christian. The burial is now dated to about 580 AD, and is thought that it contained the remains of Sæxa, brother of Sæberht of Essex.In May 2019, some of the excavated artefacts went on permanent display in Southend Central Museum.

Camp Bling was a UK-based road protest camp set up in Southend-on-Sea, Essex during September 2005 to obstruct a £25 million plan to widen the Priory Crescent section of the A1159 road over the Royal Saxon tomb in Prittlewell. In April 2009 the authority announced that plans to build the road had been abandoned and the camp was disbanded in July 2009.

St Mary's Church is a Grade I listed parish church in the suburb of Prittlewell in the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is the largest and one of the oldest churches in Essex. The church is open for worship. community events and other functions as well as its church hall on Victoria Avenue in the city and both its low phase school on East Street and upper phase school on Boston Avenue which are part of the Church of England's school educational institution.

Southend Civic Centre is a municipal building in Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The structure is the meeting place of Southend-on-Sea City Council.

Prittlewell is an inner city area of Southend-on-Sea in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the south end of Prittlewell. The village of Prittlewell was originally centered at the joining of three main roads, East Street, West Street, and North Street, which was extended south in the 19th century and renamed Victoria Avenue. The principal administrative buildings in Southend are located along Victoria Avenue, although Prittlewell is served by Prittlewell railway station.

Prittlewell Priory is a medieval priory in the Prittlewell area of Southend, Essex, England. It was founded in the 12th century, by monks from the Cluniac Priory of St Pancras in Lewes, East Sussex, and passed into private hands at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. The last private owner, the jeweller R. A. Jones, gave the priory and the grounds to the local council. The grounds now form a public park, Priory Park, and the Grade I listed building is open to the public as a museum. Priory Park is located adjacent to the priory. The remains of the priory are a scheduled monument.

Southend Court House is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court venue, which deals with civil cases, in Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, England. Located immediately to the south of Southend Civic Centre, it is also the venue for magistrates' court hearings.

Southend Stadium was a former greyhound racing and football stadium in Grainger Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It was also the home ground of Southend United between 1934 and 1955 and was also known as Greyhound Park.

The Central Museum is a museum in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The museum houses collections of local and natural history and contains a planetarium constructed by astronomer Harry Ford in 1984.The museum was opened in April 1981 in a Grade II listed building that was previously Southend's first free public library. The library service had moved to a new purpose built site on Victoria Avenue, which opened on 20 March 1974.