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Photo: Julieanne Savage, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Medieval manor house and park. Inside is a set of period rooms, including a Great Hall and Tudor kitchen
Southchurch Hall is Grade I listed Medieval moated house located in Southchurch, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The Hall was home to farming families until the 1920s. In 1930 it was extensively restored and presented to the town of Southend by the Dowsett Family. The Hall has been listed in Jenkins' top 1,000 houses in England. The moat surrounding the house is a scheduled monument.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Grade II listed building, constructed as an amusement arcade but now empty.
A themed aquarium featuring marine life found all along the Thames Estuary as well as tropical fish from foreign climes. It also has the Three Shells Cafe and a small shop for when you're done admiring the aquatic life.
The beaches in Southend stretch for miles along the seafront, with many small shops selling ice creams and doughnuts. City Beach, located between the Pier and Sealife Centre is the best. It has child-friendly fountains and a modern feel. Beyond the Sealife Centre and Southchurch Park the beaches continue but cafes and other facilities don't.
Open all day all year round. The arcades are an area offering video game machines, bingo, pool tables and fruit machines. Games cost between 50p and £1 per game and the area is very popular during the summer months. Free to enter.
A true Southend seafront landmark that has been entertaining families for over 40 years, Adventure Island is a small amusement park with various rides ranging from the scary to the serene. Entry is free, but to access the vast majority of rides you need to buy one of three colour-coded wristbands. Each ride is given a designated colour - Blue (the fastest/scariest rides for which you must be at least 1.2 m tall, usually unsuitable for younger children or those with health issues), Green (fast/scary rides, but suitable for older children and those seeking milder thrills, although children between 1 m and 1.2 m tall must be accompanied by someone over 14 years old), and Red (calmer rides that are suitable for most children, with some even being usable for older toddlers). There are varying price bands for wristbands so it's best to check the website. You can also pre-book wristbands there, which is much cheaper than buying them on the day. Opening times vary: please check the website. During the low season in the winter months the park usually only opens on the weekends.
A wet weather alternative to Adventure Island for families that is situated in the centre of the Adventure Island complex. It's also open during the winter when Adventure Island is closed. It's entirely indoors and has a handful of fairground rides including a carousel and a swinging pirate boat. The rest of the space has an indoor adventure play area and a large arcade. You can buy a wristband to access the rides, but the arcade is pay-as-you-go and you are given a free game card which you put money onto.