Shoeburyness

Shoeburyness ( SHOO-bree-NESS), or simply Shoebury, is a coastal town in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England; it lies 3 miles (5 km) east of the city centre. It was formerly a separate town until it was absorbed into Southend in 1933. In Saxon times, the area was called Shoebury. Sometime between 1086 and the thirteenth century, it was divided into two parishes: North Shoebury and South Shoebury. The two villages remained small rural settlements until the 1850s, when a barracks was established in the parish of South Shoebury, later becoming MoD Shoeburyness. A garrison town, known as Shoeburyness, grew around the barracks, taking its name from the ness on the coast at the southern end of the parish. Shoeburyness railway station opened in 1884, as the eastern terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. The parish of South Shoebury was made an urban district in 1894, which was renamed Shoeburyness in 1895. The urban district of Shoeburyness and parish of North Shoebury were both abolished in 1933, being absorbed into the county borough of Southend-on-Sea. Development during the twentieth century saw the formerly separate settlements of Shoeburyness and North Shoebury absorbed into the built-up area of Southend.