Tourist Attractions in Essex, South East England

Artillery Forts, Secret Bunkers, Pleasure Piers and Olympic Venues

May 11, 2009

Visitors to Essex have a wide range of options, from pleasure piers to secret underground bunkers and Jacobean palaces to artillery forts.

Essex is much maligned as a county. The image most people have of Essex is, 'The 'Essex Girl', bleach blonde, stillettoed and with an IQ as low as her morals. Essex offers far more than that.

Pleasure Pier, Southend-on-Sea

The Pleasure Pier at Southend-on-Sea is the longest in the world, at just over 1.3 miles in length. Visitors can stroll out to the lifeboat station and coffee shop at the end, or get the train that runs approximately every 30 minutes. The pier also has a museum showcasing the pier’s history and a permanent funfair is located around the entry to the pier.

After suffering a fire in 2005, which destroyed much of the end of pier amusements, a multi-million pound refurbishment has been announced.

There has been a fort at Tilbury since the time of Henry VIII. Queen Elizabeth I famously rallied the troops before the defeat of the Armada near here, ‘I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too’.

The current fort was built by Charles II in 1672 and has undergone a series of modernisations to help maintain its role of protecting the entrance to the Thames. Displays which can be seen in the fort include artillery, gunpowder barrels, an audio tour which includes Queen Elizabeth’s speech and also a view of life from an inhabitant.

Kelvedon Hatch Secret Underground Bunker

At the height of the Cold War, an underground bunker was built in strict secrecy near Brentwood in Essex. In the event of a nuclear strike, the government would have been evacuated to this structure, 100 feet below the Essex countryside. Now it has been opened to the public and visitors can enter through the, ‘bungalow’, which was the cover for the bunker and see how people would have lived in a post-nuclear world.

The tour includes government administration rooms, power plant, BBC radio studio and communications rooms.

Hadleigh Castle Country Park

Built in 1230, the ruins of Hadleigh Castle dominate this part of the Thames Estuary. The castle, which was once painted by famous English artist John Constable, has two towers still standing to three storeys and is a great place for family picnics. The country park is now run by English Heritage and the land is surrounded by Hadleigh Farm, owned by the Salvation Army and which has a rare breeds centre and tearooms.

Audley End, near Saffron Walden, is a grand country house. Originally given to Sir Thomas Audley by King Henry VIII, it was rebuilt by his grandson the First Earl of Suffolk. The house has over 30 rooms open to the public, each sumptuously decorated in a variety of styles.

The surrounding parkland was re-modelled by renowned gardener Capability Brown and now hosts regular summer concerts. The 2009 schedule including artists such as Jools Holland, Russell Watson and Kathryn Jenkins.

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