Trail Route

1) Starting point: Southend Victoria

Begin at Southend Victoria station and turn right out of the station to head north along Victoria Avenue. Trains and local buses make this an easy place to start the walk.

2) Southend Central Museum

As you continue along Victoria Avenue, you’ll pass the Grade II listed Southend Central Museum on your right. Built in 1905–06, it originally housed Southend Library and is one of the area’s key heritage buildings.

3) Beecroft Art Gallery

A little further along on your right is the Beecroft Art Gallery, home to a permanent collection spanning works from 17th century Dutch paintings to contemporary art.

4) Holocaust Memorial Garden and Civic Fountain

Cross Great Eastern Avenue at the lights and continue along Victoria Avenue. Before reaching the Civic Centre, pause at the Holocaust Memorial Garden, then continue to the Civic Fountain, an impressive sculpture by William George Mitchell featuring carvings including the Southend coat of arms, a medieval fisherman and a Cluniac monk.

5) Civic Clock

As you approach the Civic Centre, look out for the Civic Clock ahead. Unveiled in March 1979, it marks another distinctive point on the route. Continue north along Victoria Avenue and cross Carnarvon Road at the lights.

6) Churchill Gardens

Once across Carnarvon Road, turn right and then take the path on your left through the trees. Pass through the red metal gates into Churchill Gardens, a peaceful ornamental garden with a stream and waterfall. It’s a quiet hidden corner and a good place to stop before continuing.

7) Prittlewell Conservation Area

Follow the path to the exit onto East Street. You are now in the Prittlewell Conservation Area, designated in 1995 and valued for the way it reflects the village’s development through to the early 20th century.

8) St Mary’s Church

Turn right to use the crossing, then head left towards St Mary’s Church. This Grade I listed church has stood on the site for more than a thousand years, with evidence suggesting a chapel may have been here as early as the 7th century. It is also the only church in the locality mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Follow the path around the churchyard and take in the medieval character of the area.

9) Medieval buildings on Victoria Avenue

From the churchyard, look across to the opposite side of Victoria Avenue where you’ll see notable medieval buildings within the conservation area, including 255 Victoria Avenue and 269–275 Victoria Avenue, both Grade II listed. These timber-framed buildings retain historic features including surviving jetties and prominent street-facing gables.

10) Hill Road to Priory Park

Exit the churchyard onto St Mary’s Road, then turn left onto Hill Road and continue to Priory Crescent. Cross at the lights and head towards the decorative metal gates of Priory Park. Just before entering, look out for the blue water pump, then pass through R A Jones Gate. A plaque on the gate records some of the park’s history.

11) Priory Park and Prittle Brook

Inside the park, notice Prittle Brook on your right. The name Prittlewell is thought to come from old English, meaning the place of the sparkling or babbling water. Priory Park is rich in wildlife too, with habitats supporting hundreds of insect species, dozens of bird species and several kinds of bat.

12) Priory Park café, toilets and bandstand

If you follow the concrete path to your left, you’ll reach the café, picnic benches and free public toilets, including accessible facilities. Nearby is Southend’s bandstand, where local musicians and bands perform during the summer months.

13) Prittlewell Priory

Head right towards the Grade I listed Prittlewell Priory, the oldest continuously occupied building in Southend. Established in the early 12th century by Cluniac monks from Lewes Priory, it has served as a monastery, private house and museum. The surviving buildings, including the refectory and Prior’s Chamber, are just one part of what was once a much larger monastic site.

14) Priory pergola and Visitor Centre

Near the Priory you’ll find a striking pergola with benches, as well as the Visitor Centre, which has a café, outdoor seating and a water bowl for dogs. This is a good place to pause and explore the Priory at your own pace.

15) The story of the Priory

The Priory changed dramatically over time. Much of it was dismantled in the 16th century during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. The site later passed to Lord Richard Rich, then to the Scratton family, whose descendants lived there until the 20th century.

16) Prittlewell Prince burial mound

Retrace your steps past the Visitor Centre and follow the path towards the exit on Priory Crescent. Nearby is a reconstructed burial mound marking the site of a 6th- or 7th-century high-status East Saxon cemetery. In 2003, archaeologists excavated the chamber burial known as the Prittlewell Prince here, one of the most important Anglo-Saxon discoveries since Sutton Hoo.

17) Kirkham Road and Eric Cole statue

Cross Priory Crescent and follow the path between the supermarket and houses straight ahead. This leads onto Kirkham Road. Continue past Concorde Road towards the green square, where you’ll find the statue of Eric Kirkham Cole. Cole founded EKCO, the radio manufacturing firm that became one of the town’s biggest employers and later played an important role in wartime electronics and radar development.

18) End point

This is where the Prittlewell Heritage Trail finishes. From here, you can retrace your steps back to Southend Victoria, head to nearby Prittlewell station, or spend longer exploring Priory Park.