The History of Clacton on Sea.

Lux, Salubritas, Felicitas.  (Light, Health, Happiness.)

Clacton on sea a seaside resort on the Essex coast eighty miles north east of London.

At the time of the Doomsday book 1086 it was recorded that `Clachintuna` was populated by some 45 tenant farmers and 50 small holders and was part of a manor that belonged to the Bishops of London.  In 1108 Richard de Belmeis was appointed Bishop of London and he must have been responsible for founding the present parish church of St John the Baptist, St. Johns Church  as parts of the nave date back to this period.

For much of Gt Clacton's history's an independent parish the church was at the centre of village life.  Gt Clacton's proximity to the beach was also responsible for its close involvement in Britains defence against a possible invasion by Napoleon in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was considered by the war office that the most likely spot for an enemy landing lay between Walton Gap and Clacton Wick (Wash Lane). Consequently this area was heavily fortified with three martello towers built close together near Clacton Wick.

Dependence on agriculture led directly to the villages last great upheaval before the coming of the seaside town when, on the 7th December 1830 a crowd of farm workers surged into  The Street with the intention of visiting the local farms and smashing their machinery, which they considered to be responsible for lowering their wages and putting many of them out of work. The riot lasted for several days before a force of nearly one thousand farmers and local gentry was able to stop it.

It was during this period in the early and mid 19th century that seaside holidays started to become popular and a number of people eyed the sandy shore of Clacton beach with a view to developing the area as a resort.  In 1824 for example the proprietor of the Ship Inn at Gt Clacton was advertising a bathing machine available for hire on Clacton's beach.

In 1830 a Colchester developer, named Sargent Lay, made enquiries about the area in the hope of developing a seaside resort, but for some time it was not to be. The land belonged to a farm called Sea Side House Farm which was situated on the corner of what is now Station Road and Rosemary Road, which was held in trust in the name of Mr.and Mrs. Williams Watson, thus preventing any prospective purchasers from buying up the land and developing it.

But in 1864 this trust expired with the death of William Watson. The land was divided into lots and put up for auction by the estates executors. Before the sale could take place, however the land was bought in one lot by private treaty by a man called Peter Bruff.

At the time Peter Bruff was the engineer on the Colchester and Walton railway, having already masterminded the Shoreditch to Colchester line and the Colchester to Ipswich track. He also had extensive interests in Colchester, Walton, Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich and was a typical example of the Victorian industrial entrepreneur, ready to turn his hand to anything connected with engineering.

Peter Bruff bought the land belonging to Sea Side House Farm with the sole intention of turning the area into a seaside resort. In 1866 he sought, and was granted powers by Parliament to extend his railway to Clacton on Sea, with a new station just 50 yards from the cliffs, and to build a pier so that paddle steamers could visit his new resort. The powers were granted for a period of five years after which time they would lapse. Unfortunately just at the time he needed it, Peter Bruff`s capital was tied up in other projects and he was unable to make a start on his new town. In fact Peter Bruff was unable to do anything until the middle of 1870, just one year before his powers were due to expire. It was then that he arranged a meeting with a man called William Parry Jackson, the chairman of the Woolwich Steam Packet Comp, which operated paddle steamers from London to the East Coast. The meeting took place on a very desolate Clacton beach. At this fateful meeting, Jackson agreed to finance Peter Bruff`s scheme in return for the right to make Clacton an exclusive port of call for his paddle steamers. So on the 18th July 1871, just as the five year deadline was about to be reached the first building in the town of Clacton on Sea, The Pier, was finished and the steamer, Queen of the Orwell, called on its way to Ipswich. And a week later saw the official opening of the pier when on the 27th July 1871, the SS Albert Edward brought a party of directors from the Woolwich Steam Packet Comp, and about two hundred guests to the new resort.

With the pier complete and with financial backing of the Woolwich Steam Packet Comp. Peter Bruff and the company directors turned their attention to attracting visitors to their new town. A couple of projects followed, firstly The Royal Hotel opened on the 24th July 1872, and then the public Hall in pier avenue in 1877.  Many of the early buildings was concentrated along Pier Avenue, Pallister Road, Rosemary Road and Marine parade, as far as Colne Road and Orwell Road to the east, and Agate Road to the west. By the mid 1880`s Clacton had already become a busy seaside resort.

The growth of Clacton continued, the census of 1881 showed a total population of 651. By 1901 this number had reached 7,456. Its summer visitors also increased rapidly,as one statistic in 1883 shows 92,873 people paid to go on the pier, and by 1893 this figure had rocketed to a staggering 327,451.

The cinema arrived in 1911 with the conversion of the Operetta House into a `picture palace` while a purpose built cinema the Kinema Grand, was opened in 1913.

By the outbreak of the first World War, Clacton had become one of the leading seaside places in the country and although the war temporarily interrupted this progression, the arrival of the 1920`s was to see Clacton continue into the very top league of British holiday resorts. Peters Bruff`s  pier had been enlarged several times between its opening and 1921, with the Pier Pavilion being added in 1893. But its main purpose in life was still as a landing stage for the paddle steamers, which brought holiday makers and day trippers to the town. With the first World War and the increase in rail and road travel had all taken their toll on the pier which went into liquidation. It was at this point a man called Ernest Kingsman stepped into the picture, he approached the liquidator with a view to buy the pier. So in 1922 he, his wife and son Barney, formed the Clacton Pier Company and took over the pier. Between 1922 and 1934 he spent about £200,000 on the pier, building three theatres, The Blue Lagoon Dance Hall, a zoo, a funfair, a restaurant, The Crystal Casino amusements and the first open air pier swimming pool in the country.

At the other end of Clacton another small pier known as the Jetty was being turned into a pleasure pier. The Vista Road Recreation Ground opened in 1929 and from 1931 Essex played county cricket there for one week each season. Then Clacton Carnival began in 1922 originally as a fund raising event for Clacton Hospital. Finally in 1937 Butlins arrived. Clacton was one of the most popular destinations for Londoners, with up to 100,000 visitors per week, the railway and the new Colchester by pass which opened in 1933 all helped the growth of Clacton on Sea.

The town with tree lined shopping streets and big named chain stores such as Woolworth's, W.H. Smith, Marks & Spencer all arrived between the wars. Also there were many well known local shops, such as Grimwade & Clarke`s and E.H. Newson & Sons.

Clacton's  population continued to grow rapidly in 1911 it stood at around 10,000 by the outbreak of the Second World War this had more than doubled. Just before the outbreak of war, on the 4th June 1939 a major fire in Clacton resulted in the complete destruction of the Public Hall in pier Avenue, together with a number of the towns shops such as Lewellens, Clacton's golden era was never quite the same again.

After the war Clacton was once again ready to take up with the holiday tread, However it was not to be, although the late 1940`s and 1950`s once again showed Clacton to be a very popular holiday resort there were the signs of the decline that set in more rapidly in the 1960`s,70`s and the 1980`s.

Industrial estates at  Gorse Lane, Oxford Road and Ford Road continued to thrive. However when the recession of the 1980`s came, many of the jobs were lost and Clacton became the unemployment black spot of the south east. And as we go through the 1990`s Clacton has settled down to become a fairly quiet seaside resort. It may be that we need a new entrepreneur to give the town a new boost.

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