Southend city status: 16 facts you may not know

Here are some facts about the town (now city):

• Southend has the world’s longest pleasure pier. In 1829 the foundation stone of the first section of the pier was laid and, by the following year, a 600ft wooden pier was opened.

Southend Pier - the city's iconic 1.3-mile landmark which is synonymous with Southend

READ MORE: Southend awarded city status in tribute to fallen MP Sir David Amess

• By 1848, it was the longest pier in Europe at 7,000 feet, and today boasts of being the world’s longest pleasure pier at 1.34 miles, according to its official website.
• There have been a number of fires over the years causing the structure that juts into the Thames Estuary damage, with the most recent in October 2005.
• A narrow gauge railway runs for 1.25 miles along the pier with tickets available for either one-way or return journeys.
• In 2009 a new station platform and office was officially opened, and in 2012 a new cultural centre was lifted onto the structure.

READ MORE: What is city status and what does it mean for Southend?

• Southend was once home to the only five-star hotel on England’s south-east coast The Palace Hotel – originally named the Metropole – was built in 1901. The property, now the Park Inn Palace, had 200 bedrooms, a billiard room and a ballroom and, according to Southend-On-Sea Borough Council, during the First World War it was temporarily converted into Queen Mary’s Royal Naval Hospital

The Park Inn Palace on Southend (city) seafront

• Southend is twinned with a town in Poland In 1999, Sopot officially became the twin town of Southend-on-Sea. Sopot, on the Baltic coast, has previously been dubbed Poland’s Riviera, with its hotels, beaches, pubs and restaurants making it a popular spot for holidaymakers.
• It follows another Essex neighbour in becoming a city The last time the UK cities list was expanded was in 2012, when Chelmsford in Essex, Perth in Scotland and St Asaph in Denbighshire were awarded the right to call themselves cities following the Diamond Jubilee Civic Honours competition.
• There are currently 69 official cities in the UK: 51 in England, six in Wales, seven in Scotland and five in Northern Ireland.
• It has links to some famous faces Dame Helen Mirren was born in Leigh, and in her youth once worked at the Kursaal amusement park in Southend.

Star - Dame Helen Mirren was born in Southend and lived in Leigh

• Archbishop of York the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell is from Leigh and grew up in Southend. He went to Belfairs School in Leigh.
• Former UK number 1 tennis player John Lloyd attended Southend High School for Boys.
• Game Of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel, who played Missandei in the HBO fantasy series, grew up in Southend where she attended Westcliff High School for Girls.
• Southend pier has featured as the location for Channel Four cooking show Jamie And Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast, hosted by chef Jamie Oliver.

Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty star in Friday Night Feast from the end of Southend Pier

• Countdown star Rachel Riley paid tribute to Sir David Amess for helping to support her mother’s local charity work, and tweeted that Southend being made a city was a “very fitting” tribute to the late MP.

Countdown star - Rachel Riley from Southend

• Actor and singer Lee Mead, who described himself as having been “born and raised in Southend”, said the city status will be part of Sir David’s legacy, after the MP “fought tirelessly for many years” to make it happen.