The 18 best public squares in Southend-on-Sea

One of my favourite parks and the cafe is good as well and dog friendly, it is also a short walk to the seafront. Unfortunately the playground needs updating, the play equipment needs attention, I understand residents have been onto the council about this, so hopefully be sorted soon but a beautiful park.

Great Park nice for dog walkers. Good for a picnic. Has a cafe. Tennis court. Petanque court. Cricket played weekends. Play football. Has Basketball court. Big lake with wild life and radio controled boating lake. Music in the park in summer check cafe for details.

I love this park. Was my GSD Harriet’s favourite place and was the last place I ever took her before she passed. Will always hold a special place in my head sitting with her looking at the swans and the ducks I just find it so peaceful at night when the lights round the pond are on

This is a really lovely park, to have a walk around the pond, see the swans with their babies. Gorgeous cafe, very friendly, always busy, clean! The children’s park area, is unfortunately going down hill! It needs a complete upgrade! The equipment is either partially removed or is aging! The soft floor areas are disintegrating! It needs a complete replacement to bring it back up to the amazing play area it used to be!

Great park, field, play area, cafe, gardens, rose beds, table tennis. Great for Dog walking, enjoyable views, large pond/lake for viewing ducks and swans and seagulls. Free available parking in 2 local car parks. Also within walking distance of the Sea Front.

a lovely park with a special focus on ducks and other related pound birds. I particularly appreciated the diversity (i.e. age, social, pets) in attendance... definately the most inclusive park I ever visited

Lovely lovely park. Well kept and looked after by everyone. Took kids there to feed the ducks and we were greeted by this majestic birds. Don't see swans very often and not so close, but today they were eating bread out of kids hand. Beautiful.

A little gem tucked away in Prittlewell. Fantastic, knowledgeable volunteers in a wonderfully restored building. Garden is lovely too.

Fairly small building Didn't take long to walk around The best thing is the cave style rooms, very small dated from 1200 Beautiful gardens surrounding the priory Interesting historical facts throughout , with some interactive sections Visitor centre directly opposite the priory Free parking and disabled parking nearby

Really nice surrounding gardens and the grounds are gorgeous and suitable for the whole family. Lovely formal areas along side a large pond.

Very good. A volunteer explained the broad history when I entered, well worth a short visit, allow time to walk around the outside and the walled garden.

Nice for a stroll. Great autumn colour. The Priory building is very well presented and improvements have been made for all to enjoy.

Great visit thanks to a tour from Verna. Lots to see and a surprising history of Southend. Richie Rich! Who knew?

Great place to visit, relax and take in some green space and history.

Now living very close by, this is one of my happy places. I love feeding the ducks (please follow guidelines - absolutely NO bread or yeast products! They love porridge oats!). There's squirrels, lots of birds, Koi carp, fish, terrapins and even large birds here not to mention squirrels here! There's a plaque to our late wonderful MP Sir David Amess. Please note: dogs must be kept on a lead here. Unfortunately one entrance to the park doesn't state that dogs must be kept on a lead or you can can be fined £100. A lady didn't know and her labrador retriever dog went into the water and scared the whole flock of ducks flew away! She was so upset. Thankfully the ducks came back! There's quite a few species too!

Such a great park/garden. Lovely place to bring the kids. It's not big in size but it has great features and planty for kids or animals to run around. Its nicely kept and well looked after. The ducks and pigeons are very friendly. They would come and eat out of your hand. It's only a few minutes walk from southeast train station and 10-15 minutes to the seafront. Great park5🌟👍

Been coming here since I was a baby. Fond memories. It was nice to see people using the little field area for an Easter egg hunt hub.

A Lovely park to visit, my children love seeing the turtles, ducks, fish and squirrels. The squirrels are super friendly and they take monkey nuts from your hand. My kids also loved doing the little activity in the half term where they had to find the mouses in the building.

Lovely park in a hidden location. No carpark available but you can park on surrounding roads. There were lots of squirrels, pigeons and terrapins. Afew little families of mallard ducks also around the pond. We feed them some corn and peas, which they really enjoyed. 🦆🦆🐢

Love walking around the grounds. Quiet walk small stream trickling along. Ducks by the pond & Terripins. I walk my dog here she loves it as there are many Squirrels

Nice and quiet, with ducks, pigeons and even some small tortoises. Kids loved it (for about 20 mins)

Our kids love this place, we go every year for the day. Great price for entry and half price after 5pm. Open till late, plenty to do in the area. Carers can get a wristband for half price, up to two Carers but you need to buy tickets on the day at the park itself. Other tickets can be brought online or on the day.

Great rides for £35 per day per head or half price after 5pm. Or £4 per ride if you want fewer rides. I had 6 and 11 year old and both enjoyed.

As a family we have been coming for a long time. The wrist bands are really worth while buying ahead of time as long as you go on at least 5 rides it’s worth it. We did wait for one ride as it broke down and my daughter couldn’t get out one as the harness got stuck for everyone. The rides are fun. The only down side for us was we got a pancake at the end of the evening and there were three staff just mucking about and not really serving. They were laughing at each other and shouting. Other members of the public were not happy as we waited nearly 20 mins. I don’t mind people having fun but they were meant to be working and it was more like a social gathering for them.

We visited on the first day of our week holiday. We went for the annual pass as the children will want to visit again and the pass also gets discounts for food, shop etc. We are now on day 3 and going again! Well worth the money! The queues are very quick, we could wait nearby and see them in the queue for the majority of the rides. I wanted to go on a couple of rides so bought some ride tickets separately (no need for a day or annual pass for me 🤣)

VISIT DATE: SAT 20/09/2025 VISIT TIME: 13:30 - 20:00 Adventure Island is a fantastic place to visit if you have children and are in the Southend area. We’re based in Hornchurch, about an hour away by car, or you can also travel quite easily via C2C from Upminster, so my ex and I have visited a number of times with our daughter, starting when she was 3 (she’s now 6). The park promotes itself as free entry, but no one is going to come just to walk through it, so the reality is that you’ll need to get a day pass to take advantage of the rides. At time of writing, it’s £35 for the day, but you can save £10 by purchasing online in advance. If you’re planning to go more than once, then it makes sense to upgrade to an annual pass. These are currently on sale at £50 and do not start until the first time you go. If your child is under 120cm tall, you won’t need your own pass, as they need someone taller (and at least 14 years old) to ride with them. As you’d expect, during the summer, or on character event days, the park is very busy, so there are queues for rides, but going off season reduces this dramatically. We were really blessed with a quiet day, so barely any queuing time, all rides open, with the exception of one, which was closed due to a mechanical issue and the park and rides were open till 8pm. It was also a warm day - being inside the park means that you are sheltered from the wind coming off the Thames Estuary, so even when it’s breezy, you don’t really feel it. There are a variety of rides, with plenty of slower ones for younger children, or those who don’t like faster stuff. Oh these, we really like Adventureville and Spooksville (which is the “scary” version, in darkness and with models of monsters and clowns, as well as appropriate sound effects), and you’ve also got stuff like little trains and boats and the best Crooked House ever, which has been an attraction on the site since 1949, surviving the great flood of 1953 and various ownership changes and developments over the years. I loved this attraction as a child and my daughter loves it too! There are also a number of rollercoasters, with more gentle ones, then building up to Rage, which has a vertical drop and loops. My daughter is looking forward to being tall enough to do that, but she’ll be going on with her Dad when that time comes, not me! There is also a water slide and an indoor area, Adventure Inside, which features a few more rides, including a traditional carousel (my personal favourite) and a decent sized soft play. Staff at the park are generally young, so they have lots of enthusiasm (if we lived nearer, I’d probably encourage my daughter to apply when she’s older, as I think it’s probably a pretty fun working environment, as well as quite hard work) and they are also friendly and helpful when you need anything. As well as the rides that are included in with your entry, there are also plenty of stalls encouraging you to spend more, like “Hook-a-Duck”, which my daughter loves. This is where having an annual pass is beneficial, as you get 20% discount on purchases, including from the food and drink stalls, of which there are also many! Personally, we recommend avoiding the restaurants inside the park as they’re not that great and there are loads of really nice local places a few minutes walk away which deserve supporting. You can also spend money on a Funtopia gamecard, to use on the many games machines in the arcade areas. You can pay to play with a debit / credit card, but the Funtopia card gives you extra credit and allows you to collect points which can be exchanged for prizes. Annual pass also gives you extra credit! Plenty of toilets in the park, including accessible and baby change. All in reasonable condition throughout the day. Overall, we really enjoy visiting and will continue to do so; it’s a great day out on its own, but when you add the other nearby attractions to the mix (Sealife Adventure, Southend Pier, spending time on the beach and in the water when it’s warm enough), this is a fabulous place to visit.

Adventure Island is the perfect place for a fun family day out! My son had an amazing time—there are so many rides tailored just for them, from mini roller coasters to gentle carousels and splash zones. The park is super colorful, lively, and full of energy, which keeps little ones excited all day long. We loved how easy it was to get around, and the staff were fantastic with children—really friendly and patient. With no entry fee and the option to buy wristbands or ride tokens, it’s great value too. The atmosphere is lively and family-friendly, with plenty of food stalls and places to grab snacks. A must-visit if you're in Southend!"

Discounted tickets after 5pm. Got to be quick if you want to do all the rides. Rage was the best. 2cm too short for two. Height checks in que. Ferris wheel took ages. Some ride staff were brilliant. Got wet on the green water slide. Toilets at either end. Plenty of places for food and drink. A good enough park to say you've done.

Parking is hit and miss . Cafe is lovely with toilets but dogs aren’t allowed inside ( awkward if on your own) . The actual woods are really fun and interesting to walk around. So many options with all the woods that link together . The ox bow stream is a school kids delight ( also great for the dogs to cool down in ) . Easy to get turned around and confused to get back but that’s the joy of nature ! Avoiding the golfers is a challenge until you’ve been there a few times . There is a kids play area that looks great . Poo bins are spotted around the walks so no excuses !

I own a lovely Labrador and we decided he deserved a good old walk in the woods today. It was our first time visiting Belfairs and it was amazing! Our dog had a great time wondering through the trees and chasing the pigeons. We saw some squirrels, which was nice too. There is also a stunning golf course! I would totally recomend visiting Belfairs Wood!

An absolutely beautiful place, love it, love it, love it!!! Will definitely be visiting again, with a bit more exploring to be had. Recommended for all and their dogs

This place is absolutely amazing — my sons love it here!

I really like belfais woods, it's nice to walk around, you can play golf there is a restaurant and a cafe. You can even do horse riding there. Plenty of parking and toilets.

I could walk here every day , one of my favorite walks

I adore belfairs as does my dog! Can walk 4 as little or long as you want. Wear wellies!

Lovely to walk around during summer. Some nice coastal path, great for wildlife. Roads are extremely uneven driving into the carpark though, be careful to avoid potholes!

It is a very good place for long walk, specially on hot sunny day to capture some vitamin D. However, there is not enough facility of toilet, which you can find in a golf cafe, where you need to buy something to use it. The natural beauty is so full, that you won't regret going there. If you are lucky you might see the chorus dance of birds in the sky. Enjoy.

A beautiful nature reserve right on the estuary. It offers quiet and tranquil walking routes either along the river which will take you to Benfleet or along the various routes crossing the reserve. There is plenty of parking either at the entrance to the reserve or right at the very end of the road where you can also launch river vessels, canoes/dinghies/motor boats etc into the water (charge). There are lots of birds to watch as well as the traffic on the river. You will also be able to see Hadleigh castle in the distance. Both Leigh-on-Sea and Benfleet stations are close enough to the path that you could walk from one to the other.

A circular two mile walk around this island is fantastic for wildlife or just taking the dog for a walk . The scenery looking out to the Thames is something else as well

Nice place for a walk. Good for wildlife photograph and birding

Ounce you go to the last carpark,their is one hide ....The only thing is it's quite muddy on route to get to...it took me 39 mins. With a lot of help from locals,to get to,but it was well worth it,in spite the fact that the path way ,was muddy,and it rained quite heavily.They could of had shutters through the windows,which could of helped more to keep you dry...

A really lovely nature reserve. It's beautiful, peaceful and buggy accessible in most places.

Nice place for you to relax, walk, or visit the museum. You can watch the bowling or enjoy the tennis courts. The gardens are quite well maintained, but the bins seem to be always over full. Still, there's plenty of open space for you to enjoy as well as places to eat for reasonable prices. The parking is free, so that's an added bonus. It's definitely worth a visit if only to watch the wildlife.

A lovely, relaxing place in the heart of Southend. The Priory is a museum, but wasn't open on our visit. The cafe only accepts cash, so we didn't eat or drink there. A good play area for children.

Such a great park! It truly has something for everyone: sports facilities, a playground, a pond, ornamental gardens, general woodland, Korean food, and even a Saxon Hall! It’s just a short stroll from our office. We visited today because it was so hot. The team has been exceptionally busy, so we decided to brainstorm, play table tennis, and enjoy some ice cream. It was great to get outside. We highly recommend it to everyone. One of the best parks in the area, if not the UK. Enjoy!

Amazing park! Went to see Fleetwood Unchained at the Sausage & Cider Festival. Brilliant day out and excellent venue

I Have visited priory park on several occasions for different events and dog walking and it's always been great. It's a beautiful park and there is always something going on. The toilets are clean and the café is lovely with a great selection of food and drink. (Cash only or pay via bank transfer) Today for the first time I took my son fishing and it didn't disappoint, we met Sam a bailiff who was really polite and 2 other fisherman who where so helpful and kind it blew me away. the 2 chaps called wes and ross where both really passionate fisherman and couldnt do more to help us as novice fisherman ourselves. They even helped my son land a 20lbs carp. We will definitely be returning

Truly stunning park.. FREE.. great for all ages. The gardens, grounds and old buildings are very well kept. There is parking free. Not so much so try to go on days not so busy. There is also a small cafe for drinks and food, or take your own and have a picnic. in the grounds there is a kids play area and also very nice duck ponds.

Gorgeous piece of history in Southend. Was great to visit the museum after many years, though was sad that many of the pieces have been removed. Still well worth the visit though. The visitor centre has modern toilets which was good to see. The old toilets are still there, but not the best option! The garden was beautiful and peaceful as always.

This is a very open park with a skateboard park, tennis courts, the Chalkwell park rooms has a cafe for refreshments, plus you have the Metal works art studio, it’s a well maintained park with a rose garden to. A number of different advents are held in the park through out the year. The reason it’s been given a 3star is there is nothing outstanding about it but it has a small carpark and lots of space for children and families to enjoy.

Not like the photos any longer. The once beautiful flower beds are mostly weeds, sadly just another neglected part of Southend

Great park with two play areas for different age groups, and a cafe and tennis courts. Makes getting the kids out of the house for a few hours easy as you can move from one spot to the next without them getting bored.

Small park but nice place for a stroll for a half an hour or so. Nicely labeled rose garden would be brilliant once they start to bloom. There was one rose called National Trust! Kids' play area was busy. Saw some heather growing nicely.

This park is lovely. It has so much for to offer, kids play ground, beautiful rose gardens, bike/scooter ramps and so on and on. Green fields round and round. Plenty parking spaces. Always a favourite for the kids scooting or riding their bikes. And all it takes is a bit of sunshine and this park would be packed. Brilliant. 5🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

We went to the fair as most rides were £1.50 .My grandchildren had the time of their life .The side stalls are very expensive £4 a go .Bought 3 waters that cost £6 At the end of the day you expect that.They went on the Waltzer the guy was amazing jumping on twirling them round he was like Spider Man took me back to my youth .I took cash as its alot easier than trying to pay by card but you can do both on most rides etc My youngest granddaughter who is 7 said it was the best day ever so worth every penny

Love this park. It has beautiful well kept gardens and different sporting facilities and play parks too. Great for a nice bit of fresh air, sit down for a coffee or picnic.

The great place to enjoy the sea along with the other fun activities. Great options for the family and kids.

I have just moved over to the Garrisons. So doggy friendly, lovely walking my cockerpoo.so safe.lovely people.🥰

There is a large lake you can walk around and the perimeter of the park forms part of the England coast path. There are no public toilets and I didn't spot anywhere to buy food or drink. This used to be a military site and there are several structures you can look at, but none are open to go inside. There are information boards dotted around the park, explaining its military history. There are warning signs telling you to keep of the beach as there may be unexploded shells.

Come here often! It's a nice place to walk around in good weather! Ca get very blustery though as it is by the sea wall. But it's well paved (if you want that sort of thing, has a skate park and little basketball area, and can see plenty of wildlife. I don't mind this, but for some whom it might bit be most pleasing, the inly thing to bear in mind is that it can get quite busy on sunny days, and if you're looking for being surrounded exclusively by nature or greenbelt land (without seeing houses etc.) it might not be the place as it is overlooked by the Garrison estate. This being said, it's a nice estate to walk around in and of itself because it has some very attractive areas and hiuses, especially the old Garrison bit :D

I visited this place many times the past few weeks at about 6am. A photographer's dream, amazing scenery - especially at dawn. Don't miss it.

Great place for dog walking, plenty of bins around for waste. Good sized carpark, skate park and other amenities.

This entire area of the coast was once the property of the Ministry of Defence, but has slowly been turned over to the council, who have stuck housing on most of it. One pocket of it was kept back as a nature reserve, Gunners' Park, a nice patch of greenery which joins the East Beach promenade. You can easily access the coast path from here, but there are dog restrictions on the beach. Your dog can only go on the beach from 1st October to the 30th of April. The centre point of the reserve is a large lake, with plenty of benches to sit on, and leftover brick buildings from the days of the military to sniff at. We've always found other dogs to say hello to, and my dog loves racing around the lake, dipping her toes in to the water and running through the long grass. You can look across the coast to Kent, into Southend at the famous pier, or head down the coast to Shoeburyness, which makes a longer walk of about three miles there and back. The path to Shoeburyness is concrete, so perfectly fine for pushchairs and wheelchairs, but you will be walking along roads at times, so you'll need a lead for those bits. There's even a play field for more off-lead time along the route. There are toilet facilities once you head along the coast path, and there's usually a static caravan selling hot food and drinks if the coastal breeze is a bit brisk. There is plenty of parking around, with a couple of official (free) car parks, although they're not massive. Plenty of car parking around the local streets, as long as you park considerately.

We visited on Friday 06th September 2024. We used the 30-space car park which is situated at the Eastern entrance to the country park off of Cherry Orchard Way (B1013). There are 3 other smaller car parks dotted around the boundary. The park has only been open for a few years and is still quite immature. It's quite diverse in terms of layout incorporating open fields, a lake, a river and a mature forest. Decent signage throughout.

Lovely place for a stroll , just make sure you know how to get back to the car park 😆 We took the dogs for a walk, they loved jumping in and out of the water to cool down and the woods provided most needed shade on a hot day . There as so many paths to follow you could be a regular visitor and still find new places - but that also means it’s easy to get disoriented. Very little signage and no poo bins Free parking ( no facilities but there is a costa near by) . Very popular .

Lovely area to go for a dog walk, plenty of parking but no toilets (there is a costa over the road though)

There are a lack of benches near the car park area, picnic benches would be good. Dog waste bins are at the entrances & exits only, which whilst good, they were very full. Lazy, disgusting dog walkers don't bother to clean up or leave the used poo bags laying about.

My two love it here, we walk close to the brook all the way up my dogs love going in and out of the water and the water never seems dirty. We cross into the fields walking up that side and cross back to come down the other side. We haven't explored the rest of the country park as my dogs just love the water.

Lovely for dog walking. Variety of scenery and landscape. You have fields, streams and woodland. You can't hear any cars once you go inside, which is a real bonus. Free carpark. Waste and dog bins at the entrance.

Great county park, with open spaces, the River Roach, wonderful oaks and woodlands for quiet walks. Good for dog walking too. Recommended!

No BBQ any more ,pay parking on site .

Love it over here. Plenty of space for the kids to run around.

Great little park and play area for the kids. Quality in the summer (all be it busy) as you can picnic or bbq and have the beach over the road. Uncle Tom's cabin and Harvester for sweets, treats and food 👌

Great place to go on a walk and take the family dog out for a run. Recently there have been refurbishments to create parks and benches. Lovely views and often gets a nice breeze coming from the seaside. It’s actually quite nice when it rains too, adding to the tranquil atmosphere. It is also an overflow car parking area when the beach is packed over summer

Thumbs up from me. Kids love it most importantly. All the playground equipment is pretty new and fresh. Like the picnic tables with board game table tops. Nice touch. The location is great. Just across from the beach.

Great little beach. Plenty of parking and much cheaper parking than the central beach. Platform built for wheelchairs. Uncle Tom's hut supplies beverages. Well maintained toilets. Grwat new play area for kids across the road. Can't ask for more.

Sun shining and everything so far covid safe. Lovely!!!

Terrible service all round. The staff that work there are rude, will not assist, and are unhelpful to say the least. They move the gravestone to allow the ceremony to take place, but then refuse to put it back. If you want it put back, you would need to get an outside company to come in AND you have to pay them an additional £170 to allow the third party to come on site. AWFUL PEOPLE!

The level of incompetence is just beyond! Why have a number on your website if it's never gonna be answered when calls come through????

Near to where my parents grave, is a water tap . The ground underneath is a mud bath. After several people asking for this to be rectified over a long period of time. This has still not been done. It needs concreting or paving. The only answer you get is it isn't down to them. Surely then the cemetery should inform the people that are responsible for it.

Beautiful cemetery, very well maintained. The office staff are very helpful and patiently looked up 3 burial records for me and marked them on a map. The ladies toilet was actually clean!

Usually quiet except for :mothers day" and it will be packed roads are narrow some parking restricts flow but normally not a problem but many parked cars creates a "single lane" preventing vehicles from passing due to large volume of parked cars because everybody turns up at about the same time so best park near entrance and walk the difference

Everything I go to the office it's never open and you can't reach them by phone either been try to get this tree remover from behind my husbands grave for years now they still haven't done it

Beautiful calm peaceful cemetery. Well maintained with plenty of parking graveside.

Too wet

Ancient water course passing through the Belfast park

Jumped off a bridge here :)

Lovely walk

Peaceful