Clacton-on-Sea was named one of the UK’s worst seaside towns in a recent Which? survey – but the town was once a leading British beach destination.
The seaside resort was first created on undeveloped farmland by railway engineer Peter Bruff in 1865. Its pier was finished in 1871 and the majority of tourists reached Clacton-on-Sea by steamboat until the development of the railways in the 1880s.
Clacton-on-Sea was extremely popular with East End Londoners, who could easily reach the resort from the city for a daytrip or a short break. Butlin’s opened a holiday camp in the town in 1938.
However, the rise of cheap package holidays abroad saw a decline in popularity, with Butlin’s closing in Clacton-on-Sea in 1983. The Clacton & District Local History Society says the closure ‘destroyed’ the ‘reputation’ of Clacton as a ‘one-time leading British holiday resort’.
Despite this – and surveys by Which? – Clacton-on-Sea remains popular with daytrippers and its pier was named Pier of the Year in 2020. Visit Essex describes the town as a ‘bustling but affordable seaside resort’.
In this collection of historic photos, MailOnline Travel takes a look back at the resort’s past, from carnival queens to the salad days of Butlin’s holiday park…
In the top image is the pier in 1967, with its helter-skelter and rides. By 1971 it even opened a dolphinarium. The pier has undergone many changes in the years since, but remains open today with a new set of attractions. It’s pictured in the lower image in 2019
The pier and the seafront parade are photographed from the Beaumont Hall Hotel in the top image, which dates back to 1925. The pier remains a defining landmark in the more recent image of the beach below
Clacton-on-Sea was designed in 1865 as a ‘quality town for quality people’ by Peter Bruff, a land owner and civil engineer, says the team at The Sandrock B&B. The engineer could see the potential of the ‘virgin site’ with ‘sandy south facing beaches’. It quickly became a popular day trip destination for Londoners, who could reach the town by train by the late 1800s. These children are pictured on the beach in 1912
In this image, holidaymakers are photographed on the promenade at Clacton-on-Sea in 1923. The pier, which can be seen in the background, opened in 1871, while the Pavilion (off the picture to the left) was erected in 1893 and ‘offered a popular day out for Victorians’, according to clactonpier.co.uk
This image captures a bustling Clacton-on-Sea pier in 1925. A casino was added to the pier in the 1920s and the 1,000-seater Ocean Theatre was to follow in 1928
These paddling children were photographed at the town’s beach in 1924. By this time, Clacton-on-Sea was established as a classic British seaside resort
Holidaymakers are pictured on the beach in Clacton-on-Sea in 1925. The town’s West Cliff theatre opened in 1928
This image shows the carnival King and Queen of Clacton-on-Sea being crowned on the pier in 1927. The Clacton-on-Sea Carnival was first held in the 1920s and still takes place today, with the most recent celebration held in August 2024
Sunseekers are pictured walking along the cliff path by a crowded Clacton Beach in August, 1927
Holidaymakers are photographed on Clacton beach in 1932. This was the same year that an open-air Olympic-sized swimming pool was opened on the pier, the first in the UK to be built on a pier
The Odeon cinema opened in 1937 and is pictured here in 1943. It’s showing the American war film Eagle Squadron. The Odeon closed in 1975 and the building was demolished in 1984
This image shows people boarding The Royal Eagle ship for a cruise from London to Margate and Clacton-on-Sea in 1946. The ship was used as an anti-aircraft vessel during WWII but became a pleasure steamer again after the war
This slightly eerie image shows contestants in a beauty competition at Butlin’s Holiday Camp in 1952. The contestants are wearing papier mache face masks so the judges are sure to only mark them on their figures. Historic England describes this era as the ‘heyday’ for the great British seaside holiday
This image depicts holidaymakers roller-skating at Butlin’s Holiday Camp in 1956. Butlin’s opened in 1937 in Clacton-on-Sea. The Clacton & District Local History Society says: ‘By the late 1950s, Butlin’s had become a national institution and to some extent Clacton was able to bask in its reflected glory’
Holidaymakers take part in activities at Butlin’s in 1959. However, Butlin’s faced a decline in Clacton-on-Sea in the 1960s. The Clacton and District Local History Society says: ‘Most of Butlin’s trade had come from the East End of London, a mere 75 miles away, and most of the rest from the Midlands. Two weeks holiday came to be increasingly the norm, and with the extra time people wanted to go further afield’
In 1964, fights between two rival groups, Mods and Rockers, took place at several British seaside resorts including Clacton-on-Sea. The picture above shows Mods at a jellied eel stand near the town’s pier
In 1965, the Southwark Clergy conference was held at Butlin’s in Clacton-on-Sea. Pictured above are the Bishop of Southwark (left), the Episcopal Bishop of California and the Bishop of Woolwich. Butlin’s holiday camp closed in Clacton in 1983 in what the Local History Society describes as a ‘devastating blow’ to the town, with 100 permanent jobs and 841 seasonal jobs lost
This image depicts Clacton-on-Sea’s pier in 1967. By this point the pier had been ‘transformed’ into ‘one of the UK’s leading attraction centres on a par with those in Blackpool and Brighton’, says the team at Clacton Pier. A poster advertises a show with Ted Rogers, a comedian who started his career as a Butlin’s redcoat entertainer
