A History of the County of Essex Volume XI. CLACTON, WALTON AND FRINTON. North-East Essex Seaside Resorts. Cet article n’est pas disponible.A History of the County of Essex Volume XI. CLACTON, WALTON AND FRINTON. North-East Essex Seaside Resorts

An important contribution to the social, cultural and economic history of seaside resorts.

From the 1820s the Essex seaside towns of Walton, and later Clacton and Frinton, were promoted as high-class residential and holiday resorts. After a slow start, hampered by poor communications and low demand, growth was stimulated by steam-ship companies which landed visitors on newly built piers in Walton and Clacton and by the railways that reached Walton in 1867, Clacton in 1882 and Frinton in 1888. The contemporary emphasis upon the health advantagesof the seaside also led to the establishment of many convalescent homes. However, working-class excursionists newly attracted to Clacton, and to a lesser extent Walton, then irrevocably changed the social tone of the resorts.
By the 1920s and 1930s Clacton was a commercialized holiday destination and the funfair-style facilities of its pier rivalled those of any other resort. Nearby Jaywick was established as a cheap and cheerful chalet development. While Walton remained popular with families, Frinton continued as a "select" resort, with building development and commerce strictly controlled. The town remains famous for its wide unspoilt greensward facing the sea and its resistance to any threats to its exclusive character.
Camping, caravanning and holiday camps replaced the traditional seaside holiday after 1945, but from the later 1960s the increase in overseas holidays led to a steep decline ofthe seaside resorts. The economy has, however, since diversified with large dormitory-style housing developments, light industry and new shopping centres, and the coast becoming increasingly popular for retirement homes.
Thisvolume presents an authoritative account of the growth and development of these towns on the so-called "Sunshine Coast".

Dr Christopher Thornton joined the Victoria County History of Essex in 1992. He became county editor since 2003 and has contributed to, or edited, five VCH Essex volumes (IX, X, XI, XII (part 1), XII (part 2)). His personal research interests focus on medieval economic history and landscape history. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, he is also Chairman of the Friends of Historic Essex and a Vice-President of the Essex Society for Archaeology and History.

Christopher Thornton is a professor of writing at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. He has worked as a 'special correspondent to the U.S. State Department's International Information Program, writing feature stories on Arab and Muslim life in the United States for the department's website. His essays on Iran have also appeared in the Atlantic, Michigan Quarterly Review, Commonweal, and Confrontation.