Beecroft
Art Gallery
Beecroft Art Gallery has a permanent collection of over 2000 works, ranging from 17th-century Dutch paintings to contemporary works.
The collection includes examples by artists such as Molenaer, Ruisdael and Berchem plus 19th-century artists including Rossetti, Constable and Edward Lear. There are works by Carel Weight, the Great Bardfield Group, and a fine bronze by Jacob Epstein. The local artist Alan Sorrell is represented by his Drawings of Nubia series depicting a visit to Egypt prior to the building of the Aswan Dam. The Thorpe Smith Collection of local landscape views contains paintings, drawings and prints from as early as 1803.
Southend Museums Service has been acquiring costume as part of its social history collection since opening in the 1970s. The collections have subsequently been re-housed at the Beecroft Art Gallery and costume exhibitions take place there once a year.
The collections' main strengths are the decades from the 1920s to the 1970s but there are important earlier pieces, most notably a rare, 17th century slap sole shoe. Not surprisingly, beach wear is a major area of collection: in 2009 Southend received a donation of 500 bathing suits from private collector, Mavis Plume. They date from around 1900 to the 1980s and include several rare pieces.
Current Exhibitions
Getting Here
Getting Here by Car
We are located on the A127 just off the main junction between the A127 and A13. The Museum and Planetarium is brown signed off both roads.
Closest parking is at the Beecroft Art Gallery (previously Southend Library) car park just off Great Eastern Avenue (off of Victoria Avenue).
It is pay and display.
Alternative car parking is available at The Victoria Shopping Centre (SS2 5SP) just off the A127 and A13 junction.
Getting Here by Train
Two direct rail lines operate between London and Southend - Fenchurch Street to Southend Central (C2C line) and Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria (Greater Anglia). The journey time on both lines is approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.
The closest station to the Beecroft Art Gallery is Southend Victoria on the Greater Anglia line.
Getting Here by Bus
Multiple bus routes run regularly, with a major bus stop adjacent to Southend Victoria Station.
BEECROFT ART GALLERY
Victoria Avenue
Southend-on-Sea
Essex
SS2 6EX
Telephone: 01702 212511
Email: museums@southend.gov.uk