Art galleries in Southend-on-Sea
Galleries are best taken slowly. Southend-on-Sea, Essex has 17 mapped right now. That's 17 galleries mapped around Southend-on-Sea. The exhibition schedule matters more than the count: a small gallery with a great current show beats a big one between exhibitions. Opening nights are the cheat code — free entry, the artists in the room, and a crowd that actually wants to talk about the work.
This guide covers every art gallery we could verify in and around Southend-on-Sea (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Medway ArtBox and Francesca Mafffeo Gallery, plus Old Leigh Studios. If a gallery's missing from Southend-on-Sea's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.
The Southend-on-Sea gallery lineup
17 mapped within about 40 km:
Medway ArtBox
Art galleryRun by Nucleus Arts
Run by Nucleus Arts, Medway ArtBox is Art gallery.
Francesca Mafffeo Gallery
Art gallery
Francesca Mafffeo Gallery — Art gallery. Also worth knowing about Francesca Mafffeo Gallery: the map lists its hours as Tu 10:00-17:00; We 10:00-14:30; Th 10:00-17:00; Fr 10:00-17:00; Sa 10:00-17:00; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Tu 10:00-17:00; We 10:00-14:30; Th 10:00-17:00; Fr 10:00-17:00; Sa 10:00-17:00
Old Leigh Studios
Art gallery
Old Leigh Studios is Art gallery.
Lynn Tait Gallery at the Old Foundart
Art gallery
Lynn Tait Gallery at the Old Foundart — Art gallery.

The Alchemy Gallery
Art galleryRun by Craft Arena
The Alchemy Gallery is Art gallery run by Craft Arena.
Peter Blake Gallery
Art gallery
Peter Blake Gallery — Art gallery.
Beecroft Art Gallery
Art galleryRun by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Run by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Beecroft Art Gallery is Art gallery, found on Victoria Avenue in Southend-on-Sea. Also worth knowing about Beecroft Art Gallery: the map lists its hours as We-Su 11:00-17:00; PH off; it has a website with more detail.
Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EX
Hours: We-Su 11:00-17:00; PH off
Former Beecroft Art Gallery
Art gallery
Former Beecroft Art Gallery — Art gallery.

The Gallery
Art gallery
The Gallery — Art gallery, found on 14 High Street in Maldon.
14 High Street, Maldon, CM9 5PJ
Sidney Cooper Gallery
Art gallery
Sidney Cooper Gallery is Art gallery on 22-23 St. Peter's Street, Canterbury. Sidney Cooper Gallery also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Tu-Fr 10:30-17:00, Sa 11:30-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip.
22-23 St. Peter's Street, Canterbury, CT1 2BQ
Hours: Tu-Fr 10:30-17:00, Sa 11:30-17:00
Phone: +44 1227 453267
Café Nucleus Rochester
Art gallery
Café Nucleus Rochester is Art gallery on 15A High Street, Rochester. Café Nucleus Rochester also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
15A High Street, Rochester, ME1 1PY
One New Street
Art gallery
One New Street is Art gallery.

Bay Art Gallery
Art gallery
Bay Art Gallery — Art gallery.
Nucleus Arts Centre & Cafe Nucleus
Art galleryRun by Nucleus Arts Centre
Run by Nucleus Arts Centre, Nucleus Arts Centre & Cafe Nucleus is Art gallery, found on 272 High Street in Chatham. Also worth knowing about Nucleus Arts Centre & Cafe Nucleus: it has a website with more detail.
272 High Street, Chatham, ME4 4BP
Beach Creative
Art gallery
Beach Creative — Art gallery.
Show Off
Art gallery
Show Off — Art gallery, found on Harbour Street in Whitstable.
Harbour Street, Whitstable
Picture Frame Gallery
Art gallery
Picture Frame Gallery is Art gallery.
Romford, RM2 5EU
What the map tells us about art galleries in Southend-on-Sea
3 of the 17 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — galleries keep proper public hours, so plan around the listed times.
4 have websites listed. That's where the current exhibition is announced — the one thing worth checking before you visit.
4 galleries list websites — that's where the current exhibition is announced, and it's the one thing worth checking before you visit.
The Southend-on-Sea gallery walk
Making a day of it in Southend-on-Sea? Work this order: Medway ArtBox, Francesca Mafffeo Gallery, Old Leigh Studios, Lynn Tait Gallery at the Old Foundart, The Alchemy Gallery, Peter Blake Gallery, Beecroft Art Gallery on Victoria Avenue, and Former Beecroft Art Gallery. That's the gallery walk in one sensible loop, no backtracking. 9 more are listed below.
Gallery tips for Southend-on-Sea
How the regulars do Southend-on-Sea's galleries:
- Take the long way through at Medway ArtBox. Galleries reward slow looking. One extra lap always reveals something the first pass missed.
- Ask about the artists at Francesca Mafffeo Gallery. Local, emerging, mid-career — the gallerist can tell you who's who and why this show matters.
- The bookshop corner is curated. Gallery bookshops stock the art books the big stores don't. Worth ten minutes on the way out.
- Check the gift shop. Prints, artist books, and the occasional affordable original. The gift shop funds the programming.
Good to know
We searched about 40 km around Southend-on-Sea — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new art gallery in Southend-on-Sea can take a while to appear. The 17 above are only as current as the community map. A art gallery that's shut, or a new one nobody's added yet, gets fixed with a single OpenStreetMap edit.
We don't review exhibitions — shows change too fast. What we list is the where: real galleries, verified by real mappers.
If you run one of the 17 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.
Art gallery listings for Southend-on-Sea: 17 mapped from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors; individual photo credits appear in captions. Listing data was last refreshed automatically — verify hours before visiting.