Clacton-on-Sea possible invasion beach-head for Napoleon and his Dutch allies. There was a large army and militia camp where Holland-on-Sea now stands. In 1810 5 Martello Towers were built there to guard the beaches between Jaywick and Holland. Clacton was still a small village and a few outlying hamlets when the Essex railway engineer Peter Bruff, the steamboat owner William Jackson, and a group of businessmen built a pier and hotel there in the 1871. In the 1880s the Great Eastern Railway reached it, and it grew into the largest seaside resort between Southend and Yarmouth, with some 10,000 people by
Frinton-on-Sea railway station These wooden gates were, until 2009, the only manually-operated level crossing gates on the line. The level crossing is now protected by a barrier system. The station's name was changed to Frinton-on-Sea in 2007. In 1929 the LNER introduced luxurious Pullman day excursion trips from Liverpool Street to various seaside resorts. The service known as the Eastern Belle served on Mondays, Frinton and Walton on Tuesdays, Clacton on Wednesdays, and and on Thursdays and Fridays. The service ended in September 1939 at the outset of World War II. The current service pattern is: Passengers for must change at Thorpe-le-Soken for