History
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The place-name 'Frinton' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Frientuna. The name may mean 'fenced-in or enclosed town or settlement'.
St Mary's Church, Frinton-on-Sea
Frinton was historically a small village comprising a church, several farms and a handful of cottages. In the early 1870s the village was said to comprise just six houses and have a population of 29, and it was noted that "...the sea has washed away a great part of the parish, and is still making encroachment." The oldest parts of the original parish church, dedicated to St Mary, date from the from 14th century.
The Tendring Hundred Railway was opened in 1867, skirting the northern edge of Frinton parish, but there was no station at Frinton initially; the nearest stations were at Kirby Cross and Walton-on-the-Naze. Much of the land around Frinton was subsequently bought by developers in the 1880s with the intention of laying out a new resort. Frinton railway station opened in 1888 to serve the new town.
Seafront shelter on the Greensward between the Esplanade and the path down to the beach
In the 1890s, the original developer of the town, Peter Bruff, was bought out by the industrialist Richard Powell Cooper, who had already laid out the golf course. Powell Cooper rejected Bruff's plans for a pier, stipulated the quality of housing to be built and prohibited boarding houses and pubs. The Sea Defence Act 1903 established a project to stabilise the cliffs, with the Greensward, which separates the Esplanade from the sea, put in place to stabilise the land further.
In the first half of the 20th century the town attracted visitors from high society. A new main shopping street was built linking the railway station to the esplanade. The street was formally opened in 1904 by Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught, and named Connaught Avenue in her honour. Other attractions included a lido, complete with palm trees, hotels along the Esplanade, and an amateur tennis tournament. The Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) frequented the golf club and Winston Churchill rented a house. Frinton was the last target in England attacked by the Luftwaffe, in 1944.
The town has a reputation for a conservative nature (although it was in a Labour constituency from 1997 to 2005). Until recently, there were no pubs, although there have long been bars in seafront hotels and at the golf and War Memorial clubs. The first pub, the Lock and Barrel, opened in 2000.
