A simple 'hut barracks' was also built on the seafront, to the north-east (on what is now Parade Walk); and in 1856 a garrison hospital was established nearby.

[3] Horseshoe Barracks and various other amenities were added not long afterwards and the site was extended to cover some 200 acres lying between Ness Road and the coast.

[4] Alongside its use as a training facility, the ranges were used for experimental trials of guns, rockets and explosives and for the testing of armour and defensive works.

[2] As the scale of these experiments began to outgrow the site, its gun emplacements were adapted for seaward firing and it later specialized in coastal artillery training.

[2] As early as 1865 the Ordnance Select Committee was recommending the purchase of additional land at Shoeburyness, to accommodate the increasing power and range of artillery then in development.

In 1940 the Coast Artillery School was moved from Shoebury to Great Orme, Llandudno,[8] where it remained for the rest of the Second World War, before relocating to Plymouth.

At the same time, the number of military personnel on the staff of the P&EE was reduced, especially in the 1980s, as civilian contractors increasingly took over the running of the Establishment.

[4] Several buildings and structures on the site are listed, including the cart and wagon shed, which is used as a heritage and community centre; together they are described by Historic England as constituting "a complete mid-19th century barracks".

[16] In 2024, Southend-on-Sea Coastguard said they had been observing increasing levels of families with small children trespassing on the prohibited MOD beaches.