In that place before getting to central Southend (5)
I believe the answer is:
there
'in that place' is the definition.
(over there)
'before getting to central southend' is the wordplay.
'before' becomes 'ere' (poetic term for 'before').
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'to central' means to look at the middle letters.
The middle letters of 'southend' are 'th'.
'ere' put after 'th' is 'THERE'.
(Other definitions for there that I've seen before include "Word of comfort" , "Triumphant exclamation" , "please feel reassured!" , "Place: as indicated" , "In that location" .)