SKEGNESS AND ITS ROOTS by Betty Kirkham
Skegness once extended much further out to sea and the coastline has
suffered erosion over many years though it is now gaining ground. We know that the area
has been occupied since before Roman times. Roman pottery can be found today on the shore,
it makes a change from collecting sea shells! Salt was manufactured along much of the low
lying coast of Lincolnshire in Roman times and evidence of their working sites and even
artifacts bearing their fingerprints can still be found today.
To come nearer to our time it is interesting to see how Skegness has
altered in the last 150 years. In White's Directory for 1842 we read that Skegness had a
population of only 185 people, it is described as a `pleasant village'. At that time there
were only two hotels and several private lodging houses but even then bathing machines
were stationed on the beach and there was a lifeboat to rescue survivors of the many small
fishing boats which found themselves in trouble. It was also a small port with `upwards of
6000 tons of coal being landed here in the summer of 1841'.
Visiting the seaside became ever more popular over the years though at
first only the better off people were able to take advantage of the facilities provided.
In the 1870's the Earl of Scarborough, landowner of Skegness at that time, decided to
improve the town and with estate agent V.Tippet plans were drawn up for new streets and
houses which extended to what is now Scarborough Avenue. This was a piece of very advanced
planning for the time. The area was laid out in a very sensible geometric pattern with
wide roads, wide verges and footpaths, all of these are still adequate even for today's
traffic.
It was not until the coming of the railway to Skegness in 1873 that the
town really began to grow. The rail link with the midland towns meant it was possible for
the working class people to spend a day at the seaside. At first there was only a single
line and it was not until 1900 that it was made a double track. Winston Kyme in his book,
`Skeggy the story of a seaside town' says that on August Bank Holiday 1882 the railway
brought 22,000 day trippers to Skegness. 20,000 of them paid to go on to the pier which
had only just been erected. By this time the population of Skegness had grown to 1400.
The erection of the gas works took place in 1875 and the town boasted
56 street lamps. White's Directory of 1882 describes the construction of the north and
south promenades on the sea wall, costing £2,000 (in pre-decimal money) and being
officially opened in 1879.
Very early on amusements of various kinds were thought up to amuse the
visitors. Donkey races on the beach in front of the Sea View Hotel (built in 1862)
attracting thousands of people. (For more information on this see The Book of the
Lincolnshire Seaside by David Robinson). Sea water baths were built in 1882 on Scarborough
Avenue, these were bombed during the war and have since been demolished.
The first car number plate was issued in 1903 and as cars became
popular people began to come and stay for longer than a day trip. This resulted in more
hotels and lodging houses being built and more and more amusements supplied for the
visitors. A giant figure eight railway was built in 1908 on the new foreshore beyond the
north parade. It was demolished in 1970.
The person who made the biggest impression on Skegness and district
holiday trade was Billy Butlin. He came to Skegness in 1921, a poor traveling showman. He
entertained the holidaymakers with his hoop-la stalls. By 1929 he had opened a large
amusement park on the south side of the pier. By 1935 he had built the Butlins Holiday
Camp between Skegness and Ingoldmells. This went from success to success and many famous
entertainers served their apprenticeship at Butlins Theatre. During the second world war
it was used by the Royal Navy and re-named H.M.S Royal Arthur. It was returned to Butlins
in 1946 and run successfully until 1972 when it was bought by the Rank Organisation and
re-named yet again, this time as Funcoast World. In 1997-8 the theatre was demolished
along with the famous wooden chalets in which generations of families had spent their
holidays. Substantial blocks of flats built on the site have now given it the appearance
of a small village. Meantime Skegness has grown to a famous holiday town having a resident
population of around 17,000.
Betty Kirkham
If you have any comments regarding this you can e-mail
the Author.