Cleethorpes – a jewel in the crown of England’s east coast. At the height of its popularity in the Victorian era and beyond, thousands of holidaymakers enjoyed the coastline, the entertainment, and the promenade. Fast-forward to the 2000s. This resort is re-inventing itself for the modern generation. But we are working hard to preserve and restore its heritage. On this relaxed tour, we guide you to the buildings and structures that take you back to the Victorian era. Look out for the commemorative plaques on some of the buildings. These celebrate the official opening of the resort’s first heritage trail, created by the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Civic Society. We hope you enjoy the trail !- share your pictures on social media to #heritagecleethorpes

stop 1:

Start at Cleethorpes Library and Tourist Information Centre, Alexandra Road (or Itterby Road as it was called before the visit of Prince Albert Victor in July 1885). It’s hard to imagine now, with all the hustle and bustle of seaside life, that this was once a track between the two fishing villages of Itterby and Oole. The growth in the popularity of seaside holidays and the coming of the railways (which meant a rise in population) helped these two Thorpes (or hamlets) expand into each other. This formed modern-day Cleethorpes.

stop 2:

Walk south down Alexandra Road (turn right out of the Library). Before crossing Yarra Road, look to your right. You’ll see the Old Post Office, built to serve the people of Cleethorpes in 1907. Heading up the hill towards ‘Itterby’, you pass the Baptist Church. A new chapel now stands on the same spot where the first Baptist Church stood for many years. This was used as a billet (temporary accommodation) for the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment while they were stationed in the area with up to 4,000 other troops. Here they practiced trench warfare before being shipped off to fight in the First World War killing fields. For these young men, Cleethorpes must have seemed like a good place to be posted, far from the dangers of the front line. But that all changed on 1st April 1916 when the realities of the First World War were brought to our very doorstep. A Zeppelin airship on its way home dropped its bombs before flying off over the North Sea back to Germany, demolishing the chapel and killing 31 men.

stop 3:

At the top of Alexandra Road, you find Sea View Street. This was at the centre of the Thorpe of Itterby and has lots of old buildings with links to its heritage. Number 16, on your right-hand side as you walk away from the sea, is the oldest shop in Cleethorpes and was opened to cater for the many visitors who started arriving when the new trend of holidaying at the seaside really took off in the early 1800s.

stop 4:

At the Fisherman’s Arms, look along Wardall Street and you will see the Fisherman’s Cottage on the corner. This is the oldest dwelling in Cleethorpes. The tiny cottage next to it was used as a makeshift hospital during the Second World War. Wardall Street hit the headlines in the 1850s when Asiatic cholera arrived in the area. This was because of the cramped and overcrowded conditions during the height of the summer season and the poor state of the Cleethorpes oyster pits. It arrived during the last two days of August 1854. 16 locals were struck down out of a population of 800. Over the next three weeks, that number rose to 60.

stop 5:

Carrying on down Sea View Street, take a look through the gates at Water Wheel antiques, to see the old village abattoir and the site of the old bakehouse. Further along, on the corner of Sea View Street and Cambridge Street, is the site of the old Dairy. Its name is proudly emblazoned on its doorstep.

stop 6:

Turn right into Cambridge Street and you leave ‘Itterby’, heading to ‘Oole’. Cambridge Street, like a lot of streets in Cleethorpes was named after the largest landowner in the area, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, which bought up huge amounts of land in Cleethorpes in 1616.

stop 7:

Cleethorpes Town Hall was built in 1903/4. It proudly stands on the right-hand side where Knoll Street meets Cambridge Street. Cleethorpes Town Hall has another link to world conflict. During the 1950s, the Cold War threat of a nuclear attack reached Cleethorpes and council officials. Worrying that the area might be a target, they constructed a nuclear fallout shelter deep underground below the Town Hall, complete with its own shower facilities to wash off any possible dusting of radioactive debris. You can check out a virtual tour of the building. Go to www.dicovernel.co.uk/heritage-open-days for more information.

stop 8:

Carry on walking along Cambridge Street until you reach a passageway called Cuttleby on your right-hand side. This used to be the main thoroughfare from Itterby to Oole. As you walk along this track today, it’s easy to imagine yourself passing the fields where you could see the cattle destined for the Sea View Street abattoir. At the end of Cuttleby is Albert Road. Straight across the road from you is Mill Place. This is the site of the old five-sailed mill, powered with winds from the North Sea.

stop 9:

Turn left at Albert Road. You will pass St. Peter’s Church Vicarage, now in the grounds of St. Peter’s School. You will arrive at one of the main shopping areas of Cleethorpes on your left-hand side. Ahead of you, across the road, you will see St. Peter’s Church, consecrated (made holy for religious ceremonies) on St. Peter’s Day 1866. Turn right onto St. Peter’s Avenue, or as it used to be known, Oole Road. Due to the huge influx of tourists during the summer months, the private houses on St. Peter’s Avenue were gradually replaced by shops. Take a moment to look back above the shop front up to the bedroom windows and imagine a once-elegant Victorian terrace with ornate, cast-iron railings surrounding their neatly tended gardens. Carry on up St Peter’s Avenue towards the high street.

stop 10:

Turn right into Short Street which, as its name implies, takes you quickly into Cleethorpes Market Place – the centre of the ancient hamlet of Oole. On Tuesday 3rd July 1781, John Wesley preached a sermon to the locals in the little field “between the long farmhouse and the High Street, taking his stand beneath a tree.” Continue away from the Market Place towards the junction with Alexandra Road you will get your first glimpse of the sea.

stop 11:

As you reach the junction of Alexandra Road and Sea Road, look at the Dolphin Hotel on your left. This was built on the site of one of the first seaside hotels in the country. The venue was used for Town Council meetings up until the building of the new Town Hall. This was also the site of the official signing of the 1846 Clee Enclosure Act. This changed the use of the open fields between Itterby and Oole forever, opening up the land for development.

stop 12:

Cross the road and head into Dolphin Gardens. Note the centre-piece sculpture of dolphins, commissioned by the award-winning Cleethorpes In Bloom committee in 2007. Come out of the gardens opposite the Dolphin Hotel and turn right towards Grant Street.

stop 13:

Turn right into Station Approach towards the railway station and make your way down the path. You can’t fail to notice the Victorian four-sided Clock Tower in front of you. Neither could the millions of happy holiday-makers that have arrived or departed from the station since its construction in 1883, who used the clock to tell when they needed to get their trains.

stop 14:

Heading towards the beach on to the North Promenade (North Prom), look at the Mermaid Restaurant on your left. This was built as a rest room for railway travellers and it remains the only cast-iron building still remaining on the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway lines.

stop 15:

Now return along the North Prom towards the Cleethorpes Pier, opened in August 1873, when nearly 3,000 people paid 6d to walk its 400 yards. It stretched out as far into the Humber as the low water mark is today. The pier suffered from a series of fires and, after being breached in the Second World War to prevent enemy invasion, was never repaired. Two hundred tons of its salvaged timber was used to rebuild Leicester City’s blitzed football grandstand. The remaining timber and steel girders were used in the building of the nearby Wonderland Sunday market.

stop 16:

Just before you reach the top of Sea Road, turn left into the Pier Gardens. They used to be called ‘The Pleasure Grounds’ when they were commissioned by the Directors of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company in 1883. Passengers used to refer to this railway line as Mucky, Slow and Late!

stop 17: Walking through the Pier Gardens today, towards High Cliff, gives you an idea of just how high and dangerous these crumbling, clay cliffs were. Look out towards the North Sea. You can see Spurn Lighthouse clearly on the horizon. You can also see Bull Fort and Haile Sands Fort – the guardians of the Humber. They were both built during the First World War at a cost of more than a million pounds to prevent enemy submarines from entering this important shipping lane. As well as looking out to sea, look inland at this point at the parade of shops with its decorative wrought iron colonnade. Many wine bars and bistros now line this grand Victorian Colonnade. The centrepiece of the Colonnade, The Empire Theatre, was opened in 1896 as the Alexandra Hall.

stop 18:

At the top of High Cliff Road, you find the Armed Forces Memorial Gate. The gate proudly stands near the iconic Ross Castle – an imitation antique observation point built by the Railway Company in 1885 to complement the Pleasure Grounds. The Victorian folly is made of ironstone slag and lime putty. It was built to represent the height of the cliffs at this spot before the resort was developed.

the end

You’ve now reached the end of our Cleethorpes walk! We hope it has given you further insight into the resort, its history, and its growth. Of course, there is so much more to see, so please enjoy your visit and we'd love to see you again!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Story of Cleethorpes and the Contribution of Methodism by Frank Baker. Cleethorpes, The Creation of a Seaside Resort by Alan Dowling. North East Lincolnshire Council Website – www.nelincs.gov.uk. (1) Built 1903-04, Herbert C Scaping of Grimsby, Architect, Egbert Rushton, engineer and surveyor, and Henry Marrows, builder for Cleethorpes and Thrunscoe urban District. (2) 1851-2 by Edward Micklethwaite of Grimsby, with tower addition to rear in 1869 by David Thompson, surveyor of Grimsby. (3) 1864 by James Fowler of Louth. St. Peter’s Church became a Parish church in 1889. (4) & (5) 1884 with alterations in 1960. Clock Tower and Refreshment Rooms by Lockerbie and Wilkinson of Birmingham, makers for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. (6) Ross Castle, built 1885 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. Copyright © Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Civic Society

page 1

cleethorpes heritage trail

Cleethorpes – a jewel in the crown of England’s east coast. At the height of its popularity in the Victorian era and beyond, thousands of holidaymakers enjoyed the coastline, the entertainment, and the promenade. Fast-forward to the 2000s. This resort is re-inventing itself for the modern generation. But we are working hard to preserve and restore its heritage. On this relaxed tour, we guide you to the buildings and structures that take you back to the Victorian era. Look out for the commemorative plaques on some of the buildings. These celebrate the official opening of the resort’s first heritage trail, created by the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Civic Society. We hope you enjoy the trail !- share your pictures on social media to #heritagecleethorpes

stop 1:

Start at Cleethorpes Library and Tourist Information Centre, Alexandra Road (or Itterby Road as it was called before the visit of Prince Albert Victor in July 1885). It’s hard to imagine now, with all the hustle and bustle of seaside life, that this was once a track between the two fishing villages of Itterby and Oole. The growth in the popularity of seaside holidays and the coming of the railways (which meant a rise in population) helped these two Thorpes (or hamlets) expand into each other. This formed modern-day Cleethorpes.

stop 2:

Walk south down Alexandra Road (turn right out of the Library). Before crossing Yarra Road, look to your right. You’ll see the Old Post Office, built to serve the people of Cleethorpes in 1907. Heading up the hill towards ‘Itterby’, you pass the Baptist Church. A new chapel now stands on the same spot where the first Baptist Church stood for many years. This was used as a billet (temporary accommodation) for the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment while they were stationed in the area with up to 4,000 other troops. Here they practiced trench warfare before being shipped off to fight in the First World War killing fields. For these young men, Cleethorpes must have seemed like a good place to be posted, far from the dangers of the front line. But that all changed on 1st April 1916 when the realities of the First World War were brought to our very doorstep. A Zeppelin airship on its way home dropped its bombs before flying off over the North Sea back to Germany, demolishing the chapel and killing 31 men.

stop 3:

At the top of Alexandra Road, you find Sea View Street. This was at the centre of the Thorpe of Itterby and has lots of old buildings with links to its heritage. Number 16, on your right-hand side as you walk away from the sea, is the oldest shop in Cleethorpes and was opened to cater for the many visitors who started arriving when the new trend of holidaying at the seaside really took off in the early 1800s.

stop 4:

At the Fisherman’s Arms, look along Wardall Street and you will see the Fisherman’s Cottage on the corner. This is the oldest dwelling in Cleethorpes. The tiny cottage next to it was used as a makeshift hospital during the Second World War. Wardall Street hit the headlines in the 1850s when Asiatic cholera arrived in the area. This was because of the cramped and overcrowded conditions during the height of the summer season and the poor state of the Cleethorpes oyster pits. It arrived during the last two days of August 1854. 16 locals were struck down out of a population of 800. Over the next three weeks, that number rose to 60.

stop 5:

Carrying on down Sea View Street, take a look through the gates at Water Wheel antiques, to see the old village abattoir and the site of the old bakehouse. Further along, on the corner of Sea View Street and Cambridge Street, is the site of the old Dairy. Its name is proudly emblazoned on its doorstep.

stop 6:

Turn right into Cambridge Street and you leave ‘Itterby’, heading to ‘Oole’. Cambridge Street, like a lot of streets in Cleethorpes was named after the largest landowner in the area, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, which bought up huge amounts of land in Cleethorpes in 1616.

stop 7:

Cleethorpes Town Hall was built in 1903/4. It proudly stands on the right-hand side where Knoll Street meets Cambridge Street. Cleethorpes Town Hall has another link to world conflict. During the 1950s, the Cold War threat of a nuclear attack reached Cleethorpes and council officials. Worrying that the area might be a target, they constructed a nuclear fallout shelter deep underground below the Town Hall, complete with its own shower facilities to wash off any possible dusting of radioactive debris. You can check out a virtual tour of the building. Go to www.dicovernel.co.uk/heritage-open-days for more information.

stop 8:

Carry on walking along Cambridge Street until you reach a passageway called Cuttleby on your right-hand side. This used to be the main thoroughfare from Itterby to Oole. As you walk along this track today, it’s easy to imagine yourself passing the fields where you could see the cattle destined for the Sea View Street abattoir. At the end of Cuttleby is Albert Road. Straight across the road from you is Mill Place. This is the site of the old five-sailed mill, powered with winds from the North Sea.

stop 9:

Turn left at Albert Road. You will pass St. Peter’s Church Vicarage, now in the grounds of St. Peter’s School. You will arrive at one of the main shopping areas of Cleethorpes on your left-hand side. Ahead of you, across the road, you will see St. Peter’s Church, consecrated (made holy for religious ceremonies) on St. Peter’s Day 1866. Turn right onto St. Peter’s Avenue, or as it used to be known, Oole Road. Due to the huge influx of tourists during the summer months, the private houses on St. Peter’s Avenue were gradually replaced by shops. Take a moment to look back above the shop front up to the bedroom windows and imagine a once-elegant Victorian terrace with ornate, cast-iron railings surrounding their neatly tended gardens. Carry on up St Peter’s Avenue towards the high street.

stop 10:

Turn right into Short Street which, as its name implies, takes you quickly into Cleethorpes Market Place – the centre of the ancient hamlet of Oole. On Tuesday 3rd July 1781, John Wesley preached a sermon to the locals in the little field “between the long farmhouse and the High Street, taking his stand beneath a tree.” Continue away from the Market Place towards the junction with Alexandra Road you will get your first glimpse of the sea.

stop 11:

As you reach the junction of Alexandra Road and Sea Road, look at the Dolphin Hotel on your left. This was built on the site of one of the first seaside hotels in the country. The venue was used for Town Council meetings up until the building of the new Town Hall. This was also the site of the official signing of the 1846 Clee Enclosure Act. This changed the use of the open fields between Itterby and Oole forever, opening up the land for development.

stop 12:

Cross the road and head into Dolphin Gardens. Note the centre-piece sculpture of dolphins, commissioned by the award-winning Cleethorpes In Bloom committee in 2007. Come out of the gardens opposite the Dolphin Hotel and turn right towards Grant Street.

stop 13:

Turn right into Station Approach towards the railway station and make your way down the path. You can’t fail to notice the Victorian four-sided Clock Tower in front of you. Neither could the millions of happy holiday-makers that have arrived or departed from the station since its construction in 1883, who used the clock to tell when they needed to get their trains.

stop 14:

Heading towards the beach on to the North Promenade (North Prom), look at the Mermaid Restaurant on your left. This was built as a rest room for railway travellers and it remains the only cast-iron building still remaining on the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway lines.

stop 15:

Now return along the North Prom towards the Cleethorpes Pier, opened in August 1873, when nearly 3,000 people paid 6d to walk its 400 yards. It stretched out as far into the Humber as the low water mark is today. The pier suffered from a series of fires and, after being breached in the Second World War to prevent enemy invasion, was never repaired. Two hundred tons of its salvaged timber was used to rebuild Leicester City’s blitzed football grandstand. The remaining timber and steel girders were used in the building of the nearby Wonderland Sunday market.

stop 16:

Just before you reach the top of Sea Road, turn left into the Pier Gardens. They used to be called ‘The Pleasure Grounds’ when they were commissioned by the Directors of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company in 1883. Passengers used to refer to this railway line as Mucky, Slow and Late!

stop 17: Walking through the Pier Gardens today, towards High Cliff, gives you an idea of just how high and dangerous these crumbling, clay cliffs were. Look out towards the North Sea. You can see Spurn Lighthouse clearly on the horizon. You can also see Bull Fort and Haile Sands Fort – the guardians of the Humber. They were both built during the First World War at a cost of more than a million pounds to prevent enemy submarines from entering this important shipping lane. As well as looking out to sea, look inland at this point at the parade of shops with its decorative wrought iron colonnade. Many wine bars and bistros now line this grand Victorian Colonnade. The centrepiece of the Colonnade, The Empire Theatre, was opened in 1896 as the Alexandra Hall.

stop 18:

At the top of High Cliff Road, you find the Armed Forces Memorial Gate. The gate proudly stands near the iconic Ross Castle – an imitation antique observation point built by the Railway Company in 1885 to complement the Pleasure Grounds. The Victorian folly is made of ironstone slag and lime putty. It was built to represent the height of the cliffs at this spot before the resort was developed.

the end

You’ve now reached the end of our Cleethorpes walk! We hope it has given you further insight into the resort, its history, and its growth. Of course, there is so much more to see, so please enjoy your visit and we'd love to see you again!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Story of Cleethorpes and the Contribution of Methodism by Frank Baker. Cleethorpes, The Creation of a Seaside Resort by Alan Dowling. North East Lincolnshire Council Website – www.nelincs.gov.uk. (1) Built 1903-04, Herbert C Scaping of Grimsby, Architect, Egbert Rushton, engineer and surveyor, and Henry Marrows, builder for Cleethorpes and Thrunscoe urban District. (2) 1851-2 by Edward Micklethwaite of Grimsby, with tower addition to rear in 1869 by David Thompson, surveyor of Grimsby. (3) 1864 by James Fowler of Louth. St. Peter’s Church became a Parish church in 1889. (4) & (5) 1884 with alterations in 1960. Clock Tower and Refreshment Rooms by Lockerbie and Wilkinson of Birmingham, makers for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. (6) Ross Castle, built 1885 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. Copyright © Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Civic Society

page 2

Cleethorpes – a jewel in the crown of England’s east coast. At the height of its popularity in the Victorian era and beyond, thousands of holidaymakers enjoyed the coastline, the entertainment, and the promenade. Fast-forward to the 2000s. This resort is re-inventing itself for the modern generation. But we are working hard to preserve and restore its heritage. On this relaxed tour, we guide you to the buildings and structures that take you back to the Victorian era. Look out for the commemorative plaques on some of the buildings. These celebrate the official opening of the resort’s first heritage trail, created by the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Civic Society. We hope you enjoy the trail !- share your pictures on social media to #heritagecleethorpes

stop 1:

Start at Cleethorpes Library and Tourist Information Centre, Alexandra Road (or Itterby Road as it was called before the visit of Prince Albert Victor in July 1885). It’s hard to imagine now, with all the hustle and bustle of seaside life, that this was once a track between the two fishing villages of Itterby and Oole. The growth in the popularity of seaside holidays and the coming of the railways (which meant a rise in population) helped these two Thorpes (or hamlets) expand into each other. This formed modern-day Cleethorpes.

stop 2:

Walk south down Alexandra Road (turn right out of the Library). Before crossing Yarra Road, look to your right. You’ll see the Old Post Office, built to serve the people of Cleethorpes in 1907. Heading up the hill towards ‘Itterby’, you pass the Baptist Church. A new chapel now stands on the same spot where the first Baptist Church stood for many years. This was used as a billet (temporary accommodation) for the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment while they were stationed in the area with up to 4,000 other troops. Here they practiced trench warfare before being shipped off to fight in the First World War killing fields. For these young men, Cleethorpes must have seemed like a good place to be posted, far from the dangers of the front line. But that all changed on 1st April 1916 when the realities of the First World War were brought to our very doorstep. A Zeppelin airship on its way home dropped its bombs before flying off over the North Sea back to Germany, demolishing the chapel and killing 31 men.

stop 3:

At the top of Alexandra Road, you find Sea View Street. This was at the centre of the Thorpe of Itterby and has lots of old buildings with links to its heritage. Number 16, on your right-hand side as you walk away from the sea, is the oldest shop in Cleethorpes and was opened to cater for the many visitors who started arriving when the new trend of holidaying at the seaside really took off in the early 1800s.

stop 4:

At the Fisherman’s Arms, look along Wardall Street and you will see the Fisherman’s Cottage on the corner. This is the oldest dwelling in Cleethorpes. The tiny cottage next to it was used as a makeshift hospital during the Second World War. Wardall Street hit the headlines in the 1850s when Asiatic cholera arrived in the area. This was because of the cramped and overcrowded conditions during the height of the summer season and the poor state of the Cleethorpes oyster pits. It arrived during the last two days of August 1854. 16 locals were struck down out of a population of 800. Over the next three weeks, that number rose to 60.

stop 5:

Carrying on down Sea View Street, take a look through the gates at Water Wheel antiques, to see the old village abattoir and the site of the old bakehouse. Further along, on the corner of Sea View Street and Cambridge Street, is the site of the old Dairy. Its name is proudly emblazoned on its doorstep.

stop 6:

Turn right into Cambridge Street and you leave ‘Itterby’, heading to ‘Oole’. Cambridge Street, like a lot of streets in Cleethorpes was named after the largest landowner in the area, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, which bought up huge amounts of land in Cleethorpes in 1616.

stop 7:

Cleethorpes Town Hall was built in 1903/4. It proudly stands on the right-hand side where Knoll Street meets Cambridge Street. Cleethorpes Town Hall has another link to world conflict. During the 1950s, the Cold War threat of a nuclear attack reached Cleethorpes and council officials. Worrying that the area might be a target, they constructed a nuclear fallout shelter deep underground below the Town Hall, complete with its own shower facilities to wash off any possible dusting of radioactive debris. You can check out a virtual tour of the building. Go to www.dicovernel.co.uk/heritage-open-days for more information.

stop 8:

Carry on walking along Cambridge Street until you reach a passageway called Cuttleby on your right-hand side. This used to be the main thoroughfare from Itterby to Oole. As you walk along this track today, it’s easy to imagine yourself passing the fields where you could see the cattle destined for the Sea View Street abattoir. At the end of Cuttleby is Albert Road. Straight across the road from you is Mill Place. This is the site of the old five-sailed mill, powered with winds from the North Sea.

stop 9:

Turn left at Albert Road. You will pass St. Peter’s Church Vicarage, now in the grounds of St. Peter’s School. You will arrive at one of the main shopping areas of Cleethorpes on your left-hand side. Ahead of you, across the road, you will see St. Peter’s Church, consecrated (made holy for religious ceremonies) on St. Peter’s Day 1866. Turn right onto St. Peter’s Avenue, or as it used to be known, Oole Road. Due to the huge influx of tourists during the summer months, the private houses on St. Peter’s Avenue were gradually replaced by shops. Take a moment to look back above the shop front up to the bedroom windows and imagine a once-elegant Victorian terrace with ornate, cast-iron railings surrounding their neatly tended gardens. Carry on up St Peter’s Avenue towards the high street.

stop 10:

Turn right into Short Street which, as its name implies, takes you quickly into Cleethorpes Market Place – the centre of the ancient hamlet of Oole. On Tuesday 3rd July 1781, John Wesley preached a sermon to the locals in the little field “between the long farmhouse and the High Street, taking his stand beneath a tree.” Continue away from the Market Place towards the junction with Alexandra Road you will get your first glimpse of the sea.

stop 11:

As you reach the junction of Alexandra Road and Sea Road, look at the Dolphin Hotel on your left. This was built on the site of one of the first seaside hotels in the country. The venue was used for Town Council meetings up until the building of the new Town Hall. This was also the site of the official signing of the 1846 Clee Enclosure Act. This changed the use of the open fields between Itterby and Oole forever, opening up the land for development.

stop 12:

Cross the road and head into Dolphin Gardens. Note the centre-piece sculpture of dolphins, commissioned by the award-winning Cleethorpes In Bloom committee in 2007. Come out of the gardens opposite the Dolphin Hotel and turn right towards Grant Street.

stop 13:

Turn right into Station Approach towards the railway station and make your way down the path. You can’t fail to notice the Victorian four-sided Clock Tower in front of you. Neither could the millions of happy holiday-makers that have arrived or departed from the station since its construction in 1883, who used the clock to tell when they needed to get their trains.

stop 14:

Heading towards the beach on to the North Promenade (North Prom), look at the Mermaid Restaurant on your left. This was built as a rest room for railway travellers and it remains the only cast-iron building still remaining on the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway lines.

stop 15:

Now return along the North Prom towards the Cleethorpes Pier, opened in August 1873, when nearly 3,000 people paid 6d to walk its 400 yards. It stretched out as far into the Humber as the low water mark is today. The pier suffered from a series of fires and, after being breached in the Second World War to prevent enemy invasion, was never repaired. Two hundred tons of its salvaged timber was used to rebuild Leicester City’s blitzed football grandstand. The remaining timber and steel girders were used in the building of the nearby Wonderland Sunday market.

stop 16:

Just before you reach the top of Sea Road, turn left into the Pier Gardens. They used to be called ‘The Pleasure Grounds’ when they were commissioned by the Directors of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company in 1883. Passengers used to refer to this railway line as Mucky, Slow and Late!

stop 17: Walking through the Pier Gardens today, towards High Cliff, gives you an idea of just how high and dangerous these crumbling, clay cliffs were. Look out towards the North Sea. You can see Spurn Lighthouse clearly on the horizon. You can also see Bull Fort and Haile Sands Fort – the guardians of the Humber. They were both built during the First World War at a cost of more than a million pounds to prevent enemy submarines from entering this important shipping lane. As well as looking out to sea, look inland at this point at the parade of shops with its decorative wrought iron colonnade. Many wine bars and bistros now line this grand Victorian Colonnade. The centrepiece of the Colonnade, The Empire Theatre, was opened in 1896 as the Alexandra Hall.

stop 18:

At the top of High Cliff Road, you find the Armed Forces Memorial Gate. The gate proudly stands near the iconic Ross Castle – an imitation antique observation point built by the Railway Company in 1885 to complement the Pleasure Grounds. The Victorian folly is made of ironstone slag and lime putty. It was built to represent the height of the cliffs at this spot before the resort was developed.

the end

You’ve now reached the end of our Cleethorpes walk! We hope it has given you further insight into the resort, its history, and its growth. Of course, there is so much more to see, so please enjoy your visit and we'd love to see you again!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Story of Cleethorpes and the Contribution of Methodism by Frank Baker. Cleethorpes, The Creation of a Seaside Resort by Alan Dowling. North East Lincolnshire Council Website – www.nelincs.gov.uk. (1) Built 1903-04, Herbert C Scaping of Grimsby, Architect, Egbert Rushton, engineer and surveyor, and Henry Marrows, builder for Cleethorpes and Thrunscoe urban District. (2) 1851-2 by Edward Micklethwaite of Grimsby, with tower addition to rear in 1869 by David Thompson, surveyor of Grimsby. (3) 1864 by James Fowler of Louth. St. Peter’s Church became a Parish church in 1889. (4) & (5) 1884 with alterations in 1960. Clock Tower and Refreshment Rooms by Lockerbie and Wilkinson of Birmingham, makers for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. (6) Ross Castle, built 1885 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. Copyright © Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Civic Society

page 3

Cleethorpes – a jewel in the crown of England’s east coast. At the height of its popularity in the Victorian era and beyond, thousands of holidaymakers enjoyed the coastline, the entertainment, and the promenade. Fast-forward to the 2000s. This resort is re-inventing itself for the modern generation. But we are working hard to preserve and restore its heritage. On this relaxed tour, we guide you to the buildings and structures that take you back to the Victorian era. Look out for the commemorative plaques on some of the buildings. These celebrate the official opening of the resort’s first heritage trail, created by the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Civic Society. We hope you enjoy the trail !- share your pictures on social media to #heritagecleethorpes

stop 1:

Start at Cleethorpes Library and Tourist Information Centre, Alexandra Road (or Itterby Road as it was called before the visit of Prince Albert Victor in July 1885). It’s hard to imagine now, with all the hustle and bustle of seaside life, that this was once a track between the two fishing villages of Itterby and Oole. The growth in the popularity of seaside holidays and the coming of the railways (which meant a rise in population) helped these two Thorpes (or hamlets) expand into each other. This formed modern-day Cleethorpes.

stop 2:

Walk south down Alexandra Road (turn right out of the Library). Before crossing Yarra Road, look to your right. You’ll see the Old Post Office, built to serve the people of Cleethorpes in 1907. Heading up the hill towards ‘Itterby’, you pass the Baptist Church. A new chapel now stands on the same spot where the first Baptist Church stood for many years. This was used as a billet (temporary accommodation) for the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment while they were stationed in the area with up to 4,000 other troops. Here they practiced trench warfare before being shipped off to fight in the First World War killing fields. For these young men, Cleethorpes must have seemed like a good place to be posted, far from the dangers of the front line. But that all changed on 1st April 1916 when the realities of the First World War were brought to our very doorstep. A Zeppelin airship on its way home dropped its bombs before flying off over the North Sea back to Germany, demolishing the chapel and killing 31 men.

stop 3:

At the top of Alexandra Road, you find Sea View Street. This was at the centre of the Thorpe of Itterby and has lots of old buildings with links to its heritage. Number 16, on your right-hand side as you walk away from the sea, is the oldest shop in Cleethorpes and was opened to cater for the many visitors who started arriving when the new trend of holidaying at the seaside really took off in the early 1800s.

stop 4:

At the Fisherman’s Arms, look along Wardall Street and you will see the Fisherman’s Cottage on the corner. This is the oldest dwelling in Cleethorpes. The tiny cottage next to it was used as a makeshift hospital during the Second World War. Wardall Street hit the headlines in the 1850s when Asiatic cholera arrived in the area. This was because of the cramped and overcrowded conditions during the height of the summer season and the poor state of the Cleethorpes oyster pits. It arrived during the last two days of August 1854. 16 locals were struck down out of a population of 800. Over the next three weeks, that number rose to 60.

stop 5:

Carrying on down Sea View Street, take a look through the gates at Water Wheel antiques, to see the old village abattoir and the site of the old bakehouse. Further along, on the corner of Sea View Street and Cambridge Street, is the site of the old Dairy. Its name is proudly emblazoned on its doorstep.

stop 6:

Turn right into Cambridge Street and you leave ‘Itterby’, heading to ‘Oole’. Cambridge Street, like a lot of streets in Cleethorpes was named after the largest landowner in the area, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, which bought up huge amounts of land in Cleethorpes in 1616.

stop 7:

Cleethorpes Town Hall was built in 1903/4. It proudly stands on the right-hand side where Knoll Street meets Cambridge Street. Cleethorpes Town Hall has another link to world conflict. During the 1950s, the Cold War threat of a nuclear attack reached Cleethorpes and council officials. Worrying that the area might be a target, they constructed a nuclear fallout shelter deep underground below the Town Hall, complete with its own shower facilities to wash off any possible dusting of radioactive debris. You can check out a virtual tour of the building. Go to www.dicovernel.co.uk/heritage-open-days for more information.

stop 8:

Carry on walking along Cambridge Street until you reach a passageway called Cuttleby on your right-hand side. This used to be the main thoroughfare from Itterby to Oole. As you walk along this track today, it’s easy to imagine yourself passing the fields where you could see the cattle destined for the Sea View Street abattoir. At the end of Cuttleby is Albert Road. Straight across the road from you is Mill Place. This is the site of the old five-sailed mill, powered with winds from the North Sea.

stop 9:

Turn left at Albert Road. You will pass St. Peter’s Church Vicarage, now in the grounds of St. Peter’s School. You will arrive at one of the main shopping areas of Cleethorpes on your left-hand side. Ahead of you, across the road, you will see St. Peter’s Church, consecrated (made holy for religious ceremonies) on St. Peter’s Day 1866. Turn right onto St. Peter’s Avenue, or as it used to be known, Oole Road. Due to the huge influx of tourists during the summer months, the private houses on St. Peter’s Avenue were gradually replaced by shops. Take a moment to look back above the shop front up to the bedroom windows and imagine a once-elegant Victorian terrace with ornate, cast-iron railings surrounding their neatly tended gardens. Carry on up St Peter’s Avenue towards the high street.

stop 10:

Turn right into Short Street which, as its name implies, takes you quickly into Cleethorpes Market Place – the centre of the ancient hamlet of Oole. On Tuesday 3rd July 1781, John Wesley preached a sermon to the locals in the little field “between the long farmhouse and the High Street, taking his stand beneath a tree.” Continue away from the Market Place towards the junction with Alexandra Road you will get your first glimpse of the sea.

stop 11:

As you reach the junction of Alexandra Road and Sea Road, look at the Dolphin Hotel on your left. This was built on the site of one of the first seaside hotels in the country. The venue was used for Town Council meetings up until the building of the new Town Hall. This was also the site of the official signing of the 1846 Clee Enclosure Act. This changed the use of the open fields between Itterby and Oole forever, opening up the land for development.

stop 12:

Cross the road and head into Dolphin Gardens. Note the centre-piece sculpture of dolphins, commissioned by the award-winning Cleethorpes In Bloom committee in 2007. Come out of the gardens opposite the Dolphin Hotel and turn right towards Grant Street.

stop 13:

Turn right into Station Approach towards the railway station and make your way down the path. You can’t fail to notice the Victorian four-sided Clock Tower in front of you. Neither could the millions of happy holiday-makers that have arrived or departed from the station since its construction in 1883, who used the clock to tell when they needed to get their trains.

stop 14:

Heading towards the beach on to the North Promenade (North Prom), look at the Mermaid Restaurant on your left. This was built as a rest room for railway travellers and it remains the only cast-iron building still remaining on the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway lines.

stop 15:

Now return along the North Prom towards the Cleethorpes Pier, opened in August 1873, when nearly 3,000 people paid 6d to walk its 400 yards. It stretched out as far into the Humber as the low water mark is today. The pier suffered from a series of fires and, after being breached in the Second World War to prevent enemy invasion, was never repaired. Two hundred tons of its salvaged timber was used to rebuild Leicester City’s blitzed football grandstand. The remaining timber and steel girders were used in the building of the nearby Wonderland Sunday market.

stop 16:

Just before you reach the top of Sea Road, turn left into the Pier Gardens. They used to be called ‘The Pleasure Grounds’ when they were commissioned by the Directors of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company in 1883. Passengers used to refer to this railway line as Mucky, Slow and Late!

stop 17: Walking through the Pier Gardens today, towards High Cliff, gives you an idea of just how high and dangerous these crumbling, clay cliffs were. Look out towards the North Sea. You can see Spurn Lighthouse clearly on the horizon. You can also see Bull Fort and Haile Sands Fort – the guardians of the Humber. They were both built during the First World War at a cost of more than a million pounds to prevent enemy submarines from entering this important shipping lane. As well as looking out to sea, look inland at this point at the parade of shops with its decorative wrought iron colonnade. Many wine bars and bistros now line this grand Victorian Colonnade. The centrepiece of the Colonnade, The Empire Theatre, was opened in 1896 as the Alexandra Hall.

stop 18:

At the top of High Cliff Road, you find the Armed Forces Memorial Gate. The gate proudly stands near the iconic Ross Castle – an imitation antique observation point built by the Railway Company in 1885 to complement the Pleasure Grounds. The Victorian folly is made of ironstone slag and lime putty. It was built to represent the height of the cliffs at this spot before the resort was developed.

the end

You’ve now reached the end of our Cleethorpes walk! We hope it has given you further insight into the resort, its history, and its growth. Of course, there is so much more to see, so please enjoy your visit and we'd love to see you again!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Story of Cleethorpes and the Contribution of Methodism by Frank Baker. Cleethorpes, The Creation of a Seaside Resort by Alan Dowling. North East Lincolnshire Council Website – www.nelincs.gov.uk. (1) Built 1903-04, Herbert C Scaping of Grimsby, Architect, Egbert Rushton, engineer and surveyor, and Henry Marrows, builder for Cleethorpes and Thrunscoe urban District. (2) 1851-2 by Edward Micklethwaite of Grimsby, with tower addition to rear in 1869 by David Thompson, surveyor of Grimsby. (3) 1864 by James Fowler of Louth. St. Peter’s Church became a Parish church in 1889. (4) & (5) 1884 with alterations in 1960. Clock Tower and Refreshment Rooms by Lockerbie and Wilkinson of Birmingham, makers for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. (6) Ross Castle, built 1885 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. Copyright © Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Civic Society

page 4

Cleethorpes – a jewel in the crown of England’s east coast. At the height of its popularity in the Victorian era and beyond, thousands of holidaymakers enjoyed the coastline, the entertainment, and the promenade. Fast-forward to the 2000s. This resort is re-inventing itself for the modern generation. But we are working hard to preserve and restore its heritage. On this relaxed tour, we guide you to the buildings and structures that take you back to the Victorian era. Look out for the commemorative plaques on some of the buildings. These celebrate the official opening of the resort’s first heritage trail, created by the Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Civic Society. We hope you enjoy the trail !- share your pictures on social media to #heritagecleethorpes

stop 1:

Start at Cleethorpes Library and Tourist Information Centre, Alexandra Road (or Itterby Road as it was called before the visit of Prince Albert Victor in July 1885). It’s hard to imagine now, with all the hustle and bustle of seaside life, that this was once a track between the two fishing villages of Itterby and Oole. The growth in the popularity of seaside holidays and the coming of the railways (which meant a rise in population) helped these two Thorpes (or hamlets) expand into each other. This formed modern-day Cleethorpes.

stop 2:

Walk south down Alexandra Road (turn right out of the Library). Before crossing Yarra Road, look to your right. You’ll see the Old Post Office, built to serve the people of Cleethorpes in 1907. Heading up the hill towards ‘Itterby’, you pass the Baptist Church. A new chapel now stands on the same spot where the first Baptist Church stood for many years. This was used as a billet (temporary accommodation) for the 3rd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment while they were stationed in the area with up to 4,000 other troops. Here they practiced trench warfare before being shipped off to fight in the First World War killing fields. For these young men, Cleethorpes must have seemed like a good place to be posted, far from the dangers of the front line. But that all changed on 1st April 1916 when the realities of the First World War were brought to our very doorstep. A Zeppelin airship on its way home dropped its bombs before flying off over the North Sea back to Germany, demolishing the chapel and killing 31 men.

stop 3:

At the top of Alexandra Road, you find Sea View Street. This was at the centre of the Thorpe of Itterby and has lots of old buildings with links to its heritage. Number 16, on your right-hand side as you walk away from the sea, is the oldest shop in Cleethorpes and was opened to cater for the many visitors who started arriving when the new trend of holidaying at the seaside really took off in the early 1800s.

stop 4:

At the Fisherman’s Arms, look along Wardall Street and you will see the Fisherman’s Cottage on the corner. This is the oldest dwelling in Cleethorpes. The tiny cottage next to it was used as a makeshift hospital during the Second World War. Wardall Street hit the headlines in the 1850s when Asiatic cholera arrived in the area. This was because of the cramped and overcrowded conditions during the height of the summer season and the poor state of the Cleethorpes oyster pits. It arrived during the last two days of August 1854. 16 locals were struck down out of a population of 800. Over the next three weeks, that number rose to 60.

stop 5:

Carrying on down Sea View Street, take a look through the gates at Water Wheel antiques, to see the old village abattoir and the site of the old bakehouse. Further along, on the corner of Sea View Street and Cambridge Street, is the site of the old Dairy. Its name is proudly emblazoned on its doorstep.

stop 6:

Turn right into Cambridge Street and you leave ‘Itterby’, heading to ‘Oole’. Cambridge Street, like a lot of streets in Cleethorpes was named after the largest landowner in the area, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, which bought up huge amounts of land in Cleethorpes in 1616.

stop 7:

Cleethorpes Town Hall was built in 1903/4. It proudly stands on the right-hand side where Knoll Street meets Cambridge Street. Cleethorpes Town Hall has another link to world conflict. During the 1950s, the Cold War threat of a nuclear attack reached Cleethorpes and council officials. Worrying that the area might be a target, they constructed a nuclear fallout shelter deep underground below the Town Hall, complete with its own shower facilities to wash off any possible dusting of radioactive debris. You can check out a virtual tour of the building. Go to www.dicovernel.co.uk/heritage-open-days for more information.

stop 8:

Carry on walking along Cambridge Street until you reach a passageway called Cuttleby on your right-hand side. This used to be the main thoroughfare from Itterby to Oole. As you walk along this track today, it’s easy to imagine yourself passing the fields where you could see the cattle destined for the Sea View Street abattoir. At the end of Cuttleby is Albert Road. Straight across the road from you is Mill Place. This is the site of the old five-sailed mill, powered with winds from the North Sea.

stop 9:

Turn left at Albert Road. You will pass St. Peter’s Church Vicarage, now in the grounds of St. Peter’s School. You will arrive at one of the main shopping areas of Cleethorpes on your left-hand side. Ahead of you, across the road, you will see St. Peter’s Church, consecrated (made holy for religious ceremonies) on St. Peter’s Day 1866. Turn right onto St. Peter’s Avenue, or as it used to be known, Oole Road. Due to the huge influx of tourists during the summer months, the private houses on St. Peter’s Avenue were gradually replaced by shops. Take a moment to look back above the shop front up to the bedroom windows and imagine a once-elegant Victorian terrace with ornate, cast-iron railings surrounding their neatly tended gardens. Carry on up St Peter’s Avenue towards the high street.

stop 10:

Turn right into Short Street which, as its name implies, takes you quickly into Cleethorpes Market Place – the centre of the ancient hamlet of Oole. On Tuesday 3rd July 1781, John Wesley preached a sermon to the locals in the little field “between the long farmhouse and the High Street, taking his stand beneath a tree.” Continue away from the Market Place towards the junction with Alexandra Road you will get your first glimpse of the sea.

stop 11:

As you reach the junction of Alexandra Road and Sea Road, look at the Dolphin Hotel on your left. This was built on the site of one of the first seaside hotels in the country. The venue was used for Town Council meetings up until the building of the new Town Hall. This was also the site of the official signing of the 1846 Clee Enclosure Act. This changed the use of the open fields between Itterby and Oole forever, opening up the land for development.

stop 12:

Cross the road and head into Dolphin Gardens. Note the centre-piece sculpture of dolphins, commissioned by the award-winning Cleethorpes In Bloom committee in 2007. Come out of the gardens opposite the Dolphin Hotel and turn right towards Grant Street.

stop 13:

Turn right into Station Approach towards the railway station and make your way down the path. You can’t fail to notice the Victorian four-sided Clock Tower in front of you. Neither could the millions of happy holiday-makers that have arrived or departed from the station since its construction in 1883, who used the clock to tell when they needed to get their trains.

stop 14:

Heading towards the beach on to the North Promenade (North Prom), look at the Mermaid Restaurant on your left. This was built as a rest room for railway travellers and it remains the only cast-iron building still remaining on the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway lines.

stop 15:

Now return along the North Prom towards the Cleethorpes Pier, opened in August 1873, when nearly 3,000 people paid 6d to walk its 400 yards. It stretched out as far into the Humber as the low water mark is today. The pier suffered from a series of fires and, after being breached in the Second World War to prevent enemy invasion, was never repaired. Two hundred tons of its salvaged timber was used to rebuild Leicester City’s blitzed football grandstand. The remaining timber and steel girders were used in the building of the nearby Wonderland Sunday market.

stop 16:

Just before you reach the top of Sea Road, turn left into the Pier Gardens. They used to be called ‘The Pleasure Grounds’ when they were commissioned by the Directors of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company in 1883. Passengers used to refer to this railway line as Mucky, Slow and Late!

stop 17: Walking through the Pier Gardens today, towards High Cliff, gives you an idea of just how high and dangerous these crumbling, clay cliffs were. Look out towards the North Sea. You can see Spurn Lighthouse clearly on the horizon. You can also see Bull Fort and Haile Sands Fort – the guardians of the Humber. They were both built during the First World War at a cost of more than a million pounds to prevent enemy submarines from entering this important shipping lane. As well as looking out to sea, look inland at this point at the parade of shops with its decorative wrought iron colonnade. Many wine bars and bistros now line this grand Victorian Colonnade. The centrepiece of the Colonnade, The Empire Theatre, was opened in 1896 as the Alexandra Hall.

stop 18:

At the top of High Cliff Road, you find the Armed Forces Memorial Gate. The gate proudly stands near the iconic Ross Castle – an imitation antique observation point built by the Railway Company in 1885 to complement the Pleasure Grounds. The Victorian folly is made of ironstone slag and lime putty. It was built to represent the height of the cliffs at this spot before the resort was developed.

the end

You’ve now reached the end of our Cleethorpes walk! We hope it has given you further insight into the resort, its history, and its growth. Of course, there is so much more to see, so please enjoy your visit and we'd love to see you again!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Story of Cleethorpes and the Contribution of Methodism by Frank Baker. Cleethorpes, The Creation of a Seaside Resort by Alan Dowling. North East Lincolnshire Council Website – www.nelincs.gov.uk. (1) Built 1903-04, Herbert C Scaping of Grimsby, Architect, Egbert Rushton, engineer and surveyor, and Henry Marrows, builder for Cleethorpes and Thrunscoe urban District. (2) 1851-2 by Edward Micklethwaite of Grimsby, with tower addition to rear in 1869 by David Thompson, surveyor of Grimsby. (3) 1864 by James Fowler of Louth. St. Peter’s Church became a Parish church in 1889. (4) & (5) 1884 with alterations in 1960. Clock Tower and Refreshment Rooms by Lockerbie and Wilkinson of Birmingham, makers for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. (6) Ross Castle, built 1885 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. Copyright © Grimsby, Cleethorpes & District Civic Society

page 5