|
CLEE with CLEETHORPES & the Hamlets of Thrunscoe & Weelsby.
| Clee, with the township of Cleethorpes, and hamlets of Thrunscoe
and Weelsby, constituted a parish, 3 miles south-east from the railway station
of Great Grimsby, on the southern shore of the mouth of the Humber and the
German ocean, in the parliamentary borough of Great Grimsby, diocese and
archdeaconry of Lincoln, deanery of Great Grimsby, hundred of Bradley, Haverstoe,
Caistor union and Lindsey division, North Lincolnshire. The village of Clee in 1851 contained 138 inhabitants, and with Weelsby 195, and 2221 acres of land. Cleethorpes, with Thrunscoe, contained 1200 acres of land, and the population in 1851 was 839. It has now (in 1861) over 1000 inhabitants, many new houses having been erected at Cleethorpes during the last few years. The living is a vicarage, of the annual value of about £170, in the gift of the Bishop of Lincoln, and held by the Rev. William Price Jones M.A. The church of the Holy Trinity and St Mary is an interesting object, built in the form of a cross, and the style of architecture is Anglo-Norman. The tower is built of stones which were procured from the sea, where the oyster beds now are, at Cleethorpes. Cleethorpes, is a bathing place: it was formerly only a fishing hamlet, but since the opening of the railway from Manchester and Sheffield to Grimsby it has much improved, and is occasionally crowded with visitors brought by pleasure trains from the manufacturing districts, and by the steamers from Hull. Omnibuses and cars run several times a day to meet the trains and packets at Grimsby and an extension of the railway to Cleethorpes is in contemplation. About thirty years ago, two or three bathing machines were sufficient for the accommodation, but so rapidly has this place risen to popularity that there are now forty machines for bathing, and two warm bath houses. So late as the year 1800 there were no lodging houses in the place. At the present time there are over a hundred lodging houses and four inns fit for the reception of visitors in all classes of society. Amongst the latter may be mentioned the Dolphin Hotel, which is situate fronting the sea, with commanding views of the Humber, German ocean, and the opposite Yorkshire coast; this old established house is commodious and replete with every comfort and convenience. The Wesleyans have a chapel, erected in 1848, and the Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in 1857. The National school-room was built in 1857, partly by subscription and Government grant. The school is supported by voluntary contributions; and from September till Trinity Sunday, divine service is held in the building every Sunday afternoon. The Odd Fellows have a commodious hall, built in 1853. This society first commenced with five members on 1830, but it now numbers over a hundred. A little to the north of Clee village are three artificial mounds, supposed to have been thrown up by the Romanised Britons, and to be the sites of castellated towers, erected for the purpose of repelling the incursions of the Saxons. Cleethorpes is now a station for coastguards, Government having purchased a number of houses near the beacon for the men. The Earl of Yarborough is Lord of the Manor of Cleethorpes; and the principal landowners are Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; Richard Thorald, Esq.; G. F. Heneage Esq. MP and Mr. John White. |