Skegness
Skegness is both a village and a parish that lie on the North Sea at the end of the A52 trunk road, about 12 miles north-east of Boston. Croft parish lies to the south and Winthorpe parish to the north. The parish covers about 3,000 acres. The town is noted for its six-mile-long beach.
The Skegness Lifeboat has been a popular topic of recent history, and Trevor HEWSON tells us that the original address of the Lifeboat Service (RNLI, The Lifeboat house, South Parade, Skegness) is now a souvenir shop. The new lifeboat house is on Tower Esplanade - a lot nearer to the sea. The lifeboat is still launched off a trailer, towed into the sea by a submersible tractor. The lifeboat house is normally open to the public and its walls are covered with photos of crews past and present and details of the various rescue missions that have been undertaken. The staff at the lifeboat house are happy to respond to family history enquiries (being a charity though, please at least enclose an SAE and a small donation would be welcomed). Click on the image to see a photo from 1909:
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If you are planning a visit:
- There are frequent train and bus services to Skegness. See our transport page for these services.
- You'll know that you are THERE when you see this Sign as photographed by J. THOMAS on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2013.
- See our touring page for more sources.
- KIME, Winston, "Skegness in Old Photographs," Sutton, 1992, 160 pages, ISBN 0-750-9012-17.
- The parish was in the Burgh sub-district of the Spilsby Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 644 |
| 1851 |
H.O. 107 / 2110 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2376 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3394 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 3257 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2604 |
- The "new" church of Saint Matthew opened in September, 1880.
- The "old" church of Saint Matthew was then used for summer services only.
- This church could seat 750.
- There is a photograph of the Anglican parish church on the Wendy PARKINSON web site.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Matthew's Church on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2006.
- The Anglican parish church registers date from 1653, although Bishop's transcripts go back to 1562.
- The parish lies in the Calcewaith & Candleshoe Deanery.
- We have an Obituary Extract text file. Your additions are welcome.
- The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel on High Street in 1876.
- The Primitive Methodists built a chapel on on the Roman Bank in 18376.
- Dr. Neil CLIFTON has a photograph of St. Paul's Baptist Church on Geo-graph, taken in Sept., 2009.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Burgh sub-district of the Spilsby Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
- In 1526, a disastrous flood wiped out the entire settlement at Skegness.
- In 1873, the first rail line was built to Skegness, prompting sudden population growth.
- There is a local History of Skegness, online.
- The national grid reference is TF 5663.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey #274 Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- For a few weeks in 1914, Naval Air Station Skegness was in operation flying patrols from the Humber River to Cromer. It was replaced by NAS Killingholme.
- The civilain airfield at Skegness Ingoldmells is not related to the above airstation.
- David HITCHBORNE has a photograph of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2008.
- The name Skegness is from the Old Scandinavian Skeggi, a personal name. Not mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book, the village is given as Sceggenesse in the 12th century.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991].
Skegness had two newspapers, now only one is in publication. The Skegness News, in publication since 1985, published by the Welland Valley Newspapers Company. An older newspaper, dating back to the mid-1950's, the "Skegness Standard", has merged with the "Skegness News". For more information on newspapers, see our section on Newspapers
- This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the Marsh division of the ancient Candleshoe Wapentake in the East Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
- In April, 1926, this Civil Parish was enlarged by 1,940 acres when Winthorpe Civil Parish was abolished.
- For today's district governance, see the East Lindsey District Council.
- The poor widows of the parish had the rent from three acres of land to divide between themselves. In 1881 this amounted to about £10 a year.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Spilsby petty session hearings.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Spilsby Poor Law Union.
The village has grown to a sizable town over the years.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
134 |
| 1831 |
185 |
| 1851 |
366 |
| 1871 |
349 |
| 1881 |
1,338 |
| 1891 |
1,488 |
| 1911 |
3,775 |
| 1931 |
9,122 |
| 1951 |
12,539 |
| 1961 |
12,847 |
- A National School was built on the Roman Bank in 1880 to replace an older school. The new building could hold up to 250 children.
- Skegness Grammar School has a website with a short history.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 31-October-2015
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