151-651: Camber Sands is a beach in East Sussex , England, in the village of Camber , near Rye . It is the only sand dune system in East Sussex. Located east of the estuary of the River Rother at Rye Bay, it stretches 3 miles (4.8 km) to just beyond the Kent border, where shingle (pebbles) take over again. It is one of three stretches of sand above the high tide mark east of Poole Bay on England's south coast,
302-614: A change at Nottingham. Opened in 1873, it was the final station on the Firsby–Skegness branch of the East Lincolnshire Railway. The number of people travelling by car and coach probably overtook the number using the train in the 1930s, a trend solidified in the post-war years. The station was earmarked for closure in the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, but a third of the summer visitors still used it and lobbying by
453-468: A clear explanation for this decline in contemporary reports, though one newspaper article from 1884 blamed "the depression of trade" in Nottingham for a fall in visitor numbers compared with the previous year. Fortunes changed during the 1890s; in the words of the historian Susan Barton, "Skegness and other 'lower' status resorts provided cheap amusements, beach entertainers, street traders and, by
604-623: A contemporary art gallery; and the Towner Eastbourne gallery, which celebrated its centenary in 2023 and hosted the award ceremony for the Turner Prize on 5 December of that year. The coastal towns of Brighton and Hove, Bexhill-on-Sea, Hastings and Eastbourne attract many day trippers during the summer to visit the beaches. Brighton and Hove have a range of attractions including the Royal Pavilion . Beginning in 1787, it
755-418: A high proportion of elderly residents, driven partly by high in-migration and by the out-migration of younger residents; the local authority has described this as a "demographic imbalance". A 2005 study by the town council reported that for every two people aged 16–24 who left the town, three people aged 60 or above moved in. The 2011 census showed Skegness's population to be older than the national average;
906-514: A large overflow one, all opposite Central car park and its overflow. A third, smaller car park is on Old Lydd road. Central has main access to the beach; one can negotiate quite long, steep sandy paths over dunes from Western car park. These paths are unsuitable for prams, or wheelchairs. The Western car park closes at 8pm in the summer. Camber Sands railway station was the terminus of the Rye and Camber Tramway . It opened on 13 July 1908 and closed, with
1057-455: A lower proportion of people who own their homes with or without a mortgage (54.7%) than in England (63.3%), a greater proportion of people who privately rent (27.5% compared with 16.8%) and a slightly smaller proportion of social renters (15.7% compared with 17.7% nationally). The proportion of household spaces which are detached houses is higher than average (32.4% compared with 22.3%), as
1208-672: A much smaller range of passenger services. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lincolnshire since the Middle Ages, the ancient parish of Skegness was in the Marsh division of the ancient wapentake of Candleshoe in the Parts of Lindsey . In 1875, it was placed in the Spilsby Poor Law Union , but in 1885 Skegness became a local board of health and urban sanitary district . In 1894, Skegness Urban District
1359-528: A period drama about the life of Nelly Ternan , has several scenes on the sand. Scenes from The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner were filmed here in early 1962. The film's main character (the runner), Colin Smith, portrayed by actor Tom Courtenay , and his friend take their girlfriends to Skegness for a weekend, and some scenes were filmed on this beach and in the dunes. Camber Sands
1510-688: A population of 21,128 as of 2021, it is the largest settlement in East Lindsey. It incorporates Winthorpe and Seacroft , and forms a larger built-up area with the resorts of Ingoldmells and Chapel St Leonards to the north. The town is on the A52 and A158 roads, connecting it with Boston and the East Midlands , and Lincoln respectively. Skegness railway station is on the Nottingham to Skegness (via Grantham) line. The original Skegness
1661-417: A preparatory school, two state secondary schools (one of which is selective ), several colleges, a community hospital , several churches and two local newspapers. The town has a police station, a magistrates' court and a lifeboat station . The civil parish of Skegness includes most of the linear settlement of Seacroft to the south and the village of Winthorpe and the suburban area of Seathorne to
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#17327806810191812-559: A replay. It is the only fully professional men's team in the county. The oldest club in East Sussex is Eastbourne Town F.C. , which was founded in 1881. Lewes F.C. is a semi-professional football club. The men's first team is in the Isthmian League Premier Division. It also has a successful women's team , which in 2023–24 was competing in the second-tier Women's Championship against teams supported by much larger clubs, including some with their men's team in
1963-409: A reputation as a traditional English seaside resort owing to its long, sandy beach and seafront attractions which include amusement arcades , eateries, Botton's fairground , the pier , nightclubs and bars. Other visitor attractions include Natureland Seal Sanctuary , a museum , an aquarium , a heritage railway , an annual carnival , a yearly arts festival , and Gibraltar Point nature reserve to
2114-613: A single county, Sussex . The north-east of East Sussex is part of the Weald , a sandstone anticline that was once an extensive woodland. The highest point in this area is Crowborough Hill (242 m (794 ft)), part of the High Weald uplands. The south-west of the county is part of the South Downs , a rolling chalk escarpment that stretches west into West Sussex and Hampshire. Ditchling Beacon (248 m (814 ft))
2265-577: A slightly higher than average proportion of one-person households (35.9% compared with England's figure of 30.2%); most other households consist of one family (58.1% of the total, compared with 61.8% in England). There are higher than average rates of one-person (16.8%) and one-family (10.8%) households aged over 65 (the figures for England are 12.4% and 8.1% respectively). In 2016, East Lindsey had Lincolnshire's second-highest rate of conception among females aged 15 to 17 (28.7 per 1,000). East Lindsey has
2416-629: A steam locomotive, and Volk's Electric Railway , which runs from Brighton's Palace Pier to Brighton Marina along the seafront. Volk's is the oldest operational electric railway in the world. There are also several castles that attract many visitors, as indicated in the Landmarks section above. Annual events also promote tourism to the county. Brighton Pride is one of the UK's largest and oldest pride parades and other pride events take place at Eastbourne and Hastings. The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
2567-433: A thousand people had moved into the town. According to the local historian Winston Kime, Skegness had become known as a "trippers' paradise" by 1880. The August bank holiday in 1882 saw 20,000 descend on the town to enjoy the beach and the sea, the many games and amusements that had popped up in the town, the pleasure boat trips that had just started launching from the pier, and the donkey rides . Building contracted after
2718-408: A total farmed area of 108,825 hectares. They employed just over 4000 people and, in 2020, produced a gross value added of £66 million. Livestock grazing accounts for almost 40% of the farmed area, with there being approximately six times as many sheep as cattle. Fishing is limited but there are still fishing fleets, notably at Rye and Hastings, although the number of boats is much reduced. Historically,
2869-410: A total of seven men drowned at Camber Sands, five of them on one day. There was controversy over the lack of lifeguards, and inquests returned verdicts of death by misadventure . At low tide, remains of a shipwreck can be seen, tentatively identified as the brig "Avon" which sank in 1852. Camber Sands, with its wide bay and large dune system, has been used in a variety of creative media. The beach
3020-588: A whole (68.1% and 24.7% respectively). However, compared to England's population, Christians were a higher proportion of the Skegness population (66.8%), and all other groups were present at a lower proportion than the national rates. There were 8 Sikhs in Skegness, making up a negligible proportion of the population compared with 0.8% nationally; Hindus composed 0.1% (compared with 1.5% in England), Muslims 0.5% against 5% nationally, Jewish people 0.1% compared with 0.5% for all of England, and Buddhists 0.2% of
3171-585: Is 10 m (33 ft) above sea level. The bedrock under the town is part of the Ferriby Chalk Formation , a sedimentary layer formed around 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous ; it runs north-west from Skegness in a narrow band to Fotherby and Utterby north of Louth in the Wolds. The surface layers are tidal-flat deposits of clay and silt , deposited since the end of
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#17327806810193322-548: Is a ceremonial county in South East England . It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Brighton and Hove , and the county town is Lewes . The county has an area of 1,792 km (692 sq mi) and a population of 822,947. The latter is largely concentrated along
3473-406: Is a chronic difficulty in attracting professionals to the area, including teachers and doctors ; this is partly due to the perceived remoteness of the area, seasonality and social exclusion. Skegess's poor transport links with other towns and limited public transport have also been identified by consultants as a "barrier" to economic growth, diversification , investment and commutability . While
3624-833: Is a large multi-arts festival held every May. There is a wide range of museums and art galleries in East Sussex. Notable amongst these are the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery ; the Hove Museum of Creativity ; the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery ; Hastings Contemporary ; Charleston Farmhouse near Lewes, with an exhibition devoted to the artistic work of the Bloomsbury Group ; the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, which houses
3775-406: Is a much lower proportion of people in professional , associate professional, technical, administrative and secretarial occupations than in England as a whole (combined 22.3% versus 41.7% of England's population aged 16–74). A lack of more varied, higher skilled and better paid work and further education opportunities leads many more skilled, ambitious or qualified young people to leave. There
3926-559: Is a short distance from East Sussex and easily accessible by road and rail from most of the county. Despite its name, Brighton City Airport , the former Shoreham Airport, is in West Sussex. Three airports service small private planes, helicopters and flying schools: Spilsted Farm near Hastings; Kittyhawk Aerodrome near Lewes; and Deanland Airfield , also near Lewes. A ferry operates from Newhaven to Dieppe in France twice daily in
4077-605: Is comparatively low, at 27.7% (against 38.6% for England). The proportion of retirees is higher, at 21.7% compared with 13.7% for England. The proportion of long-term sick or disabled is 7.9%, nearly double England's 4%; 2.3% of people were long-term unemployed , compared with 1.7% in all of England. The 2011 census revealed that the most common industry residents worked in were: wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (21.2%), accommodation and food services (17.3%), and human health and social work (11.7%). The proportion of people employed in accommodation and food services
4228-427: Is dominated by low-paid, low-skilled and seasonal work. Compared with the whole of England, the workforce has a relatively high proportion of people in elementary occupations (18.9%), sales and customer service occupations (12.1%), caring , leisure and other service occupations (12.2%), as well as skilled trades (12.9%), managers and directors (12.9%) and process plant and machine operatives (8.7%). There
4379-480: Is equipped with two runways and PPR (Prior Permission Required) is required for landing. The main international airport serving Skegness is East Midlands Airport at Castle Donington , 14 miles (23 km) south of Nottingham and approximately 90 miles (140 km) from Skegness. Humberside Airport , near Immingham in North Lincolnshire , is approximately 48 miles (77 km) away, but operates
4530-466: Is estimated to have had the highest vote share in favour of leaving the EU in the 2016 EU referendum , at 75.6%. In the aftermath the town became the focus of international media attention, with Reuters labelling it " Brexit -on-Sea" and suggesting that many of its residents were "more nostalgic and more socially conservative" than those in diverse, liberal , urban areas, and keen to see state funds paid to
4681-430: Is less than half the national average and down from 9% in 2009. Nevertheless, Skegness is relatively weak at offering higher value comparison goods , with Lincoln and Grimsby being key destinations for high-value shopping. The poll tax returns for 1377 recorded 140 people living in Skegness over the age of 14; in 1563 there were 14 households, and in the late 17th century there were ten families. The first census of
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4832-463: Is limited research into the causes of deprivation in the town. A local official quoted by The Guardian in 2013 attributed high levels of deprivation to the seasonal and low-paid nature of work in the tourism industry, which constitutes a large part of Skegness's economy; and also the tendency for retirees (often in variable health) from former industrial areas in the East Midlands to move to
4983-1083: Is located at Sedlescombe . East Sussex has many theatres and performance venues, including the Theatre Royal in Brighton and the Brighton Dome , the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts at the University of Sussex, the Royal Hippodrome Theatre and Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne, and the White Rock Theatre in Hastings. The annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera takes place at Glyndebourne near Lewes. The Brighton Festival
5134-523: Is mentioned in various songs such as " Pulling Mussels (From the Shell) " by Squeeze (also covered by Head Automatica ), "Diamonds and Pearls" by The Holloways , " Heavyweight Champion of the World " by Reverend and The Makers and "Caravan" by Nick Heyward . It was also used as a title to Fatboy Slim 's EP single Camber Sands . Feeder 's 2003 video for " Forget About Tomorrow ", was partially shot on
5285-577: Is much higher than the UK's average of about 1,340 hours of sunshine a year. The relief of the county reflects the geology. The chalk uplands of the South Downs occupies the coastal strip between Brighton and Eastbourne. There are two river gaps: the Rivers Ouse and Cuckmere . The Seven Sisters , where the Downs meet the sea, are the remnants of dry valleys cut into the chalk; they end at Beachy Head , 530 feet (162 m) above sea level. To
5436-559: Is not a major manufacturing or industrial area of the United Kingdom. Of the companies registered, the leading category in 2023 was "construction", followed by "real estate activities". An important contribution to the county's economy comes from the fact that many residents of Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne and Hastings commute to London or work remotely for companies outside the county. There were 1,720 agricultural holdings in East Sussex (excluding Brighton and Hove) in 2022, with
5587-623: Is part of southern anticline of the Weald : the South Downs , a range of moderate chalk hills which run across the southern part of the county from west to east and mirrored in Kent by the North Downs . To the north lie parallel valleys and ridges, the highest of which is the Weald itself (the Hastings beds and Wealden Clay). The sandstones and clays meet the sea at Hastings; the Downs, at Beachy Head . The area contains significant reserves of shale oil, totalling 4.4 billion barrels of oil in
5738-629: Is part of the historic county of Sussex , which has its roots in the ancient kingdom of the South Saxons , who established themselves there in the 5th century AD, after the departure of the Romans . Archaeological remains are plentiful, especially in the upland areas. The area's position on the coast has also meant that there were many invaders, including the Romans and later the Normans , following
5889-549: Is the eastern terminus for the Grantham to Skegness Poacher line . East Midlands Railway operates hourly services to/from Nottingham via Grantham . As of 2020, trains run the full length of the Poacher Line and the Nottingham to Grantham Line to provide connections throughout the East Midlands ; Nottingham, Grantham, Boston and Sleaford have direct connections, while Leicester , Derby and Kettering require
6040-716: Is the highest point. Where the downs reach the sea, they form high cliffs such as the Seven Sisters , where eroded dry valleys create an undulating skyline. The county does not contain large rivers, but its largest are the Rother , which forms part of the boundary with Kent, the Cuckmere , and the Ouse , which rises in West Sussex and flows through Lewes before reaching the English Channel at Newhaven . East Sussex
6191-425: Is the proportion which are apartments in a converted house (9.8% compared with 4.3%) and flats in a commercial building (2.2% compared with 1.1%). The proportion of terraced household spaces is much lower (8.9% against 24.5% nationally), while the proportion of purpose-built flats is also lower (14% versus 16.7%). 2.3% of household spaces are caravans or other mobile structures , compared with 0.4% nationally. Since
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6342-474: Is the world's longest-running motoring event. To qualify, cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest gathering of veteran cars. The race finishes on Madeira Drive in Brighton. For visitors who wish to explore East Sussex by car, there are many interesting and attractive towns and villages, such as Alfriston ; Battle , site of the Battle of Hastings; Ditchling ; Herstmonceux , with
6493-666: The A26 which carries traffic from Newhaven and Lewes north into Kent; and the south coast trunk route, which starts in Folkestone (Kent) as the A259 trunk road , and traverses the south coast to Eastbourne , where it becomes the A27 trunk road and heads westwards towards Chichester in West Sussex and ultimately to Honiton in Devon. All the main roads suffer from congestion and traffic problems:
6644-611: The Conservative Party in the 2024 general election . The constituency was previously a Conservative Party stronghold and was held by Conservative members of parliament since it was created. Between 1999 and the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union (EU) in 2020, Skegness was represented in the European Parliament by the East Midlands constituency . At the first election after it
6795-907: The East Coastway Line (including the Marshlink Line ); the Hastings line ; and the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line . There are three heritage railways : the Kent and East Sussex Railway operates from Tenterden in Kent to Bodiam ; the Bluebell Railway from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead ; and the Lavender Line Steam Railway is a one-mile line at Isfield , near Uckfield . Trains in
6946-752: The Litlington White Horse and the Long Man of Wilmington , which are both situated in the Sussex Downs . East Sussex has no motorways, and even dual carriageways are sparse in the county. The main roads through the county are those part of the radial pattern from London: the A21 from Kent to Hastings; the A22 from Surrey to Eastbourne; and the A23 from Gatwick to Brighton. Cross-country routes include
7097-678: The Martello towers and Eastbourne Redoubt . Battle Abbey , built to commemorate the Battle of Hastings ; Bateman's , home of Rudyard Kipling ; Hammerwood Park , one of the first examples of Greek Revival architecture in the UK; and the University of Sussex buildings at Falmer are among interesting buildings. Bexhill-on-Sea is also home to the De La Warr Pavilion . East Sussex also includes two chalk hill figures , being
7248-422: The county town of the three eastern rapes being Lewes . This situation was formalised by Parliament in 1865, and the two parts were made into administrative counties , each with its own elected county council in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 . In East Sussex there were also three self-administered county boroughs : Brighton , Eastbourne and Hastings . Upon its foundation, East Sussex included
7399-443: The last ice age . The shoreline consists of blown sand and beach deposits in the form of clay, silt and sand. There has been coastal erosion in the area for thousands of years, though it was relatively sheltered until the Middle Ages by a series of offshore barrier islands or shoals of boulder clay . Rising sea levels and more intense sea storms from the 13th century onward likely eroded these islands, increasingly exposing
7550-471: The steamboats (launched by 1883) and bathing pools (1883). He donated land and money towards the building of St Matthew's Church , two Methodist chapels, a school and the cricket ground. Housebuilding was left to speculative builders; the earliest development was concentrated along Lumley Road, which offered a direct route from the train station to the seafront. Newspapers across the Midlands advertised properties, and shops began opening. By 1881 almost
7701-404: The 14th and 16th centuries, Skegness was one of several coastal settlements to incur major loss of land. Local people attempted to make artificial banks, but they were costly. Rising sea levels further threatened the coast and in 1525 or 1526 Skegness was largely washed away in a storm, along with the hamlets of East and West Meales. Skegness was rebuilt along the new coastline. By 1543, when
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#17327806810197852-518: The 1840s, Brown's omnibus made the journey from Boston three days a week. Stagecoach Lincolnshire is the main bus operator in the town, with regular services on routes to Ingoldmells and Chapel St Leonards; there are Lincolnshire InterConnect services up the coast as far as Mablethorpe and inland to Boston and Lincoln. Skegness Water Leisure Park, located to the north of the town, has its own light aircraft airfield named Skegness Airfield ( ICAO : EGNI), operated by Skegness Aerofield Club. It
8003-466: The 1883 season, although in 1888 the accreted sands in front of the sea wall south of the pier were converted into the Marine Gardens, a lawn with trees and hedges. The undeveloped lands north of Scarbrough Avenue were fenced in and planted with trees in a space called The Park. This stagnation coincided with a declining number of day-trippers, which fell from a peak of 230,277 in 1882 to 118,473 in 1885. The local historian Richard Gurnham could not find
8154-547: The 1950s, the only major manufacturing interest in Skegness was Alfred Hayward's rock factory which had opened in the 1920s. After the Second World War, some other light industry arrived, including Murphy Radio and the nylon makers Stiebels; in 1954 the bearings and packaging systems manufacturer Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Ltd opened a factory on Church Road in a former laundry. The urban district council opened an industrial estate off Wainfleet Road in 1956 which Murphy and Stiebels moved to. Murphy's successor left
8305-446: The 1970s; this trend combined with declining industrial employment in the East Midlands to harm Skegness's visitor economy in the late 20th century. Nevertheless, the resort retains a loyal visitor base. Tourism increased following the recession of 2007–09 owing to the resort's affordability. In 2011, the town was England's fourth most popular holiday destination for UK residents, and in 2015 it received over 1.4 million visitors. It has
8456-474: The A27 which connects Eastbourne to Portsmouth is one of the busiest trunk roads in the UK. Bus routes serve all the main areas of settlement and many of the villages in the county. The railways serve the main towns in a similar fashion to the roads. Until the closures of many branch railways in the 20th century, rural East Sussex was well-served by rail: few such branch lines escaped the Beeching cuts so that today only main-line services remain. They include
8607-447: The EU redirected into supporting the town. Afterwards support for UKIP fell and the party did not stand in 2019, although support for leaving the EU remained high. The Brexit Party did not contest the parliamentary seat in 2019, but in the European Parliament elections held earlier that year , it has been estimated that Boston and Skegness probably had the third-highest vote share for the Brexit Party of any constituency. As part of
8758-434: The Earl of Scarbrough's scheme, gas works were opened in the town in 1877 and were lighting the streets the following year. The urban district council (UDC) declined to purchase the gas company in 1902; the UDC attempted to take it over in 1911, and (after much dispute with the company) purchased it in 1914. The works were extended in the 1920s. The UDC's gas company was nationalised in 1949 and its functions taken over by
8909-441: The East Midlands factory towns. By the interwar years the town was established as one of the most popular seaside resorts in Britain. The layout of the modern seafront dates to this time and holiday camps were built around the town, including the first Butlin's holiday resort which opened in Ingoldmells in 1936. The package holiday abroad became an increasingly popular and affordable option for many British holiday-makers during
9060-422: The Parade and was bisected by Lumley Avenue, with a new church in the roundabout . At the end of Scarbrough Avenue would be a pier . The earl spent thousands of pounds on laying roads and the sewerage system, and building the sea wall (finished in 1878). He provided or invested in other amenities, including the gas and water supply, Skegness Pier (opened in 1881), the pleasure gardens (finished in 1881),
9211-539: The Premier League. Cricket had its origins in the counties of Kent , Surrey and Sussex. There is no team representing East Sussex. It combines with West Sussex as the Sussex County Cricket Club , playing first-team matches at the County Ground in Hove and reserve-team matches in both East and West Sussex. There are around 25 local clubs playing the game in East Sussex. There are around 15 rugby clubs in East Sussex, with many of them fielding several teams including women's and girls' teams. Seaford Rugby Club claims
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#17327806810199362-552: The Roman ferry that Phillips argues launched from Skegness. The name Skegness appears in the 12th century, and further references are known from the 13th. Natural sea defences (including a promontory or cape, as the place name suggests, and barrier shoals and dunes ) protected a harbour at Skegness in the Middle Ages. It was relatively small and its trade in the 14th century was predominantly coastal ; its economic fortunes were probably closely related to those of nearby coastal ports, such as Wainfleet, which in turn depended on
9513-400: The Second World War, self-catered holidays have become popular, prompting the growth of caravan parks and chalet accommodation. By 1981, 20 caravan sites were in operation and five years later there were over 100,000 holiday caravans and chalets in Skegness and Ingoldmells. Increasingly the lodgings in the town centre closed or were converted into flats or shops. The 1970s also witnessed
9664-420: The UK and Ireland, of which more than three quarters (2.7% of the total) were born in post-2001 accession states ; for England, the figures were 3.7% and 2.0% respectively. 1.8% of the population was born outside the EU, whereas the total for England was 9.4%. In the 2011 census, 68.2% of Skegness's population said they were religious and 24.9% said they did not follow a religion , very similar to England as
9815-453: The Weald. The High Weald is heavily wooded in contrast to the South Downs; the Low Weald less so. Part of the Weald is the Ashdown Forest . The location of settlements in East Sussex has been determined both by its history and its geography. The original towns and villages tended to be where its economy lay: fishing along the coast and agriculture and iron mining on the Weald. Industry today tends to be geared towards tourism, particularly along
9966-452: The Wealden basin according to a 2014 study, which then Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon said "will bring jobs and business opportunities" and significantly help with UK energy self-sufficiency. Fracking in the area is required to achieve these objectives, which has been opposed by environmental groups. East Sussex, like most counties by the south coast, has an annual average total of around 1,750 hours of sunshine per year. This
10117-430: The advent of the cheap package airline holiday abroad, which took visitors away from British seaside towns. The decline in coal mining in the East Midlands in the 1980s caused what the BBC described as a "damaging dip in trade". Nevertheless, holiday-makers continued to visit the town and, in the 1980s and 1990s, people ventured to Skegness for their second holiday alongside trips abroad; it also proved popular among
10268-428: The antiquarian John Leland visited the town, he noted that "For old Skegnes is now buildid a pore new thing"; the settlement was principally a small farming and fishing village throughout the early modern period, with the marshland providing good summer pasture for sheep. Over the course of the 16th century, the sea continued to encroach into the land at Skegness, while depositing sand banks further south, leading to
10419-481: The area; many of them small and local in scope. State and independent secondary schools include Lewes Old Grammar School , which celebrated its 500th anniversary in 2012. Overall, more than 50 serve East Sussex, including further education colleges in larger towns. A number of independent boarding schools that also cater to day students are located in the county, including Brighton College and Roedean . The Pestalozzi Children's Village, an international foundation,
10570-458: The authority purchased the Earl of Scarbrough's estate office at Roman Bank for £3,000 and used those as offices; these burned down in 1928; a new town hall opened in 1931 and was later extended. In the 1950s, the council acquired for £50,000 the former convalescent home run by the National Deposit Friendly Society on North Parade (this had been built in 1927); this was converted into offices, which were opened in 1964. The town council took over
10721-471: The average daily high for that month is 7.0 °C (44.6 °F) and the daily low is 1.9 °C (35.4 °F). There is evidence of late Iron-Age and early Roman saltmaking activity in the Skegness area. Place names and a report of a castle in the medieval settlement have been interpreted as evidence that a Roman fort existed in the town before being lost to the sea in the late Middle Ages. The archaeologist Charles Phillips suggested that Skegness
10872-558: The beach. Nine years later, Feeder referenced Camber Sands in "Oh My", the opening track of their Generation Freakshow album. The song "On Camber Sands" appears on Gordon Giltrap 's album Troubadour . The cover of the 1980 LP record Beat Boys In The Jet Age by mod revival band, The Lambrettas , was photographed on Camber Sands. The cover of the Bucks Fizz album I Hear Talk , was photographed at Camber Sands. The cover of Dream Theater's 1997 album Falling Into Infinity
11023-503: The building and it continues as the town hall as of 2019. In national politics, Skegness fell within the Lincolnshire parliamentary constituency until 1832; in 1818 four residents were entitled to vote, and in 1832 there were seven electors. That year the county was divided up and the village was included (with all of Lindsey ) in North Lincolnshire . In 1867, it was transferred to the new Mid Lincolnshire constituency, which
11174-596: The burning of an effigy of the Pope . The event attracts tens of thousands of spectators every year. There are also many other bonfire societies in East Sussex. Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. is the most successful club in East Sussex, playing in the Premier League in 2024–25 and also competing in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League . It has appeared once in the FA Cup final , in 1983, losing to Manchester United after
11325-469: The castle of the same name; Lewes; Rottingdean ; and Rye . The Lewes Bonfire is a set of bonfire celebrations held on Guy Fawkes Night , which both celebrates the uncovering of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and commemorates the memory of the seventeen Protestant martyrs from Mayfield burned at the stake between 1555 and 1557. It has a history of religious antagonism and anti-popery, including
11476-469: The century. It had reached 18,910 in 2001 and 19,579 in the 2011 census . As designated by the Office for National Statistics , the Skegness built-up area incorporates the contiguous conurbation extending north through Ingoldmells to Chapel St Leonards ; this had a population of 24,876 in 2011 which makes it the largest settlement in the East Lindsey district (followed by Louth) and represents about 18% of
11627-609: The coast between Skegness and the Humber and separates the coast from the upland Wolds . Much of the parish's elevation is close to sea level, although a narrow band along the seafront is 4–5 m (13–16 ft) above peaking at 6 m (20 ft) on North Parade; the A52 road is elevated at 4 m (13 ft); there is a short narrow bank parallel to the shoreline between the North Shore Golf Club and Seathorne which
11778-414: The coast to the tides. Records from the Middle Ages show that local people maintained sand banks as a form of sea defence ; fines were levied for grazing animals on the dunes, which could weaken the defences. Skegness was flooded in 1525 or 1526, requiring the village to be rebuilt inland, and loss of land continued during the century. A clay embankment , Roman Bank, was built in the late 16th century and
11929-445: The coast, where the largest settlements are located: Brighton and Hove (277,105), Eastbourne (99,180), and Hastings (91,490). The centre and north of the county are largely rural, and the largest settlement is Crowborough (21,990). For local government purposes, East Sussex comprises a non-metropolitan county , with five districts, and the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove. East Sussex and West Sussex historically formed
12080-608: The coastal strip where towns such as Bexhill-on-Sea , Eastbourne , and Hastings are located. Newhaven and Rye are ports, although the latter is also of historical importance. Peacehaven and Seaford serve as dormitory towns . Away from the coast are former market towns such as Hailsham , Heathfield and Uckfield ; Crowborough is a centre for the Ashdown Forest. Lewes , the County town of East Sussex; Battle , with its Norman Conquest beginnings, and Wadhurst are
12231-526: The company operating it owed Brighton and Hove Council £48 million. Brighton Palace Pier , Eastbourne Pier and Hastings Pier serve as entertainment centres that attract many visitors. Several other piers built in the heyday of day tripper visits by train no longer exist, notably St Leonards Pier , in St Leonards-on-Sea , and the West Pier in Brighton, parts of which can still be seen in
12382-693: The county are operated by Southern , Southeastern , Thameslink and Great Western Railway . Southern is the key operator for the county, operating services along the West Coastway and East Coastway routes, as well as trains from Brighton , Eastbourne , Seaford and Hastings to London Victoria , and to a lesser extent London Bridge , which is also where trains to/from Uckfield go. Southeastern operate trains from London Charing Cross to Hastings. Thameslink operate trains from Brighton to Bedford . There are no airports offering scheduled flights in East Sussex. London's second airport, Gatwick Airport ,
12533-416: The creation of Gibraltar Point. Roman Bank , a clay sea defence upon which the A52 road now runs through Skegness, was built in the latter part of the century. Much of the land in and around Skegness came into the hands of Nicholas Saunderson, 1st Viscount Castleton , who enclosed 400 acres (160 hectares) of saltmarsh in 1627 and later in the 17th century reclaimed more marshland which had emerged from
12684-538: The death of the 5th Viscount, who bequeathed his estate to his cousin Thomas Lumley ; in 1739 Lumley became 3rd Earl of Scarbrough . By 1845, the Scarbrough estate comprised 1,219 acres (493 hectares) at Skegness. Although the population rose above 300 by 1851, the settlement "was still very much an undeveloped village of fishermen, farmers and farm hands" in the early 1870s. Local gentry began visiting
12835-517: The defeat of the English army by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Earlier industries included fishing, iron-making, and the wool trade, all of which have declined or been lost completely. Sussex was historically sub-divided into six rapes . From the 12th century the three eastern rapes together and the three western rapes together had separate quarter sessions , with
12986-448: The digital nature of the information technology sector could provide opportunities for growth, weak broadband has stymied this sector's development in the town. Employers also find it difficult to attract higher skilled workers, including chefs ; a report prepared for the town council cites a lack of "work readiness" among young people as a common problem facing employers. The proportion of residents aged 16 to 74 with no qualifications
13137-558: The distinction of playing its home games below sea level. The fourth stage of the 1994 Tour de France ended in Brighton after departing from Dover . The route included a climb over Ditchling Beacon. The hilly nature of the Downs presents a good challenge for cyclists and there are at least eight cycling clubs in East Sussex. There are 42 golf courses in East Sussex, many on downland. Four of these (2 in Brighton and Hove, one in Eastbourne and one in Crowborough) are public courses;
13288-465: The district's population. According to the 2011 census, Skegness's population was 97.6% White ; 1% Asian or British Asian ; 0.4% Black , African , Caribbean or Black British ; and 0.9% mixed or multi-ethnic; and 0.1% other. The population is therefore less ethnically diverse than England as a whole. 94.2% of the town's population were born in the United Kingdom, compared with 86.2% nationally; 3.5% were born in European Union countries other than
13439-471: The earl's fortunes might be revived if he turned Skegness into a seaside resort. A road plan was developed and the earl took out a mortgage of £120,000 to fund developments. In 1878, the full plan laid out plots for 787 houses in a grid-aligned settlement on 96 acres (39 hectares) of land between the shoreline and Roman Bank north of the High Street. Scarbrough Avenue would run inland from the centre of
13590-522: The east of Beachy Head lie the marshlands of the Pevensey Levels, formerly flooded by the sea but now enclosed within a deposited beach. At Bexhill the land begins to rise again where the sands and clays of the Weald meet the sea; these culminate in the sandstone cliffs east of Hastings. Further east are the Pett Levels, more marshland, beyond which is the estuary of the River Rother . On
13741-633: The east of the British Isles allows for a sunnier and warmer climate relative to the national average, and it is one of the driest counties in the UK. In Skegness, the average daily high temperature peaks in August at 20.4 °C (68.7 °F) and a peak average daily mean of 16.7 °C (62.1 °F) occurs in July and August. The lowest daily mean temperature is 4.4 °C (39.9 °F) in January;
13892-459: The economy has been slower for the rest of the region. The seafront is a hub for the tourism industry, much of which is geared towards the provision of food (most famously fish and chips ), amusement arcades and other attractions, including the Botton's Pleasure Beach funfair. The pubs, bars and nightclubs, and neon-lit amusements have earned it the nickname "Skegvegas" (after Las Vegas ). Before
14043-424: The elderly in the winter months. The resort's popularity grew during the late 2000s Great Recession , as it offered a cheaper alternative to holidays abroad. Between 2006 and 2008, 870,000 people made overnight trips to Skegness; this figure had risen to 1,030,000 for 2010–12. The fabric of the town centre has also changed. North and South Bracing were built in 1948–49. Butlin's left the main amusement park and it
14194-676: The end of the nineteenth century, spectacular entertainment for a mass market". Convalescent homes began opening in the town, the earliest being the Nottinghamshire Convalescent Home for Men (1891). Holiday homes or camps for the poor opened in 1891 and 1907. The town became an urban district in 1895. In 1908 the famous " Jolly Fisherman " poster was used by the GNR to advertise day trips from King's Cross in London. By 1913 more than 750,000 people made excursions to
14345-554: The end the 20th century, a growing number of people have opted to live in static caravans for a large part of the year; a 2011 report estimated that 6,600 people (mostly older and from former factory cities in the Midlands) were living in such properties in Skegness. In 2011, 60% of Skegness's residents aged between 16 and 74 were economically active , compared with 69.9% for all of England. 51.7% were in employment , compared with 62.1% nationally. The proportion in full-time employment
14496-487: The estate as of 2016. The council also opened the Aura Skegness Business Centre there in 2004. Along with Louth, Skegness is "one of the main shopping and commercial centres" in East Lindsey, most likely due to it being the closest service hub for a large part of the surrounding rural area. Management Horizon Europe 's 2008 UK shopping index measured the presence of national suppliers; Skegness
14647-502: The estate, including a medical practice, two skilled trades , a solicitor , five vehicle repair garages, three other repair services and a mobile disco . There is also a recycling centre and driving test centre; 16 shops ranging from a cheesemonger to tyre dealers; 12 wholesalers in electrics, building materials, plumbing and hardware supply, and 11 other wholesalers in fields including clothing, restaurant equipment, meat and plastic sheeting. The district council have proposed extending
14798-482: The far side of the estuary are the dunes of Camber Sands . The highest point in the county is Ditchling Beacon on the South Downs, which has a maximum elevation of 248 m (814 ft) and is classed as a Marilyn . The Weald occupies the northern borderlands of the county. Between the Downs and Weald is a narrow stretch of lower lying land; many of the rivers and streams occupying this area originate in
14949-524: The first illuminations were turned on; the following year Butlin launched a carnival . Cinemas and casinos joined the theatres of the Edwardian period as popular attractions, while some of the apartments and houses by the seafront were converted into shops, cafés and arcades. In 1936, Butlin built his own all-in holiday camp in Ingoldmells, providing entertainment and facilities for guests. It
15100-517: The fisheries were of great importance. The Seven Sisters Park is part of the South Downs National Park . Beachy Head is one of the most famed local attractions, along with the flats along Normans Bay . Apart from the physical landmarks such as the Downs and the Weald, East Sussex has a great many landmarks of historical interest. There are castles at Bodiam , Herstmonceux , Lewes and Pevensey ; and defence works such as
15251-416: The larger port at Boston which was heavily involved in the wool trade. It was also an important fishing port. During the medieval period the offshore barrier islands which sheltered the coast were destroyed, very likely in the 13th century during a period of exceptionally stormy weather. This left the coast exposed to the sea; later in the Middle Ages, frequent storms and floods eroded sea defences. Between
15402-462: The late 18th century members of the local gentry visited for holidays. The arrival of the railways in 1873 transformed it into a popular seaside resort. This was the intention of The 9th Earl of Scarbrough , who owned most of the land in the vicinity; he built the infrastructure of the town and laid out plots, which he leased to speculative developers . This new Skegness quickly became a popular destination for holiday-makers and day trippers from
15553-664: The line, in September 1939. The beach has become a popular location for kitesurfing , kite landboarding and kite buggying due to its sand and favourable wind conditions. Kite launches are only allowed in the designated area at the eastern end of the beach near the Jury's Gap car park. There is also an annual professional darts tournament held at the Pontins resort by the British Darts Organisation . In 2016,
15704-697: The mean age was 44.3 and the median 46 years, compared with 39.3 and 39 for England. 21% of the population was under 20, versus 24% of England's, and 32.2% of Skegness's population was aged over 60, compared with 22% of England's population. This high proportion of elderly residents has increased the proportion of infirm people in the district. In 2011, 69.6% of the population were in good or very good health, compared to 81.4% in England, and 9.9% in very bad or bad health, against 5.4% for England. 28.6% of people (12.8% in 16–64 year-olds) also reported having their day-to-day activities limited, compared with 17.6% in England (8.2% in 16–64 year-olds). As of 2011, Skegness has
15855-609: The name of a Viking settler or it could derive from the Old Norse word skegg "beard" and have been used to describe the shape of the landform. Skegness was not named in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is usually identified with the Domesday settlement called Tric . The historian Arthur Owen and the linguist Richard Coates have argued that Tric derived its name from Traiectus , Latin for "crossing", referring to
16006-509: The north, all of which have been absorbed into the town's urban area. The neighbouring parishes are: Ingoldmells to the north, Addlethorpe to the north-west, Burgh le Marsh to the west and Croft to the south. The town is approximately 22 miles (35 km) north-east of Boston and 43 miles (69 km) east of Lincoln . Skegness fronts the North Sea . It is located on a low-lying flat region called Lincoln Marsh , which runs along
16157-630: The off-season and three times daily in the summer. Both vehicles and foot passengers are accepted. Among the long-distance footpaths in East Sussex are the South Downs Way ; 1066 Country Walk , High Weald Landscape Trail , Saxon Shore Way , Sussex Border Path , Sussex Ouse Valley Way , Vanguard Way , Wealdway and The Monarch's Way . The Universities of Sussex and Brighton are based in East Sussex, with facilities in Brighton , Falmer and Hastings . Over 150 primary schools serve
16308-453: The old station master's house demolished. The A52 road from Newcastle-under-Lyme to Mablethorpe passes through Skegness, via Nottingham, Grantham and Boston. The A158 from Lincoln terminates in the town. The A1028 connects Skegness with the A16 , which runs from Grimsby to Peterborough via Louth. Omnibus services reached the village from Boston before the development of the resort; by
16459-491: The other three towns of significance. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex ( Brighton & Hove has a separate table) at current basic prices published Archived 4 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of pounds. Measured by the number of registered companies, East Sussex
16610-484: The others being West Wittering and Avon Beach . Two holiday resorts near Camber Sands were operated by Pontins and Parkdeans resorts, just off New Lydd Road and Lydd Road, respectively, in the adjoining village of Camber (the Pontins site closed on 30 November 2023). A large section of the western end of the dunes lies within the Camber Sands and Rye Saltings Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), while
16761-437: The parish was conducted in 1801 and recorded a population of 134. It had risen above 300 by 1841 and reached 366 ten years later, before dropping back to 349 in 1871. Following the initial development of the seaside resort, the population rose rapidly, contracted in the 1880s and then rose sharply so that by 1921 the resident population was over 9,000. This figure reached 12,539 in 1951, and continued to rise at varying rates over
16912-493: The poet Alfred Tennyson holidayed at Skegness as a young man; some scholars have drawn parallels between his poetry and the landscape he encountered on these visits. The East Lincolnshire Railway , running along the coast between Boston and Grimsby , opened in 1848. In 1871, a branch line was built to Wainfleet All Saints with rolling stock operated by the Great Northern Railway ; an extension to Skegness
17063-534: The remainder private, semi-private or resorts. Other popular sports include sailing, bowls , stoolball , and tennis. Skegness Skegness ( / ˌ s k ɛ ɡ ˈ n ɛ s / skeg- NESS ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire , England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea , the town is 43 miles (69 km) east of Lincoln and 22 miles (35 km) north-east of Boston . With
17214-868: The rest is designated a Site of Nature Conservation Importance . The dunes are getting larger by accretion . The dunes are managed to prevent problems with wind-blown sand. The dunes were fortified and used for exercises in the Second World War. There is a roughly square MoD danger area and base inland of the east of the area. The dunes resemble topographically those seen in parts of Normandy and also in challenging desert terrain. Similar training facilities exist at Braunton in North Devon , in Scotland, and in Pembrokeshire . Three main car parks co-exist. Western car park on New Lydd road has
17365-864: The rural districts of Horncastle , Louth and Spilsby to create East Lindsey, a district of Lincolnshire; by statutory instrument Skegness civil parish became the urban district's successor . Skegness Town Council, the parish-level government body beneath the district council, is composed of 21 councillors from four wards : Clock Tower (1 seat), St Clements (7 seats), Winthorpe (5 seats) and Woodlands (8 seats). There are seven representatives for Skegness on East Lindsey District Council, which uses different wards: three councillors are returned for Scarbrough and Seacroft ward, and two each from St Clements and Winthorpe wards. Skegness sends two councillors to Lincolnshire County Council, one each for Skegness North and Skegness South divisions. Skegness Urban District Council meetings were held at 23 Algitha Road until 1920, when
17516-545: The sea opposite the Brighton i360. Originally, the profits from the i360 were seen as a potential source of funds to rebuild the West Pier, but that now seems unlikely. Other important tourist attractions within East Sussex include Ashdown Forest , Drusillas Zoo Park near Alfriston and Michelham Priory . The county has two narrow-gauge railways, the Hastings Miniature Railway , which is powered by
17667-409: The sea, sheltered behind the growing Gibraltar Point. His descendant was responsible for erecting Green Bank between Roman Bank and the shore in c . 1670, allowing more lands to be converted to agriculture. The Lords Castleton enclosed a large portion of the land around Skegness by 1740, over 800 acres (320 hectares). The Castleton estate passed through the male line which became extinct in 1723 on
17818-549: The seafront in 1922 and its surveyor R. H. Jenkins oversaw the construction of Tower Esplanade (1923), the boating lake (1924, extended in 1932), the Fairy Dell paddling pool , and the Embassy Ballroom and an outdoor pool in 1928, and remodelled the foreshore north of the pier in 1931. Billy Butlin (who had been a stall holder on the beach since 1925) built permanent amusements south of the pier in 1929. In 1932
17969-437: The settlement. Modern sea defences have been built along a 15-mile (24 km) stretch of coast between Mablethorpe (to the north) and Skegness to prevent erosion, but currents remove sediment and the defences hinder dune development; a nourishment scheme began operation in 1994 to replace lost sand. The British Isles experience a temperate, maritime climate with warm summers and cool winters. Lincolnshire's position on
18120-540: The south of Tunbridge Wells and the south of Lamberhurst ; by the Local Government Act 1894 these areas were transferred to Kent . In 1974 East Sussex was made a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county , and the three county boroughs became districts within the county. At the same time the western boundary was altered, so that the Mid Sussex region (including Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath )
18271-533: The south of the town. Despite the arrival of several manufacturing firms since the 1950s and Skegness's prominence as a local commercial centre, the tourism industry remains very important for the economy and employment but the tourism service economy's low wages and seasonal nature , along with the town's aging population , have contributed towards high levels of relative deprivation . Poor transport and communication links are barriers to economic diversification . Residents are served by five state primary schools and
18422-508: The switchback in 1908. By 1911, the population had reached 3,775. Seventy-one local servicemen who died in the First World War are commemorated on the town's war memorial. Aside from a seaplane base briefly established by the town in 1914, the conflict brought little change to the town's fabric. Its popularity as a tourist destination grew in the interwar years and boomed during the 1930s. The urban district council purchased
18573-476: The town and spend most of the year living there in caravans. In 2019, the town council listed several key challenges: the low-paid, low-skilled and seasonal nature of work in the tourism industry; a consequential dependency on benefits and a reduced tax base; the under-funding of public services; poor infrastructure ; a lack of training for and consequent out-migration of talented young people; and difficulty attracting skilled workers. Skegness railway station
18724-440: The town during the 1953 flood , when only gardens, the amusements and part of the pier were damaged. In the early 21st century, Longshore drift carries particles of sediment southwards along the Lincolnshire coast . At Skegness, the sand settles out in banks which run at a slight south-west angle to the coast. Sand continues to accrete at the southern end of the town's shore, but coastal erosion continues immediately north of
18875-480: The town for its No. 11 Recruit Centre. The Butlin's camp was occupied by the Royal Navy , who called it HMS Royal Arthur and used it for training seamen. Aerial bombing of the town began in 1940; there were fatalities on several occasions, the greatest being on 24 October 1941 when twelve residents were killed. Fifty-seven local servicemen died in the conflict and are named on the town's war memorial. Since
19026-496: The town in the 1970s, but Stiebels and the ride manufacturer R. G. Mitchell were still operating on the estate in the late 1980s, while Rose-Forgrove (which had opened a larger factory in 1977) and Sanderson Forklifts had factories elsewhere in the town. The latter went into administration in 1990, and the Rose Bearings factory was sold to NMB-Minebea in 1992; they closed it in 2010. The ride manufacturer R. G. Mitchell
19177-558: The town's population, contrasting with 0.5% nationally. In the 2011 census, 47.8% of the population were male and 52.2% female. Of the population over 16, 45.3% were married, compared to 46.6% in England; 28.8% were single (a smaller proportion than in England where it is 34.6%), 12.8% divorced (compared with 9% in England), 10.3% widowed (higher than the 6.9% for all of England), 2.6% separated and 0.2% in same-sex civil partnerships (2.7% and 0.2% respectively in England). In 2011, there were 9,003 households in Skegness civil parish. It has
19328-533: The town. Aside from bathing and enjoying the sands, visitors to Skegness found entertainment in the pier, which had a concert hall, saloon and theatre. Other theatres and picture houses opened in the early 20th century. Britain's first switchback railway had opened in the town in 1885 or 1887. A fairground operated on the central beach before the First World War and the Figure 8 roller coaster replaced
19479-400: The urban district council preserved passenger services. The line was nevertheless closed to freight traffic in 1966 and the main interconnecting line, the East Lincolnshire Railway, was dismantled from Firsby to Grimsby in 1970. The passenger timetable was reduced to save costs in 1977, but a full timetable returned in 1989 and improvement works were carried out in 2001 and 2011; the latter saw
19630-583: The village for leisure from the late 18th century. The sea air was thought to have health-giving qualities. To capitalise on this trend, the Skegness Hotel opened in 1770; visitors could reach it by omnibus from Boston, which was the terminus of several stagecoaches . The first reference to bathing machines on Skegness's shores dates to 1784 though they are thought to have been present earlier. Private houses also opened their doors to lodgers, and other hotels opened. Born and raised at Somersby ,
19781-469: The visitor economy (accounting for around a third of the town's employed residents), with tourism indirectly supporting nearly 900 more. Over half of these jobs were in accommodation and food and drink, with a further 18.1% in retail . Skegness's visitor economy has been described by the district council as "counter-cyclical"; while continuing to serve a loyal client base, it provides a cheap alternative to holidays abroad and has therefore proven popular when
19932-455: Was 40.8%, much higher than the national figure (22.5%); the proportion of residents whose highest qualification is at Level 1, 2 or 3 (equivalent to GCSEs or A-Levels ) is lower in each category than the national population; 10.7% of the population have a qualification at Level 4 ( Certificate of Higher Education ) or above, compared with 27.4% nationally. In a 2013 ONS study of 57 English seaside resorts, Skegness and Ingoldmells (combined)
20083-526: Was abolished in 1885, after which Skegness was placed in the Horncastle constituency. Another reorganisation saw the parish incorporated into the East Lindsey seat in 1983; this was abolished in 1995 and Skegness was transferred into the new constituency of Boston and Skegness . The incumbent MP is Richard Tice of Reform UK , who has held the constituency since winning it from Matt Warman of
20234-500: Was approved by shareholders that year and the railways arrived at Skegness in 1873. The line was designed to bring day trippers to the seaside. Rising wages and better holiday provision meant that some working-class people from the East Midlands factory towns could afford to have a holiday for the first time. With agriculture in depression , the major landowner Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough had seen his local rental income decline; his agent, H. V. Tippet, decided that
20385-450: Was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales , who became King George IV in 1820. A more recent attraction is the Brighton i360 , a 162 m observation tower on the seafront, which opened on 4 August 2016 to provide extensive views over Brighton and Hove, the South Downs and the English Channel . The tower has never achieved forecast visitor numbers and in June 2023
20536-671: Was created ( 1997 ), the current seat was highly marginal , with the Conservatives receiving 42.4% of the vote and Labour 41.0%. By 2019 the Conservatives had increased their vote share to 76.7% (their second-highest nationally), while Labour's share had fallen to 14.0%. The same period saw support for the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) grow, reaching a peak in 2015 , when it polled second and secured UKIP's second-highest vote share in any constituency in that election. The constituency
20687-599: Was created in its place. The civil parish of Winthorpe – which had previously been part of the Spilsby union, rural sanitary district and, from 1894, rural district – was abolished in 1926; most of it was merged into Skegness Urban District and a portion into Addlethorpe civil parish. In 1974, the urban district was merged with the municipal borough of Louth , the Alford , Horncastle , Mablethorpe and Sutton , and Woodhall Spa urban districts, and
20838-529: Was destroyed in a fire in 2007. According to VisitEngland , in 2011 Skegness was the fourth most popular holiday destination in England among UK residents. In 2015, Skegness and Ingoldmells received 1,484,000 visitors, of which 649,000 were day visitors; this brought in £212.83 million in direct expenditure, with an estimated economic impact of £289.60 million. The town council has described local employment as "heavily reliant" on tourism. One estimate suggested that in 2015 2,846 jobs were supported directly by
20989-405: Was extensively refurbished by Botton Bros in 1966; the switchback on North Parade was demolished in 1970. Residential development has included council estates near St Clement's Church and Winthorpe, and various private developments. The seafront was fully developed in the 1970s and the last of The Park built on in 1982. In 1971, the pier entrance was remodelled; seven years later, a large section
21140-425: Was followed in c . 1670 by another closer to the sea (Green Bank), running from what is now North Shore Road to Cow Bank, following a line from St Andrew's Drive to Drummond Road. By the late 19th century, sands were accreting at Skegness; the retaining sea wall erected in 1878 was designed to support the resort town's seafront development rather than to protect it from the sea. Nevertheless, this wall largely saved
21291-616: Was joined in 1939 by The Derbyshire Miners' Holiday Camp . This coincided with growth in the residential area, mostly speculative developments and some council housing ; North Parade was built up with hotels in the 1930s and the Seathorne Estate was also laid out in 1925. By 1931, the town's population had reached 9,122. During the Second World War , the Royal Air Force billeted thousands of trainees in
21442-418: Was over three times the national figure (5.6%), while the proportion working in wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair was also higher than in England as a whole (15.9%). Most other industries were under-represented comparatively, with both financial services (0.8% versus 4.4% nationally) and information and communication (0.6% against 4.1% nationally) especially so. The tourism industry in Skegness
21593-590: Was photographed at Camber Sands by English graphic designer Storm Thorgerson . Artists the Boyle Family made some of their first casts using resin and fibreglass on the beach at Camber Sands in 1966. These initial studies – some of which were unsuccessful – culminated in the Tidal Series of 1969 in which 14 separate casts were made of the same 150 cm × 150 cm (59.1 in × 59.1 in) area of beach. East Sussex East Sussex
21744-467: Was purchased in 2005 by Photo-Me International ; operation resumed under the name Jolly Roger Amusement Rides, which continues to operate on the industrial estate as of 2020. According to Google Maps , in 2020 there were three other manufacturers operating on the industrial estate: Unique Car Mats (UK) Ltd (founded in 1989), Windale Furnishings Ltd (a caravan seating maker founded in 1993), and Parragon Rubber Company. A range of services have outlets on
21895-444: Was situated farther east at the mouth of The Wash . Its Norse name refers to a headland which sat near the settlement. By the 14th century, it was a locally important port for coastal trade. The natural sea defences which protected the harbour eroded in the later Middle Ages, and it was lost to the sea after a storm in the 1520s. Rebuilt along the new shoreline, early modern Skegness was a small fishing and farming village, but from
22046-651: Was swept away in a storm . The Embassy Ballroom and the swimming baths were replaced in 1999 with the Embassy Theatre Complex, which includes a theatre, indoor swimming pool, leisure centre and car park. By 2001, European Union grants had provided millions of pounds towards regeneration schemes. Most of the seafront's hotels, cinemas and theatres have been turned into amusement arcades, nightclubs , shops and bingo halls. What remained of Frederica Terrace, one of Skegness's oldest buildings, had been converted into entertainment bars and arcades before it
22197-682: Was the highest ranked shopping destination in the district. It also ranked highest in the 2013–14 Venuescore survey. The High Street and Lumley Road are key retail areas, along with the Hildreds Centre (a small shopping mall which opened in 1988), Skegness Retail Park (developed between 2000 and 2005), and the Quora Retail Park on Burgh Road which opened in 2017 and includes several supermarkets ; other supermarkets operate elsewhere. Occupancy rates are relatively high: in 2015, 4% of ground-floor retail units were vacant, which
22348-474: Was the most deprived seaside town; 61.5% of their statistical areas ( LSOAs ) were in the most deprived quintile nationally; only 7.7% fell in the least-deprived three quintiles. The government's Indices of Multiple Deprivation (2019) place large parts of Skegness among the 10% most deprived parts of England; two of its neighbourhoods were ranked among the ten most deprived areas in Lincolnshire. There
22499-762: Was the terminus of a Roman road running from Lincoln through Burgh le Marsh and the location of a Roman ferry which crossed The Wash to Norfolk . If the Roman fortifications indeed existed, it is likely that the Anglo-Saxons used them as a coastal shore fort. Later, the Vikings settled in Lincolnshire; their influence is detected in many local place names. Skegness's name combines the Old Norse words Skeggi and ness , and means either "Skeggi's headland " or "beard-shaped headland"; Skeggi (meaning "bearded one") may be
22650-583: Was transferred to the non metropolitan county of West Sussex . In 1997, Brighton and Hove became a self-administered unitary authority ; it was granted city status in 2000, whilst remaining part of the ceremonial county of East Sussex. The area of East Sussex County Council's jurisdiction is divided into five local government districts . Three are large rural districts (from west to east): Lewes , Wealden , and Rother . Eastbourne and Hastings are mainly urban areas. The rural districts are further subdivided into civil parishes . Geologically, East Sussex
22801-521: Was used in the 1958 film Dunkirk starring John Mills to recreate Operation Dynamo . They were used again as Normandy beaches during D-Day in the 1962 film The Longest Day . Follow That Camel was shot here during the early months of 1967, with Camber Sands representing the Sahara Desert , although filming had to be stopped several times because the dunes were covered in snow. The Invisible Woman (filmed in 2012, released in 2013),
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