After World War 1, when cheap surplus army tents were available, a line of bell tents soon sprung up under the sandhills at Mablethorpe and at Sutton.

Ostensibly, these were for bathing purposes, but stringent rules had to be applied to prevent them being used for sleeping accommodation.

See: The Lincolnshire Seaside by Winston Kime  2005

Postcard, 1920 

Traditional donkey rides on offer.

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Undated postcard with a view of the beach.

War memorial visible on the extreme left hand edge. In 1985 it was moved from the seafront to its present location on High Street.

Undated postcard.

Possibly the word "breakwater" on the card is being used as a euphemism for the outfall? 

The Book in Hand Hotel shown here was rebuilt in the 1970s. Only a small bar retains the name.

Undated postcard by Raphael Tuck. 

James Fowler, architect of Louth, designed this home close to the seafront for 53 patients with separate accommodation for males and females on a plan approved by Florence Nightingale.

The home opened in 1871 at a cost of £3800; it was demolished in the 1980s.

From original drawing by James Fowler

Listed in Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 :-

"Martin Frances Edith (Mrs.), Eagle hotel, Victoria road"

Further information related to the Eagle's history can be found included with that of the Louth Hotel at

https://www.thelouth.co.uk/history-of-the-louth-hotel-mablethorpe/ 

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Exceptionally strong winds and a very high tide on 31 January 1953 combined to produce a storm surge that broke through the sea defences along several stretches of the Lincolnshire coast.

Much of Mablethorpe was inundated by the sea and there were several deaths in the town and neighbouring Sutton on Sea.

Exceptionally strong winds and a very high tide on 31 January 1953 combined to produce a storm surge that broke through the sea defences along several stretches of the Lincolnshire coast.

Much of Mablethorpe was inundated by the sea and there were several deaths in the town and neighbouring Sutton on Sea.

The damage to property was considerable, as is apparent in this photograph of Quebec Road, Mablethorpe.

Part of modern coastal defence near North Promenade.

Plaques recording visits by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh following the 1953 floods.

He came to Mablethorpe immediately following the floods and subsequently returned in 1983 and 2003 to join in the 30th and 50th anniversary memorials. 

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Plaque reads :-

"IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1953 FLOODS AND THE RETURN TO MABLETHORPE, TRUSTHORPE AND SUTTON-ON-SEA ON THE 17TH FEBRUARY 2003 BY HRH, THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH KG. KT." 

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Eastern end of High Street immediately prior to the seafront and beach.

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At the corner of High Street and Victoria Road.

Advert appearing in Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1913.

Also stated that "Omnibuses from the Book-in-Hand hotel & Louth hotel meet all trains daily during summer months"

Now 2019 has at its core a large public house. Five retail units have been developed facing on to High Street or Victoria Road. Was being advertised for sale with a guide price of £750,000.

See also :-

https://www.thelouth.co.uk/history-of-the-louth-hotel-mablethorpe/ 

Now a "family friendly pub" with a number of retail units.

https://www.thelouth.co.uk/history-of-the-louth-hotel-mablethorpe/ 

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The name of this pub is a reference to Baron Robert de Montalt.

"The first creation of the title was for Roger de Montalt, who was summoned to parliament on 23 June 1295. On his death two years later, the barony became extinct.

The second creation was for Robert de Montalt, who was summoned to parliament on 6 February 1299. He was the younger brother of the first baron of the 1295 creation. On his death thirty years later, the barony became extinct.

He died of his wounds after fighting a duel against Robert de Mablethorpe. (He was the son and heir of Sir William of Mablethorpe, lord of the manor of Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, which was located on the site of the present Mablethorpe Hall) at Earls Bridge on the outskirts of Mablethorpe Lincolnshire.

Both men died of their wounds. Robert de Montalt was buried at All Saints Church in Maltby le Marsh. He was buried in the chancel; his tomb has an effigy of a cross-legged knight wearing chain mail and surcoat. At his head are two angels by the pillow and at his feet, two lions biting each other"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Montalt  

Betty G Tripp comments as follows:

The two men who fought a duel on Earl's bridge did not die on the same night. Sir Robert Malberthorpe died either in Dec. of 1331 or Jan. of 1332. Malberthorpe on 6 Oct. 1331 made two settlements of his property_Feet of Fine CP 25/138/100 no. 37 and FofF CP 25/1/138/100, no 39. On 21 Jan. 1332, and order was given to the escheat to take into the king's hand the lands late of Malberthorp CFR,m.1, p.133.

The building currently (2019) for sale as a "Public House/Development Opportunity".

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A tunnel is shown here on the 25 inch OS map published 1889.

The sign in the foreground reads "Keep off outfall"! 

Located near the Quebec Road car park. 

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The former Primitive Methodist Chapel on Victoria Road was opened in October 1909.

It was damaged in the Second World War and also in the floods of January 1953.

After restoration, including the addition of the obtrusive entrance porch, it was renamed St Peter's.

September 2018

In "A List And Brief Details Of Chapels In The Alford, Skegness & Wainfleet Circuit Past And Present" prepared by Colin Shepherdson July 1998 it is stated that :-

"i) The foundation stone for a chapel was laid on the 7.8.1837.

Situated on the sea bank, due east of the present chapel and just around the corner from the High Street in what is now Quebec Road, it opened later the same year.

Following closure it was used as a store and was finally demolished in 1959.

ii) The Society moved from the above chapel in to new schoolrooms in Victoria Road on the 3.7.1887.

A chapel was added and opened on the 28.10.1909.

It was damaged in the Second World War and again in the 1953 floods.

It was restored, altered, subsequently renamed St Peter's and is still in use with a membership of 48" 

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Undated postcard.

The war memorial is currently located on the High Street in front of the Station Sports Leisure Centre.

It survived the 1953 flood disaster and was only relocated to High Street in 1985.

Local signage states

"These are the remains of a railway turntable.

It was used to turn steam engines that brought trains to Mablethorpe railway station.

The railway opened at Mablethorpe in 1877, and by the 1930s thousands of people came here by train in the summer.

As cars and coaches became more popular, passenger numbers fell, and the railway closed on 5 October 1970"

No trace now remaining of the former railway station which was immediately to the south. 

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Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"Council School (mixed), rebuilt in 1906 at a cost of £1,500, with master's residence, to hold 194 children; George V. Hooton, master ; Mrs. G. V. Hooton, assistant mistress"

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"A modest and very late Gothic Revival church, built immediately before the Second World War. It incorporates two holy water stoups said to have come from Louth Abbey"

http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Diocese-of-Nottingham/Mablethorpe-St-Joseph 

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Much rebuilding over the centuries has left St Mary's Mablethorpe  with an unusual profile; the chancel is higher than both nave and tower!

The brick nave was rebuilt in 1976-9, replacing that of 1714 shown here.

The arcades within possibly date from the original building of c1300, timber struts now replacing the original arches. The chancel arch and east window are 19th century.

See Lincolnshire HER on www.heritagegateway.org.uk  

A view of St Mary's at the turn of the millennium. It is apparent that the south aisle was extended in the twentieth century.

Peter Kirk Collection, 2002

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"The church of St Mary is an ancient edifice of brick and stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north porch and a low embattled western tower containing 5 bells :

in the church, on the north side of the chancel, is a tomb within a recess, over which hangs a broken helmet, traditionally said to have belonged to one of two earls, who were both killed in a duel, upon Earl's Bridge, one being interred here and the other at Maltby:

there are brasses to Thomas Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth his wife, both of whom died in 1403; Elizabeth, daughter of George Fitzwilliam esq. ob. 1552; and to Sir George Fitzwilliam kt. ob. 1536:

in 1884 the church was reseated with open benches and newly paved:

there are 200 sittings"

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View from the south. Bricks from three different periods.

September 2018

Anotherview of the church from the south-east. Is the chancel really higher than the tower?

September 2018

This broader view towards the east shows the pulpit and lectern.

Chris Squires, September 2023 

The view towards the west and the church entrance.

The bowl of the font - prominently placed near the entrance - is described by Pevsner as a pattern-book type.

Chris Squires, September 2023 

A comfortably furnished chancel, with a communion rail dating from 1714, but in Jacobean style.

The brass on the north (right) wall of the chancel - a full-length miniature figure - is to Elizabeth Fitzwilliam who died in 1522.

Chris Squires, September 2023 

As a child and later in his youth Alfred Tennyson made frequent visits to the nearby Lincolnshire coast.

He and his brother Charles famously celebrated the publication of their first volume of poetry by declaiming the lines on the windswept beach at Mablethorpe.

For periods in each summer from 1828 and 1843 he stayed at this house, Marline Villa, High Street, Mablethorpe.

Undated postcard

Pavillion at the east end of High Street, neighbouring the beach, with a Semaphore just visible in the background.

OS 25 inch map published 1906 shows The Pavilion at National Grid Reference TF 50852 85238. Semaphore was positioned next to the Coastguard Station.

"CELESQUE SERIES" published by the Photochrom Co, Ltd. London and Tunbridge Wells.

Postcard Postmarked 28 August 1917

Located in front of the Station Sports Leisure Centre.

Unveiled 4 December 1921.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/42939 

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In "A List And Brief Details Of Chapels In The Alford, Skegness & Wainfleet Circuit Past And Present" prepared by Colin Shepherdson July 1998 it is stated that :-

i) A chapel was opened in 1836 in Church Road.

ii) A new chapel was built in the High Street and opened on the 8.5.1868.

It was enlarged in 1881 and a schoolroom added and opened on the 5.11.1888.

It was further enlarged by the addition of vestries and a new transept - stonelaying on the 13.11.1913 and reopening on the 2.4.1914.

The last service was held on the 17.10.1965 and the Society joined with that at St Peter's.

The chapel was sold and converted into a printer's workshop and later used as a warehouse.

In 1996 it was converted into a number of dwellings"

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Date stone referring to the chapel's enlargement in 1881.

Set into the roadside wall at the end of Alexandra Road at its junction with High Street. 

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The building seen today on High Street originated as a chapel built for the Wesleyan Methodists in 1868. It was subsequently enlarged in 1888 and 1914.

The building closed for worship in October 1965 and the Mablethorpe Methodists combined in using the St Peter's premises.