On the vast surface of the swelling sea,
While the curl'd waves in many a mystic wave
Sweep the wild shore in wildest harmony.
Night round the scene her sable curtain throws,
And all creation rests in silent sleep,
While He, who broke old chaos from repose,
Moves in the bosom of the mighty deep."
High Street 1870 - location of the first Wesleyan Chapel in Skegness (1837)
According to C. H. J. Dutton's, Skegness & District, from which interesting extracts have been taken for the compilation of this History, the above Impromptu was written by a lady on the Skegness shore during a visit in 1810. A few years after, a youth named Alfred Tennyson, later to become England's Poet Laureate, was similarly moved as he walked "the sand, marbled with moon and cloud" between Skegness and Gibraltar Point.
White's Directory of 1826 recorded, "About five miles north-east of Wainfleet is the seaside village of Skegness, an excellent bathing place where there are two large inns (Vine and Hildred's) for the accommodation of visitors. The population in 1821 was 150."
Probably the first mention of nonconformity in Skegness is found in the religious census of 1676 A.D. which stated that there were 8 nonconformists in Skegness, 15 in Burgh, and 27 in Wainfleet.
It is due to the crusading spirit of the small band of Methodists who lived in this "seaside village" in the earlier part of the 19th century that Skegness today has such a rich history of worship and activities involving Algitha Road Methodist Church. The history of this Church, fashioned in early Gothic style, is fascinatingly linked with the development of Skegness as a seaside holiday resort, which continues in popularity and growth into the 21st century.
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The first Wesleyan Methodist chapel on Skegness High Street was a temporary structure, built in 1837. It was replaced with a permanent building in 1848, at a cost of £105 and with seating for 105. It was rebuilt on the same site in 1876, at a cost of £430.
It was closed in 1882 when an even larger chapel opened on Algitha Road and was subsequently demolished. The chapel was located on the south side of the High Street, at its western end. A photograph of the chapel being rebuilt in 1876 was included in Dutton's book on Skegness and its district. It shows the chapel at the end of the High Street, adjacent to Lumley Square, and adjoining 10 High Street; this property is still extant (2014), although somewhat altered.
