"Rapt in astonishment I stand and gaze
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 sands 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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