A look into the Cleethorpes of yesteryear has been unearthed during ongoing works to an historic building.
Nearly 250 years ago, the Dolphin Hotel, or the “Cleethorpes Hotel” as it was known at the time came into being, and it’s having a full make-over, partly thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Dolphin Hotel sits on the corner of Market Street and Alexandra Road in the seaside resort of Cleethorpes, and over the years has played a major role in the history and development of the town.
To support this increase in popularity, the Cleethorpes Hotel was built, with a major rebuild (and re-name) in the 1820s in response to growing visitor numbers to the town.
The building has been a hotel, restaurant, oyster bar, café and in more recent years, various nightclubs, and now the current owners are starting a major project to restore the building.
The restoration of the external features is being supported by the Townscape Heritage Project for Cleethorpes (TH) grant initiative. Grant funding is supported by North East Lincolnshire Council, the Heritage Fund and matched with third party funding from the freeholder.
The TH has already seen several buildings in the resort having the facades, shop fronts and heritage balconies restored. The Mermaid building on the North Promenade was also part of this programme.
The restoration work at the Dolphin includes:
- Restoring all original windows and doors where possible, or replacing with accoya timber sash windows
- Reinstating all chimney stacks in clay brick, style and fired clay pots to match the original
- Restoring cast iron moulded gutters and circular section downpipes, with heritage style replacements as required
- Restoring all stone detailing
- Restoring original openings and reveals where possible
- Full reroof which entailed removal of modern concrete roof tiles, and replacing with traditional slate
- Demolition of some unoriginal and harmful additions/extensions to the rear of the building
- Removal of all unoriginal electrical fixtures and fittings
- Removal of poor-quality render and re-rendering western courtyard elevation
- Full external redecoration in Victorian period colours
During the restoration of the doors, a part of Cleethorpes history has been uncovered above the Main Entrance. Removal of the modern signage above the door revealed a marker labelled FP with the numbers 46 and 4, and this is thought to have been a point of information for the fire service in the 1900s.
FP is likely to represent Fire Point, or Fire Plug. These were an early form of fire hydrant and marks the distance in feet and inches from the sign to where the water supply was.
In modern times, we are familiar with fire hydrants where the Fire Service can connect to source water. However, in years gone by the Firemen were directed to an area where they would need to dig down to the water source, which was usually a mains water pipe. Once they’d finished using the pipe, they would often plug it with a piece of wood.
Therefore, what FP 46-4 is likely to represent is that the source of water closest to The Dolphin in an emergency was 46 feet and 4 inches away from the Main Entrance.
However, this is not the only FP marker that has been uncovered in Cleethorpes. On the nearby Empire, there is another example above the main entrance which show 14 feet and 1 inch.
Councillor Philip Jackson, Leader and Portfolio Holder for Economy, Regeneration, Devolution and Skills, said: “It’s great to see some of the original heritage come to life as we go through this programme of works.
“As part of the heritage led regeneration in Cleethorpes, it is important that we preserve the historic features that made Cleethorpes what it is today.”