Of Dons and Donuts - Sidney Sussex College and Cleethorpes

The link between Sidney Sussex College of Cambridge University and the resort town of Cleethorpes provides us with a bizarre juxtaposition of the serene groves of academia and the ‘kiss me quick’ hats and candy floss of the seaside. The college was founded in 1596 with a bequest from Lady Frances Sidney Sussex, Countess of Sussex. Most of the annual income of colleges came from farm rents and Sidney Sussex acquired several agricultural estates for this purpose. The link with Cleethorpes was created in 1616 when the college purchased the local Manor of Itterby agricultural estate with money from a bequest by Peter Blundell of Tiverton. 

The mid-nineteenth century saw the growth of Cleethorpes’ resort function and the construction of the railway and new dock in nearby Grimsby. Thus the college saw an opportunity of developing its agricultural land for building. Its estate lay mainly in two large blocks in the north and south of the town plus a small quantity in the central resort area. Altogether it held 604 acres out of the town’s 1054 acres.

It was not permitted to sell land but obtained a private act of parliament in 1853 which allowed it to grant 99-year building leases. Henceforth, the college became a major influence on the spatial development of Cleethorpes. Its policies could decide what sort of environment was provided in a large part of the town. Aided and advised by its local agent, solicitor W.H. Daubney, and in co-operation with the Cleethorpes local authority, it set out to provide a decent living environment. Covenants in its leases regulated the quality of both house building and the neighbourhood in general; and an annual visit was made to the town by college representatives in order to inspect the estate.

But leasing progressed slowly at first and was confined to the college’s limited holdings in the resort area. However, 1886 saw the first leasing of college land for building in northern Cleethorpes, in the Park Street area. Once building had started, it continued at a rapid pace as streets were laid out either side of Grimsby Road. Such was the speed of house building that by 1895 this part of the college estate provided one third of the town’s population and rateable value. During the 1890s the housing stock of Cleethorpes increased from 968 to 2926. Most of the new houses were on the college’s northern land, which became known as ‘New Cleethorpes’. The college helped provide a ‘lung’ in this built-up area by giving land for Sidney Park, which was opened in 1904. The ensuing decades saw college housing development across the town and into Thrunscoe in the south. By 1951, there were 8500 houses in Cleethorpes of which 5000 were on college land, plus shops, schools, churches, chapels, etc. The college also provided land for a wide variety of other buildings, services and open spaces.

Undoubtedly, the college’s policy of estate development created a large proportion of the Cleethorpes townscape which we see around us. A simple illustration of this is the preponderance of names in the town which have a connection with the college. These cover the town from Taylor Street (a college benefactor) in the north to Daggett Road (a college tutor) in the south and include the names of the college’s founder (Sussex Street), its benefactors (Blundell Avenue), its notable students (Cromwell Road), its Masters (Phelps Street) and its staff (Davenport Drive).

Of course, the college did not have purely altruistic motives for its development of Cleethorpes. On the contrary, the money which it received in annual ground rents was essential to its finances. During the great agricultural depression which began in 1875 and lasted to the end of the century and beyond, farm rents fell dramatically and many colleges suffered because of their dependence on agricultural estates. Sidney Sussex was fortunate in that its Cleethorpes urban ground rents more than compensated for the fall in its farm rents. In 1840 Cleethorpes provided 13% (£609) of the college’s annual income. By 1914 this had increased to 57% (£8562). This enabled the college to modernise and expand. Its links with Cleethorpes were only broken when leasehold ground rents began to lose their real value in the inflationary economy. Consequently, the college sold its Cleethorpes estate in the 1960s and invested the proceeds in the stock market.

In conclusion, the link between Sidney Sussex and Cleethorpes shows a landowner and a town working cordially together for their mutual benefit. The college benefited in that the town provided it with a good annual income which it used to maintain and improve its services. The town benefited in that the college provided good quality housing and land for a wide variety of public purposes.

© Alan Dowling 2003

Published initially in the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Civic Society Bulletin, 2003.

Not to be reprinted without the permission of the author