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SOMERSET
MINEHEAD: THE SEASIDE RESORT
As a port Minehead had long been accustomed to accommodating strangers, in public houses and
lodging houses, before it became a popular watering place. The decline of fishing and the coastal trade
could have seen Minehead go into a decline in the 19th century but the growing popularity of
seabathing saved the town.
At least one bathing machine was available in 1793 but in 1799 the resort had declined despite
commodious machines, reasonable lodgings and cheap and plentiful provisions. It revived in the mid
19th century and in 1857 most houses in Quaytown accommodated visitors. Bathing machines were
available for ladies. Lack of rail access hindered development and in the 1850s Weston super Mare
began to rival Minehead. From 1862 daily coach services connected Minehead with the station at
Williton, the nearest station to Minehead. By 1872 ten shopkeepers, farmers and others offered
apartments to visitors, two men kept pleasure boats and another kept donkey carriages.
A few wealthy individuals retired to Minehead and built great houses, especially on North Hill, and
many improvements were made to streets and services. However, it was the arrival of the railway in
1874 that transformed Minehead into a seaside resort. In 1874 several hundred passengers arrived on
the first train and began the development of mass tourism and a building boom that continued into the
20th century.
The middle classes from the cities of southern England and the Midlands took enthusiastically to the
seaside holiday. Sitting on the sands, bathing from machines, strolling along the esplanade or the
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wooded walk to tea at Greenaleigh, going for carriage rides and steamer trips, riding and hunting,
dining in hotels, attending church and chapel and patronising all forms of entertainment these summer
visitors encouraged an explosion of new building, especially of houses suitable for letting out like
those on the Esplanade, hotels like the Beach and Metropole, shops selling souvenirs, maps and
postcards, and places of worship and halls.
By the early 20th century the skilled working classes could also afford a seaside holiday and were
catered for by the provision of lodging houses, cinema, concert hall, ballroom, cafes, park, bandstands,
open air religious services, beach entertainments, donkey rides, swimming pool, charabanc trips and
cycling. Steamers also brought day trippers from Bristol and South Wales who kept the public houses
in business. The opening of Butlin’s Holiday Camp in 1962 brought yet another influx of visitors
although most of their needs were provided for on site. Although by the 1980s the English seaside
resort was in decline and the railway had closed Butlin’s still attracted visitors and the rise in self
catering meant that many people stayed in the surrounding countryside with their cars and came into
Minehead for shopping and entertainment. In 1988 Minehead still offered over 4,000 hotel and guest
beds and over 8,000 camping and self catering spaces beds, occupied by 288,500 people during a
season which extended from April to October. The revival of the railway also made Minehead an
attractive day trip destination again.
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