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Marine Lake was once an open pebbly bay with
Knightstone Island to the south. Medicinal baths were built on the
island and a causeway linked the island to the town. The lake was
created in the 1920s, so the tide was always
in.
Marine Lake has long been an important Weston-super-Mare seaside
attraction but it has not always looked as it does today.
Originally known as Glentworth Bay it had a pebble and shingle
beach, swept twice a day by the tide. Weston has the second highest
tidal range in the world.
The first medicinal baths and lodging house were built on
Knightstone Island in 1820 and four years later a low causeway was
constructed to the island. The eminent Bristol physician Dr Edward
Long Fox purchased the island in 1828. He built improved baths and
an access road high enough to remain above all tide levels.
When day trippers arrived during a low tide they were sometimes
disappointed at not being able to have a dip or a paddle. The
problem was solved in 1928 when a causeway was constructed between
Knightstone and Claremont. Glentworth Bay became Marine Lake with
what was known as Little Sands, where the tide remained in all day
long.
The lake became hugely popular. It had a bandstand, diving
stage, slides, bathing tents and boating. Sluice gates and a
winched shovel did their best to remove the silt which built up on
the bottom.
Further improvements were made in 1937 with the addition of an
Art Deco colonnaded walkway, changing rooms, and music pavilion. A
visit to the seaside was now a much more relaxed affair than in
Victorian times.
A severe storm in December 1981 caused a great deal of damage to
large parts of the North Somerset coast. Marine Lake's walkway was
destroyed, as were many of the other seafront leisure
facilities.
For more information about the history of Weston seafront and
the rest of North Somerset visit
North Somerset
Museum. |