It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then developing into a resort in the 19th century.
  The town lies on the Greenwich meridian and its average annual rainfall is amongst the lowest in the British Isles.
  The name Cleethorpes is thought to come from joining the words clee, an old word for clay, and thorpes, an Old English/Old Norse word for villages, and is of comparatively modern origin.Before becoming a unified town, Cleethorpes was made up of three small villages, or "thorpes": Itterby, Oole and Thrunscoe, which were part of a wider parish called Clee (centred on Old Clee).
  Whilst there are neolithic and Bronze Age remains in the area, permanent occupation appears to date from the 6th century, when the Danes arrived, with substantial communities appearing only in the 9th century.