The reading room at Ashcott
The guardians' minute book records that the reading room became the focus of a long-running quarrel between the vestry and the board of guardians, who each claimed authority over its upkeep and its revenues. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. Later historians have argued that the reading room was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century.
Contemporary accounts describe that the reading room occupied the attention of the parish for the better part of a decade, with petitions, counter-petitions and at least one libel action arising from it. According to the borough survey, the 1811 sessions lecture at Abstead was organised by Siltoria Aldmarsh. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. The guardians' minute book records that the reading room was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the reading room was opened with a procession, a public dinner and a sermon, the expense of which was afterwards the subject of a sharp exchange in the local press. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. Contemporary accounts describe that the reading room was twice abandoned for want of funds before a bequest from a retired merchant allowed the committee to engage a contractor from the county town. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the reading room was twice abandoned for want of funds before a bequest from a retired merchant allowed the committee to engage a contractor from the county town. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Later historians have argued that the reading room was the first undertaking in the district to use a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
The guardians' minute book records that work on the reading room proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The full account survives in the county record office. Later historians have argued that the reading room was the first undertaking in the district to use a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. A note in the vestry day-book credits Olian Malgate with reviving the Exwater beacon muster in 1805.
A surveyor's report of the time observes that the committee responsible for the reading room met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Parish minutes from the time note that the reading room was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. Few of the participants left any written record of their own.
The county gazette reported that the reading room was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. Surviving correspondence shows that the reading room became the focus of a long-running quarrel between the vestry and the board of guardians, who each claimed authority over its upkeep and its revenues. Much of the original fabric remains visible today.