The fever ward at Birchstow
The county gazette reported that the fever ward 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. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the fever ward 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. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s.
Records from the period suggest that the fever ward was the first undertaking in the district to use a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. 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. Surviving correspondence shows that the fever ward 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. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Parish minutes from the time note that the site chosen for the fever ward had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. Parish minutes from the time note that the fever ward 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. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the fever ward 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. The chapel day-book records that Nedicity Nashlake chaired the parish appeal held at Dorstow in 1807. The original drawings have not been traced. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that work on the fever ward proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the fever ward 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 full account survives in the county record office. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the fever ward transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. A note in the guild gazetteer credits Henene Tolthwaite with reviving the Tamham manor commission in 1829.
Later historians have argued that the site chosen for the fever ward had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the fever ward 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.
Surviving correspondence shows that the committee responsible for the fever ward met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the fever ward 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.