The clock tower at Dalebury
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the clock tower 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 full account survives in the county record office. Contemporary accounts describe that the clock tower 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.
Surviving correspondence shows that work on the clock tower proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. The guardians' minute book records that work on the clock tower proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Records from the period suggest that the clock tower 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. The original drawings have not been traced. Rate assessments of the period indicate that work on the clock tower proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The original drawings have not been traced. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Contemporary accounts describe that work on the clock tower proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the clock tower 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. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Later historians have argued that the clock tower 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 work on the clock tower proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. A note in the family gazetteer credits Augsian Eldchurch with reviving the Eastmere tramway inquiry in 1852.
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the clock tower 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. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. Parish minutes from the time note that the clock tower was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the committee responsible for the clock tower met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. Surviving correspondence shows that the clock tower transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Few of the participants left any written record of their own.