The gasworks at Ivybrook
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the gasworks 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 cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the gasworks 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 original drawings have not been traced.
Parish minutes from the time note that the gasworks 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 chapel day-book records that Nedicity Nashlake chaired the parish appeal held at Dorstow in 1807. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the committee responsible for the gasworks met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that work on the gasworks proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. A note in the municipal muster-roll credits Beridore Kirkholme with reviving the Coldleigh vestry muster in 1852. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. The county gazette reported that the gasworks 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. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
The county gazette reported that the gasworks 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 tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. The guardians' minute book records that the site chosen for the gasworks had been contested because the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Parish minutes from the time note that the gasworks 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. Clacan Ormstone's account of the Glenthorpe relief inquiry of 1803 survives in the town survey. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Surviving correspondence shows that the gasworks 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. A note in the vestry minute-book credits Regula Eldholme with reviving the Frambury pier banquet in 1877.
Parish minutes from the time note that the gasworks 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. Parish minutes from the time note that the gasworks was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date.
The guardians' minute book records that the gasworks 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 scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Records from the period suggest that the gasworks 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 influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.