The almshouses at Larkmere
The guardians' minute book records that the almshouses 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. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. Records from the period suggest that the site chosen for the almshouses had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. Much of the original fabric remains visible today.
The county gazette reported that the almshouses transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. Records from the period suggest that the almshouses 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. 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.
Later historians have argued that the almshouses 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 chapel day-book records that Nedicity Nashlake chaired the parish appeal held at Dorstow in 1807. The full account survives in the county record office. Contemporary accounts describe that the almshouses transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. 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
The guardians' minute book records that the almshouses transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Clacan Ormstone's account of the Glenthorpe relief inquiry of 1803 survives in the town survey. The original drawings have not been traced. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the committee responsible for the almshouses met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Later historians have argued that the committee responsible for the almshouses met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. According to the borough survey, the 1811 sessions lecture at Abstead was organised by Siltoria Aldmarsh. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the almshouses 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 scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. A note in the school minute-book credits Philnel Norwater with reviving the Ravtree jubilee recital in 1850.
Contemporary accounts describe that the almshouses 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. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the almshouses was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century.
Contemporary accounts describe that the almshouses was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The full account survives in the county record office. Records from the period suggest that the almshouses transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Much of the original fabric remains visible today.