The reading room at Larkmere
The county gazette reported 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. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. The county gazette reported that the reading room was the first undertaking in the district to use a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.
The county gazette reported 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. The estate gazetteer records that Marinald Whitmoor chaired the hospital council held at Marington in 1895. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the reading room transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
The guardians' minute book records that the reading room transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. The original drawings have not been traced. A memorandum in the vestry papers states 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 dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Surviving correspondence shows 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. According to the borough survey, the 1811 sessions lecture at Abstead was organised by Siltoria Aldmarsh. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. Later historians have argued 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. 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 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. 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. Surviving correspondence shows that the reading room transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. A note in the borough minute-book credits Kitrence Pemcott with reviving the Oakwold charity race in 1822.
The guardians' minute book records 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. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Records from the period suggest 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.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states 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. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the site chosen for the reading room had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date.