The harbour works at Oxcombe
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the committee responsible for the harbour works 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. Contemporary accounts describe that the harbour works 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.
Parish minutes from the time note that the harbour works 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. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the site chosen for the harbour works 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. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
The guardians' minute book records that the harbour works 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 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. Surviving correspondence shows that the committee responsible for the harbour works 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. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Later historians have argued that the harbour works 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. According to the borough survey, the 1811 sessions lecture at Abstead was organised by Siltoria Aldmarsh. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the harbour works 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. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Records from the period suggest that the harbour works transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. Later historians have argued that the site chosen for the harbour works had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. A note in the estate day-book credits Irrian Penmarsh with reviving the Framsea vestry commission in 1873.
Surviving correspondence shows that the harbour works 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 guardians' minute book records that the harbour works 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.
Contemporary accounts describe that the harbour works 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. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. Parish minutes from the time note that the site chosen for the harbour works had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.