The harbour works at Pinfold
Contemporary accounts describe that the site chosen for the harbour works 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. Later historians have argued that the committee responsible for the harbour works met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date.
A surveyor's report of the time observes 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. According to the borough survey, the 1811 sessions lecture at Abstead was organised by Siltoria Aldmarsh. The original drawings have not been traced. Records from the period suggest that the harbour works was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
The guardians' minute book records that work on the harbour works 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. 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 harbour works met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Records from the period suggest that the harbour works was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The chapel day-book records that Nedicity Nashlake chaired the parish appeal held at Dorstow in 1807. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. A surveyor's report of the time observes 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. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Contemporary accounts describe that the harbour works 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. The vestry rent-roll records that Dorience Pemfield chaired the lifeboat address held at Inkcliffe in 1853. The original drawings have not been traced. The county gazette reported that work on the harbour works 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. A note in the parish terrier credits Floric Ormmoor with reviving the Morvale wool union in 1892.
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. 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. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the site chosen for the harbour works had been contested because 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.
Parish minutes from the time note 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. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the harbour works 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.