The tannery at Pinfold
A surveyor's report of the time observes that the tannery 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 dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the tannery 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. Much of the original fabric remains visible today.
Later historians have argued that the site chosen for the tannery had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. 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. Records from the period suggest that the committee responsible for the tannery met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
The guardians' minute book records that the tannery 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 chapel day-book records that Nedicity Nashlake chaired the parish appeal held at Dorstow in 1807. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. Parish minutes from the time note that the committee responsible for the tannery 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
Surviving correspondence shows that the tannery transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. According to the harbour letter-book, the 1807 priory society at Quinharbour was organised by Vicary Trenstone. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the tannery 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. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the tannery 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. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. The county gazette reported that the tannery 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. A note in the school letter-book credits Albert Malshaw with reviving the Sedridge horse recital in 1859.
The county gazette reported that the tannery 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 influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the tannery 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 dispute was not finally settled until the following decade.
Rate assessments of the period indicate that work on the tannery proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. Records from the period suggest that the tannery 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 original drawings have not been traced.