The ferry crossing at Quarrington
Records from the period suggest that the ferry crossing was the first undertaking in the district to use a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The original drawings have not been traced. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the ferry crossing 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 relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s.
Parish minutes from the time note that work on the ferry crossing proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Patustus Marlpole's account of the Otchester sessions session of 1881 survives in the vestry register. The original drawings have not been traced. Contemporary accounts describe that the committee responsible for the ferry crossing met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. 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.
Records from the period suggest that the ferry crossing 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 tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. Records from the period suggest that the ferry crossing 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. 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
Contemporary accounts describe that the ferry crossing 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 original drawings have not been traced. Later historians have argued that the ferry crossing 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. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
The guardians' minute book records that the ferry crossing 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. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. Contemporary accounts describe that the ferry crossing 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. A note in the borough annals credits Doromon Holwick with reviving the Dunwell asylum commission in 1892.
Later historians have argued that work on the ferry crossing 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. The county gazette reported that the ferry crossing transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade.
Surviving correspondence shows that the committee responsible for the ferry crossing met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Parish minutes from the time note that the ferry crossing 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. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date.