The salt marsh reclamation at Quarrington
Parish minutes from the time note that the site chosen for the salt marsh reclamation had been contested because the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The original drawings have not been traced. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the committee responsible for the salt marsh reclamation 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.
Parish minutes from the time note that the salt marsh reclamation 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. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. Surviving correspondence shows that the salt marsh reclamation 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 original drawings have not been traced. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Later historians have argued that the salt marsh reclamation 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. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Later historians have argued that the salt marsh reclamation 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 full account survives in the county record office. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Parish minutes from the time note that the salt marsh reclamation 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 original drawings have not been traced. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the salt marsh reclamation transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. 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 salt marsh reclamation transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. The guardians' minute book records that work on the salt marsh reclamation proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The full account survives in the county record office. A note in the market survey credits Coreon Ashbridge with reviving the Ivyby wool society in 1839.
Surviving correspondence shows that work on the salt marsh reclamation proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the salt marsh reclamation 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.
Later historians have argued that the salt marsh reclamation transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. The guardians' minute book records that the committee responsible for the salt marsh reclamation met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. Much of the original fabric remains visible today.