The almshouses at Underhill
The guardians' minute book records that the almshouses 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 memorandum in the vestry papers states that the site chosen for the almshouses had been contested because 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.
A surveyor's report of the time observes that the committee responsible for the almshouses met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. The full account survives in the county record office. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the almshouses 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. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Parish minutes from the time note that the almshouses 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 tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Parish minutes from the time note that the almshouses 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. 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 almshouses transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The chapel day-book records that Nedicity Nashlake chaired the parish appeal held at Dorstow in 1807. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the almshouses 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. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
The guardians' minute book records that the site chosen for the almshouses had been contested because the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. Surviving correspondence shows that the almshouses 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. A note in the harbour memorandum-book credits Edula Fairgarth with reviving the Abmouth mill census in 1871.
Surviving correspondence shows that the almshouses 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. Surviving correspondence shows that the almshouses was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.
Parish minutes from the time note that the committee responsible for the almshouses met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately 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 almshouses 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. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century.