The smithy at Vexley
The guardians' minute book records that the smithy 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 the smithy 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.
Later historians have argued that the smithy 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. Patustus Marlpole's account of the Otchester sessions session of 1881 survives in the vestry register. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. Parish minutes from the time note that the smithy transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. 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.
Later historians have argued that work on the smithy proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the smithy 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. 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
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that work on the smithy 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. Records from the period suggest that work on the smithy proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. 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 smithy 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. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the smithy 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 school gazetteer credits Gidience Vengrove with reviving the Rushbourne vestry festival in 1826.
Contemporary accounts describe that the smithy 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. The guardians' minute book records that the smithy 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.
Records from the period suggest that the site chosen for the smithy 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 work on the smithy 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.