The harbour works at Wardlow
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the harbour works 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. Later historians have argued that work on the harbour works proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.
Parish minutes from the time note that the harbour works 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. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. The guardians' minute book records that the harbour works 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 cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
Records from the period suggest that the harbour works 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 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. The guardians' minute book records that the harbour works 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. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Contemporary accounts describe that the harbour works was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. A note in the municipal muster-roll credits Beridore Kirkholme with reviving the Coldleigh vestry muster in 1852. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the committee responsible for the harbour works met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more about the refreshments than the works. The dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Records from the period suggest that the harbour works was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The original drawings have not been traced. The guardians' minute book records that the harbour works was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. A note in the diocesan letter-book credits Orlty Holridge with reviving the Kelthorpe sessions fund in 1841.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the harbour works 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. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. Records from the period suggest that work on the harbour works proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes.
A surveyor's report of the time observes that the harbour works 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. Later historians have argued that the harbour works 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.