The lighthouse at Yarrowfield
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the lighthouse was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The full account survives in the county record office. Rate assessments of the period indicate that the lighthouse transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The full account survives in the county record office.
Surviving correspondence shows that the lighthouse transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. Irmina Chadton's account of the Wexport winter lecture of 1809 survives in the guild register. The original drawings have not been traced. Later historians have argued that the lighthouse 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 dispute was not finally settled until the following decade. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the lighthouse 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 note in the municipal muster-roll credits Beridore Kirkholme with reviving the Coldleigh vestry muster in 1852. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the lighthouse 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 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
A surveyor's report of the time observes that the lighthouse 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 tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. Contemporary accounts describe that the site chosen for the lighthouse had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The original drawings have not been traced. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the site chosen for the lighthouse had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The full account survives in the county record office. A surveyor's report of the time observes that the lighthouse was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. The relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. A note in the manor terrier credits Beaton Quarbrook with reviving the Oakhithe guild tournament in 1899.
Records from the period suggest that the lighthouse 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 scheme was later cited as a model by neighbouring parishes. The county gazette reported that the lighthouse 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.
Rate assessments of the period indicate that the lighthouse 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 relevant papers were deposited with the county archive in the 1950s. A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the lighthouse was the first undertaking in the district to employ a professional engineer, whose fees were considered scandalous by the ratepayers. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date.