The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Volume I Part 14

In another article we have given some descriptive particulars of the town of Whitehaven and its vicinity, and have therefore in the present instance to confine our attention to the harbour, an excellent view of which forms the subject of our engraving.

We have previously stated that Whitehaven is mainly indebted to the Lowther family for its rise and progress as a trading port. By Sir John Lowther, an ancestor of this house, the lands of the dissolved monastery of St. Bees were purchased for his second son, Sir Christopher, early in the reign of Charles the First; and, as the use of coals first became general at this period, the new proprietor determined on improving his estate by opening a colliery. In this, however, little progress was made till after the Restoration, when Sir John Lowther, his successor, formed a plan for working the mines on a very extensive scale, and with this view obtained considerable grants of unappropriated land in the district, which was secured to him in 1666. Two years later he obtained a further accession of property, including a parliamentary gift of the whole sea-coast for two miles northward, between high and low water-mark. He next turned his attention to the port, which was neither large nor convenient, and by his judicious schemes laid the foundation of the present haven. Since that important epoch it has been greatly and gradually improved, particularly since an act of parliament was obtained to finish the original plan, and to keep it in repair, by a moderate tonnage on shipping. In its present form it is protected and strengthened by several piers, or moles, of compact stonework, three of which project in parallel lines from the land; a fourth, bending in the form of a crescent, has a watchhouse and battery, with a handsome lighthouse at its extremity. At low water, the port is nearly dry, so that the shipping within the moles lie as if in dry docks.

Adjoining the harbour, on the west side of the town, is the coal-_staith_, or magazine, where coal for exportation is deposited to the amount of several thousand waggon-loads. Eight or ten, and occasionally twelve, vessels, each carrying a hundred tons and upwards, are commonly loaded at one tide, at an expense of only ten shillings each, so great are the facilities contrived for this purpose. The method is this: the greatest part of the road from the pit runs along an inclined plain, on which are railways communicating with covered galleries, which terminate in large flues, or _hurries_, placed sloping over the quay. When loaded, the waggons run by their own weight from the pit to the magazine, where, their bottoms being struck out, the coals are dropped into the _hurries_, and thence with a noise like thunder descend into the holds of the vessels.

Whitehaven forms one of a chain of ports on the north-western coast of England, which owe their commercial importance to the demand for coals.

This branch of trade has long been famous as a nursery of hardy and intelligent seamen, and the naval service of the country has, in times of war, been chiefly indebted to the numerous body of men who have, either voluntarily or by compulsion, exchanged their services from the humble collier to a more distinguished, though less lucrative, position on the deck of a line-of-battle ship. Years have now pa.s.sed since there has been any occasion to disturb the arrangements of our commercial marine for this purpose; and it is to be fervently hoped that the advancing civilisation of the age will preclude the re-enactment of such scenes of misery and crime as must ever accompany the system of impressment and forced service.

Most of the coal exported from this haven is conveyed to Ireland; and the annual quant.i.ty raised, on an average of twenty years, was formerly under 100,000 chaldrons; but of late years the export trade in this department is understood to have greatly increased. In the Whitehaven coal-mines there have happened from time to time lamentable catastrophes by the explosion of foul air, attended by great sacrifice of life. It is painful to reflect, that, with all the means which, in this scientific and inventive age, have been recommended and adopted, no effectual plan has. .h.i.therto been devised for the prevention of these sad and appalling accidents.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. BEES COLLEGE.]

ST. BEES' COLLEGE.

"C'est-la qu'amante du desert, La meditation avec plaisir se perd Sous ces portiques saints."

DELILLE.

The village of St. Bees is a place of great antiquity, and holds a distinguished place among the theological seminaries of the kingdom, owing to the high reputation of the late Dr. Ainger, and his able and distinguished successor, the Rev. W. Buddicom, princ.i.p.al of the college.

The chapel, which is built of freestone, is part of an ancient church belonging to a monastery, founded here by St. Bega, a holy woman of the seventh century. The form of the building is that of a cross. The western portion, or nave, is now fitted up as the parish church, the great door of which is ornamented with grotesque heads, chevron mouldings, and other ornamental work in the ancient ecclesiastical style. It formerly contained a large wooden statue of Anthony, the last Lord Lucy of Egremont.

The original building having been destroyed by the Danes, William, son of Ralph de Meschines, Earl of c.u.mberland, undertook its restoration in the reign of Henry the First, and made it a cell for the prior and six Benedictine monks to the Abbey of St. Mary, at York. It was endowed, at the dissolution of monasteries and religious houses, with a hundred and fifty pounds, and granted by Edward the Sixth, along with the manor, rectory, and other estates, to Sir Thomas Challoner; but afterwards revoked, and given by Queen Mary to the Bishop of Chester and his successors.

The eastern part of the abbey, built in the thirteenth century, was fitted up about twenty-four years ago as a college, containing a public hall and lecture-room for the students, the end of the ancient cross-aisle being converted into a library, with an excellent collection of approved works on divinity. This valuable inst.i.tution was commenced under the auspices of the late Bishop of Chester, Dr. Law. Its object is to afford such young men of the northern provinces as have not the opportunity of prosecuting their studies at Oxford or Cambridge, the means of fitting themselves for entering into holy orders; and the success which has already attended this pious and patriotic measure has been highly gratifying. Previous to admission, it is expected that every candidate shall furnish evidence of his having received a cla.s.sical school-education, with testimonials of moral character; and, after two years' study, he is ent.i.tled to be received on trial for ordination. A gentleman who lately studied here, and who is now a most efficient and zealous minister of the Church, speaks in very favourable terms of the judicious arrangement which has latterly marked the theological course at St. Bees; and improvements still more decided, it appears, are in contemplation under its present administration.

Edmund Grindall, Archbishop of Canterbury, was a native of Hensingham, in this parish; and, in 1583, obtained letters-patent for the foundation of a free grammar-school at St. Bees, in which gratuitous instruction in the cla.s.sics was provided for a hundred boys. This inst.i.tution is under the management of a corporation of seven governors, two of whom are the provost of Queen's College, Oxford, and the rector of Egremont.

It has produced several learned characters, among whom was the pious Dr.

Hall,[16] bishop of Norwich, whose eventful life is familiar to every reader of ecclesiastical history. Much of the prosperity of the village of St. Bees depends on the lodgings which it supplies to the students during term.

The parish of St. Bees is of great extent; and, judging from the ruins still observable, must have been fortified by the Romans at all the convenient landing-places along the sh.o.r.e, which here, and particularly to the northward, presents many vestiges of their military occupation.

The village stands on the margin of the bay formed by the southern promontory of St. Bees'-head.

[16] Dr. Hall was born in 1574, and, in 1624, refused the see of Gloucester; but three years afterwards accepted that of Exeter, from which he was translated, in 1641, to that of Norwich. A few years subsequent to this event he was sent to the tower, with twelve other prelates, for protesting against any laws pa.s.sed in Parliament during their forced absence from the House. In June of the following year he obtained his release; but shortly after suffered much persecution from the Puritans, who plundered his house and despoiled the cathedral. His private estate was also sequestered; and thus in his old age he was reduced to poverty, which he bore with great fort.i.tude, and continued to preach as long as his health permitted. He was author of the well-known _Meditations_, was a poet of considerable genius, and with great wit and learning united a spirit of true meekness and piety. His works have gained for him the appellation of "the Christian Seneca." He died in 1656.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. BEES HEAD.]

ST. BEES'-HEAD.

"When tempests rage, and nights are long and dark, The 'Light of Barath' guides the wilder'd bark."

This lofty headland, anciently known as the "Cliff of Barath," is a conspicuous object to vessels in the north-east part of the Irish channel--bold, abrupt, and precipitous towards the sea; but presenting, as it slopes inland, a fine undulating and pastoral ma.s.s of verdure, through which, at intervals, projecting fragments of rock discover its geological character. The succession of deeply indented and rugged precipices which it presents seaward, is singularly wild and picturesque; and during gales from the southward the scene is one of the most sublime that can be conceived.

The lighthouse which occupies the summit, was first erected in 1718, with a fixed light at an elevation of three hundred and thirty-three feet above high water, which in clear weather is visible at a distance of twenty miles. But in January, 1823, a new light, consisting of nine reflectors, was first exhibited, which has doubtless been the means of rescuing from destruction many lives and much valuable property.

The view from the summit of this cliff is particularly striking--embracing all the bolder features of the Scottish sh.o.r.e--the Isle of Man, and an expanse of sea which, however the wind may blow, is always enlivened with shipping. Besides the exportation of coal, which is immense, there are several vessels employed in the exportation of lime, freestone, alabaster, and grain, and in the importation of West Indian, American, and Baltic produce, flax and linen from Ireland, and pig-iron from Wales.

The parish of St. Bees, is very extensive, and includes some picturesque mountain scenery, among which may be enumerated the views from those peculiarly named hills Hard-knot, Wry-nose, and Scafell. The highest point of this range, Scafell, is three thousand one hundred and sixty feet above the level of the sea, at this height very little vegetation is met with; huge ma.s.ses of stone piled one upon the other, in alternations of different strata, give to the whole a ridged or furrowed appearance of a singular character. The visitors to "the Lakes" may here gratify their taste for the romantic by visiting the beautiful valley of b.u.t.termere, situated about midway between St. Bees and Keswick. This lake or mere, so widely known and so highly praised, is about a mile and a quarter in length, and nearly half a mile in breadth; it is connected by a little stream with Crummock lake, which has three or four small islands, but these are placed too near the sh.o.r.e to add much to its beauty. The best general views of the lake are from the Hause, a rocky point on the eastern side, and from the road between Scale-hill and Lowes-water. Both lakes are well stocked with trout and char. Scale Force, near b.u.t.termere, has a fall of more than one hundred and fifty feet, and is very nearly perpendicular, besides uniting its waters with a small fall below: it is said to be the deepest in the lake district.

The water is precipitated into a tremendous chasm between two mural rocks of sienite, beautifully overhung with trees, which have their roots in the crevices, and the sides are clad with a profusion of plants which glitter in the spray of the fall. At b.u.t.termere is situated the Sour Milk Gill, a waterfall so termed from the frothy whiteness of its surface, which has been supposed to resemble b.u.t.ter-milk fresh from the churn. The temptation to indulge in reminiscences of the innumerable views of interest with which this vicinity abounds, has led us to ramble far from the description of the promontory which forms our subject; but this is less to be regretted as it has afforded us an opportunity of calling the reader's attention to a country that yields to none in the United Kingdom in point of natural beauties, and which is every succeeding year becoming a more fashionable resort.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SCENE AT FLEETWOOD, ON WYRE]

FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE,

LANCASHIRE.

"The day shall come when FLEETWOOD's port shall be The favour'd Harbour of the great and free; Hither, when vex'd with boist'rous wave and wind, The struggling mast a safe retreat shall find; Here, from the sunny land of conch and pearl, The stately bark her weary sail shall furl."

_Fleetwood: A Poem._

The name of Fleetwood is a.s.sociated, prospectively, with the first commercial ports of the kingdom. The ill.u.s.tration prefixed sufficiently indicates the use to which it is applied; but the rapidly increasing importance of this new maritime station is ent.i.tled to a more particular notice than the detached "scene" would appear to demand. Situated at the entrance to Morecombe Bay, on the river Wyre, the great natural advantages which it presents are hardly to be surpa.s.sed; and from the liberal spirit with which the operations are carried on, Fleetwood must shortly become one of the most frequented sea-ports on the British coast; combining, at the same time, all the recommendations of a commercial town, and a delightful watering-place. With Preston, from which it is distant only eighteen miles, it is connected by means of the railway through Poulton and Kirkham.

The limits of the Port of Fleetwood, as determined by the Commissioners from the Court of Exchequer, are to "commence at a run of water called the Hundred-End, about two miles to the west of Hesketh-Bank, continuing up to Preston; thence along the coast, on the north side of the river, to Lytham; round the coast to Blackpool, and on to Fleetwood; thence to the river Broadfleet, four miles from Sea-d.y.k.e, including both sides of the Wyre, and the river Broadfleet."

The Commissioners appointed by Government to investigate the most eligible routes by railway, to facilitate communication between London, Ireland, and Scotland, reported that the harbour at Fleetwood--which by the Preston and Wyre Railway is put in communication with London--appears to them likely to form a good point of departure for the north of Ireland and the west of Scotland. Since this report was published, experiment has fully justified the opinion thus expressed.

The capabilities of Fleetwood as a commercial port are of the first order; and the plans to render it such can be executed at a comparatively small expense. Its fine s.p.a.cious harbour, extensive dock, cheap port-dues and dock-charges, cannot fail to attract a large share of the American cotton, timber, and other foreign trade; while the great recommendation of low charges induce the regular Belfast and Glasgow steam-vessels to frequent the port. There is a custom-house, with bonded warehouses for all ordinary merchandise, except East India goods and tobacco--unless removed coastwise for home use and ship's stores. In a very advantageous situation seaward, a very elegant and finely contrived light-house has been erected; and, in pursuance of the comprehensive schemes of Sir Hesketh Fleetwood, Bart., M.P., proprietor of the harbour, numerous buildings have sprung up in all directions, and upon ground which recently consisted of only a warren for rabbits. Among these buildings are a handsome church, and a large and beautiful hotel, the centre of which has seventy feet of frontage, besides two s.p.a.cious wings of ninety feet each; the whole forming one splendid edifice of two hundred and ninety feet in length, and commanding an extent of marine scenery not to be surpa.s.sed in any part of the kingdom.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BLACKPOOL.]

BLACKPOOL.