The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Volume II Part 12

We have elsewhere remarked upon the origin and early history of this fashionable watering-place, and at the same time traced its connexion with those once important towns, the Cinque Ports: on the present occasion we propose to occupy our s.p.a.ce with its modern features, and to include a brief notice of its more aristocratic neighbour, St. Leonards.

The older streets, that lie close under the hill and stretch up towards London, are narrow and inconvenient; they are mostly occupied as shops, but new ranges of smart and commodious dwelling-houses have been built on every hand. For many years the visiters to Hastings had to submit to the inconveniences attendant upon a residence in a small fishing-town; but these have now been removed, and hotels and private lodging-houses, provided with all the luxuries of modern requirement, are to be found in abundance. The rapidity with which Hastings can be reached from the metropolis, while it has greatly increased the number of its visiters, has, perhaps, robbed it of part of that exclusiveness for which it was formerly distinguished. It is now the summer resort of a large and constantly-increasing number of the middle cla.s.s, who derive a new stock of health from its genial breezes and bracing waves, while their expenditure forms the support of the large and constantly-increasing resident population.

Of St. Leonards, we may remark that it is quite a creature of our own day. Mr. Burton, the architect of a large part of the buildings about the Regent's-park, commenced the formation of a new town here in 1828.

His plan was conceived on a bold scale, and was very fairly carried into execution. A n.o.ble esplanade extends for more than half a mile along the beach. A handsome range of buildings, called the Marina, some five hundred feet in extent, stretches along the sea-front of the town, with a covered colonnade of the same length. Other terraces and scattered villas, bearing in character a considerable resemblance to those in the Regent's-park, were also erected, together with a church, a.s.sembly-rooms, bath-houses, and hotels of large size and the most complete arrangements. There are also pleasure-grounds and other contrivances for the amus.e.m.e.nt or comfort of visiters. St. Leonards has been able to boast of a large array of n.o.ble and distinguished visiters from its earliest infancy. Her present Majesty heads the list, she having, when Princess Victoria, resided with her mother, in 1834, at the western end of the Marina. The Queen Dowager is also among the names it delights to remember. The house in which she lived is now called Adelaide House. Among its literary visitants Campbell has perhaps the first place, he having left a permanent record of his residence at it in the _Lines on the View from St. Leonards_:--

"Hail to thy face and odours, glorious Sea!

'Twere thanklessness in me to bless thee not, Great, beauteous being! in whose breath and smile My heart beats calmer, and my very mind Inhales salubrious thoughts. How welcomer Thy murmurs than the murmurs of the world!

Though like the world thou fluctuatest, thy din To me is peace, thy restlessness repose.

Ev'n gladly I exchange yon spring-green lanes, With all the darling field-flowers in their prime, And gardens haunted by the nightingale's Long trills and gushing ecstacies of song, For these wild headlands and the sea-mew's clang.

"With thee beneath my windows, pleasant Sea!

I long not to o'erlook earth's fairest glades And green savannahs--Earth has not a plain So boundless or so beautiful as thine."

St. Leonards was originally a mile and a half distant from Hastings; but the old town has stretched out its arms to its youthful progeny. The Grand Parade was the first step towards uniting them; and now other places have sprung up, and they are fairly joined together. The esplanade now reaches, with hardly an interruption, from the Marine Parade at Hastings to the Marina at St. Leonards, and forms probably the finest walk of the kind in the kingdom.

The vicinity of Hastings is replete with objects of interest, and amongst them we may mention Bulverhythe, a short distance from St.

Leonards, generally a.s.signed as the landing-place of William of Normandy. East Hill, or Camp Hill, was probably the site chosen for his first encampment, whence, after a brief stay, he marched to meet the English troops under Harold. Of the events of that day our readers are already well informed; but should any of them feel disposed to spend a day in visiting the old town of Battle, they will find their labour well repaid by an inspection of the ruins of Battle Abbey; though we must caution them against the supposition that the existing remains are those of the edifice erected by the Conqueror in commemoration of his victory: they are of a later date, yet still deserving of a better fate than seems to have fallen to their share.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RYE

(Suss.e.x)]

RYE,

SUSs.e.x.

To the Cinque Ports, of which Rye and Winchilsea are appendages, we have already adverted in several articles of this work. As places where strength and vigilance were particularly necessary, and from which ships might put to sea in cases of sudden emergency, these ports were ent.i.tled, in former times, to the special attention of government, and performed great and important services to the country. Their privileges are numerous, and they are within the jurisdiction of the Constable of Dover Castle, Warden of the Cinque Ports.

Until the reign of Henry VIII., the crown seems to have had no permanent navy, but to have depended almost entirely on the Cinque Ports for the protection of our maritime frontier; and hence the origin of those privileges conferred upon them by successive sovereigns, in acknowledgment of services rendered to the State. Among these are the exemption from toll and harbour-dues, still recognised at several ports, and various other rights of minor consideration. In ancient times there were several courts of jurisdiction, extending over all the ports and their members, and intended either as courts of appeal, for persons who considered themselves aggrieved by any of the separate and local tribunals, or for regulating the grand affairs of the whole a.s.sociation; but these may now be considered as obsolete--their functions have dwindled to mere matters of form.

Rye is a town and harbour of great antiquity, near the borders of the Kentish marshes. It occupies the declivity of a hill, on a peninsula, bounded on the south and west by the sea, and on the east by the river Rother. The town is composed of several well-formed and regularly built streets, and lighted with gas; and from various points the eye wanders over the channel and adjacent country, where rural and marine scenery conspire to form some of the most delightful views on the coast of England. The ancient history of Rye, during the height of its prosperity as a sea-port, abounds in incidents of a martial and romantic interest, as transmitted to us by Froissart and the ancient chroniclers of those times when the star of chivalry was still dominant in the kingdoms of Europe.

In the reign of Richard II., and again in that of Henry VI., Rye was burnt by the French, when the early records of the town are supposed to have been consumed; for, with the exception of a few fragments, all the old writings and charters which have been discovered are subsequent to that calamity. In the same conflagration, the old church is supposed to have fallen a sacrifice, and to have been rebuilt in its present form--a capacious cruciform structure with a central tower--but in a different situation, the original having stood on the spot, near Ypres tower, called the Old Church-yard. This tower, now appropriated to the purposes of a gaol, has recently undergone several alterations and improvements.

The old harbour of Rye, which in former days presented so stirring a scene of commercial activity, has dwindled like that of Sandwich, Winchilsea, and many of its prosperous contemporaries, into comparative insignificance. But in accounting for this melancholy fact, we must look to natural causes, rather than to the decay of native enterprise. The present harbour is situated on the east side of the town; and on the north--a mile and a half from the sea entrance--vessels of two hundred tons burden can still lade and unlade close to the quay. Under spirited management, and with proper funds for such an enterprise, it is believed that it might still be made to accommodate vessels of every draught and tonnage. By means of the three rivers, Rother, Tillingham, and Brede, which traverse the country, great facilities are afforded to commercial intercourse. Coal, corn, hops, bark, wood, and timber, const.i.tute the chief articles of trade; and several sloops are constantly employed in conveying chalk from the cliffs at Eastbourne, for the burning of lime.

During the season, the herring and mackarel fisheries employ a good many hands, the produce of which is chiefly sent to the London market.

The Borough of Rye has exercised the elective franchise from the earliest date of parliamentary representation. Previous to the enactment of the Reform Bill, it returned two members; but by that great public measure the town and its electoral district were limited to one representative. The government of the town is vested in a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors. The mayor is coroner for the borough and liberty, and also a justice of the peace. Courts of quarter sessions are held before a recorder, nominated by the crown; and a commission of the peace has been conferred on four gentlemen, residents of the borough, who meet in petty session twice a week in the Court-hall. The church-living, a discharged vicarage, is in the gift of the Earl of Burlington. The charitable inst.i.tutions consist of a Free Grammar School, a British School, an almshouse, and some minor bequests for benevolent purposes. Corn and provision-markets are held twice a week--a cattle-market every fortnight--and annual fairs on Whitmonday and the tenth of August.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOLKSTONE.

_KENT._]

FOLKSTONE.

Folkstone is in the county of Kent, and lies about seventy-two miles south-east of London, and seven west-south-west of Dover. In the beautiful vignette, from a drawing by Boyes, the view is taken from the eastward, and represents the characteristics of Folkstone of the past rather than the present. Few ports in her Majesty's dominions have risen into commercial eminence so rapidly as the subject of our present Engraving. For the following description we are princ.i.p.ally indebted to the recently published work of Mr. G. Measom. He remarks: "The town is very irregularly built in its lower and older part, having steep and narrow streets, which nevertheless are clean and well paved, and the whole is now lighted with gas. The higher portion, however, going up to the cliffs, is much more regular, and comprises several pretty terraces with lodging-houses for summer visitors, who may here enjoy all the benefits of a fine, bracing air, and sea-bathing, combined with that rural retirement so desirable in the country, and which cannot be found either at Dover, Ramsgate, or other bathing towns on this coast. The cliffs, too, command the most delightful views, south-west, over the wide level of Romney Marsh, as far as Beachy Head, while seaward stands the town and harbour at our feet, beyond which are the Straits of Dover, skirted in the horizon by the coast of France. Folkstone has two churches--one of modern erection in the upper town--and four or five places of worship for Dissenters, all of which have attached Sunday-schools; besides which there are several daily subscription-schools, and a good grammar-school. It has also a town-hall and market-house, a custom-house, a mechanics' inst.i.tute, dispensary, several libraries, reading-rooms, &c., and four or five good inns.

"The port of Folkstone, not less than the town, has been vastly improved by the South-Eastern Railway Company. Even before they acquired possession of it in 1845, efforts had been made by the construction of an arm at the end of the pier to arrest the progress of shingle, which here, as at Dover, constantly choked and filled up the harbour. The first step adopted by the company was the carrying out from the south-west end of the arm of the pier of a groyne formed with piles, and which gradually led to the formation of a breakwater, about fifty feet broad at top, forming an obtuse angle with the old arm of the pier. This at once stopped the further acc.u.mulation of shingle within the harbour, which was then at vast expense cleared of the gravel and mud long collected therein, and it has since remained clear. This breakwater, moreover, has been greatly improved by constructions of masonry intended to bind the work together; and at the same time great additions and improvements have been made both in the foundations and superstructures of the original piers. In fact, Folkstone Harbour, which was before a slough of gravel and mud, almost inaccessible except at half-spring or spring tides, has, owing to these improvements, become 'a harbour having twenty feet of water considerably within the entrance, and is now capable of being entered by steamers three hours and a half after high water; while during neap tides there are occasionally four or five feet of water in the entrance at low water, and immediately outside, sufficient for a steamer to take her pa.s.sengers from the pier-head and work herself clearly off.' (See _Mr. Swan's Report_.) Another point of importance in connexion with this harbour, is the great ease with which it can be taken in bad weather, to which the captains of steamers bear almost individual testimony; and to this, also, we may add the superior ease with which vessels may be swung, and the facility of backing out without turning round, so as to save time in landing pa.s.sengers and again leaving port. On the whole, this harbour, as now improved, is one of the finest monuments of engineering skill in this country, and confers infinite honour on Peter W. Barlow, Esq., the company's engineer, and the Directors, who so spiritedly backed the undertaking.

It scarcely need be added, that the first result of these improvements was to make Folkstone suited for a regular packet station, and now for some years this port has acquired at least one-half of the traffic across the Straits, which was formerly wholly monopolised by the neighbouring port of Dover; nor, as the sea voyage is shorter, and the steamers are vastly superior, can there be any doubt that ere long it will become the chosen route of all the intelligent travelling public.

Indeed, the constantly and rapidly increasing customs and harbour dues of the port, year by year, furnish of themselves a sufficient proof that Folkstone has acquired a vigour and vitality which it only requires perseverance in the inhabitants to maintain; nor can this increase in the prosperity of the town be truly ascribed to any other cause than the spirited conduct of the company, who have made it one of their most important maritime termini. The census, moreover, speaks on this subject with an eloquence that is quite unanswerable, for in 1831 Folkstone had only 2,300 inhabitants, and in 1841 but 2,900, whereas in 1851 it had upwards of 7,500; showing an increase of about 140 per cent. Facts like these speak more than all praise!"[13]

[13] G. Measom's _Ill.u.s.trated Guide to the South-Eastern Railway_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DOVER.

(from the Ramsgate Road.)]

DOVER,

FROM THE RAMSGATE ROAD.

The most favourable point of view for an artist who is desirous of obtaining a general view of Dover, is certainly that portion of the Ramsgate Road of which Mr. Bartlett has availed himself on the present occasion. Placed at a sufficient elevation to enable him to embrace a wide extent of land and water, he is still sufficiently near the town to secure that distinctness of detail which adds so much to the effect of a landscape. One of the chief points of attraction in Dover must always be the Castle, but as we shall have another opportunity of referring to that structure, in connection with our view of Dover from the Beach, we purpose now to devote our attention to the town itself.

At the period of the Conquest, Dover was unquestionably a place of considerable note. It is mentioned, with Sandwich and Romney, in the Domesday-book, as a privileged port; and is said to have enjoyed, from an earlier period, sundry privileges and immunities in common with those two towns, on consideration of supplying a certain number of ships and mariners for the defence of the adjacent coast. In the reign of King John, Dover received a charter as one of the Cinque Ports; and in several succeeding reigns, its shipping and mariners were frequently employed in the fleets a.s.sembled to convey English armies to France. As it was considered the key of England, it was surrounded with walls and strongly fortified; and as it was the princ.i.p.al port in the kingdom for persons taking shipping in proceeding to France, acts were pa.s.sed in the reign of Edward III. and Richard II., appointing the rate of pa.s.sage.

Henry VIII. expended large sums in the improvement of the harbour, the entrance of which had been much choked up by shingle washed in by the sea. A pier was commenced, and carried on at a great expense, but he died before it was completed; and in the reign of his successor, the work appears to have been almost wholly suspended. In the reign of Elizabeth, further attempts were made to improve the harbour; and in 1606 an act was pa.s.sed appointing eleven commissioners, who were empowered to receive certain rates, and employ the money in repairing the pier and improving the harbour. In succeeding times various plans have been tried to prevent the increase of the bar, which, after a gale of wind from the seaward, is sometimes increased so much, as to prevent all vessels, except those that are of very light draught of water, from entering or leaving the port. It is high water at Dover pier at sixteen minutes past eleven on the full and change of the moon; and the rise of the water at spring-tides is about twenty feet. Dover is much frequented in summer as a watering-place; and for the convenience which it affords, and the beautiful and interesting scenery in its neighbourhood, it is surpa.s.sed by no other town on the coast.

At a short distance from the entrance to Dover Castle is mounted the long bra.s.s gun, usually called Queen Elizabeth's pocket-pistol, which was presented to her Majesty by the United Provinces. It is twenty-four feet long; but is so much "honey-combed," that, were it fired, it would be certain to burst. Popular tradition says that it contains an inscription to this effect:--

"Sponge me well, and keep me clean, And I'll throw a ball to Calais green."

There is, indeed, an inscription on it in the Dutch language, but though it commemorates the destructive power of this long piece of ordnance, it says nothing which implies that its range was so extraordinary. The distance from Dover Castle to the church of Notre-Dame, at Calais, is rather more than twenty-six miles. This gun was cast at Utrecht in 1544, by James Tolkys, and the verses inscribed on its breech have been translated as follows:--

"O'er hill and dale I throw my ball; Breaker, my name, of mound and wall."

About a mile to the southward of the town is the celebrated cliff which is supposed to have been described by Shakspeare in King Lear.

"_Gloster._--Dost thou know Dover?