The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1

To the Lowther family, who have a handsome castle here, Whitehaven owes its foundation as a borough, and much of its prosperity as a trading port. To the munificence of its patrons – and especially to the Earl of Lonsdale, who has spared neither personal expense nor political influence to facilitate every object which held out the promise of permanent advantage to the inhabitants, it is eminently indebted. And in return, it may be justly observed, that whatever the patron has expended in improving the town and harbour, the people have repaid by increased attachment to the interests of their benefactor. The inhabitants of Whitehaven are noted for their public spirit, honourable conduct in trade, and for that indefatigable attention to business which has so happily distinguished them through a long series of years. It has several schools, two weekly papers, and the study of literature and science is much cultivated and encouraged by the families of affluence and respectability who reside in the town and vicinity. Social and hospitable intercourse, with balls, assemblies, and public fetes, render the stranger's residence at Whitehaven extremely agreeable. It offers, in general, all the luxuries of a country town, with few or none of its disadvantages; and presents at all times the means of prompt intercourse with the great commercial emporium of Liverpool, the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Independently of its immediate vicinity to the Lakes, it would be difficult to point out any situation in the northern counties which enjoys so many attractions in regard to situation, scenery, and society, as the picturesque and prosperous town of Whitehaven.

WHITEHAVEN HARBOUR

In another article (#pgepubid00056) 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 passed 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 quantity 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 hitherto been devised for the prevention of these sad and appalling accidents.

ST. BEES' COLLEGE

"C'est-là qu'amante du désert,
La méditation 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, principal 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 Cumberland, 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 institution 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 classical school-education, with testimonials of moral character; and, after two years' study, he is entitled 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 classics was provided for a hundred boys. This institution 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 - 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 passed 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 fortitude, 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.] 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 shore, 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.

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 mass 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 shore – 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 masses 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 Buttermere, 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 shore 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 Buttermere, 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 Buttermere is situated the Sour Milk Gill, a waterfall so termed from the frothy whiteness of its surface, which has been supposed to resemble butter-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.

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 associated, prospectively, with the first commercial ports of the kingdom. The illustration prefixed sufficiently indicates the use to which it is applied; but the rapidly increasing importance of this new maritime station is entitled 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 surpassed; 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-Dyke, 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 spacious 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 spacious 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 surpassed in any part of the kingdom.

BLACKPOOL

In referring to this watering-place for a second time we feel some difficulty; not that we have said all that can be put forth in connexion with its claims to the patronage of the health-seeking and pleasure-loving population of Lancashire and the surrounding counties, but because our desire has been to introduce, wherever possible, some historical notice of the places which form the subject of our artist's pencil, especially where, as in the present instance, more than one illustration has been given of the same town or port. We must, however, confess, that of Blackpool, historically considered, we have nothing to record. Its chronicles, if ever it possessed any, have been swallowed up by the encroaching waves, which have taken a large portion of what was once dry land to augment their liquid domains.

About half-a-mile from the beach, the stranger's attention is directed to a small rock in the sea, called the "Pennystone," which, according to local tradition, marks the place where a public-house once stood on dry land. In this stone, it is added, were fixed iron hooks, to which travellers usually fastened their horses' bridles while they alighted to refresh themselves with "penny pots of beer," – a circumstance perpetuated in the name which it still retains.

At the south end of the town is the now dilapidated building called Vauxhall, where, in 1715, the Chevalier St. George lay for some time concealed, while the secret measures were concocting by his adherents for a general insurrection. This house belonged to the family of the Tyldesleys, who at that time, and long previously, had considerable possessions in this country; but being faithful adherents of the House of Stuart, they embraced the desperate cause of the royal exile with undissembled zeal. Sir Thomas Tyldesley, the head of the family at that moment, prepared this house for the reception of the royal adventurer; but this open declaration of his attachment proved ruinous to himself and his descendants. The last male heir joined the standard of the Chevalier in 1745. One of his ancestors was slain at the battle of Wigan Lane, in that county, while marching to the assistance of Charles II.; a monument to his memory was erected by one of his officers in 1679. It is still in tolerable preservation, and bears an appropriate inscription.

East of Blackpool are situated the townships of Great and Little Marton, where a subterraneous forest has been discovered, by digging out the timber from which many of the peasantry obtain considerable sums. Some of the trees are sound enough to make agricultural instruments, barn roofs and fences, and even articles of ornamental furniture. Much of the land in this neighbourhood has been reclaimed from a state of marsh; and there are still remaining, within a few miles, a Moss comprising several thousand acres – so extensive, indeed, as to have passed into a local aphorism, "As inexhaustible as Pilling Moss," being an ordinary mode of expressing anything that is supposed to be without limit. This moss is reported to have, as lately as 1745, altered considerably in its level, and, by a movement to the south, to have destroyed one hundred acres of improved land. It affords a large supply of fuel for the district, and seems likely to continue to do so for generations to come.

The little watering-place, from which we have thus wandered away, owes its name to a pool of water of more than ordinary darkness of colour, caused by the decaying vegetation of the marshes. It has now, however, disappeared under the hand of modern improvement, and given place to a supply of water more than usually pure, and which is not to be often found in such close proximity to the coast.

BLACKPOOL. THE SANDS

"Southward – old Cambria's Alpine charm
Cast their broad shadows o'er the plain;
Northward – the Cambrian summits swell
In many a glittering pinnacle;
In front – the waves, so darkly blue,
Refresh the heart and cheer the view;
While further – Mona's mountains swim
Like clouds upon the horizon's rim."

Blackpool is a favourable instance of that spirit of enterprise which is at work on almost every point of the British coast, and under the creative influence of which so many obscure or little-frequented localities have suddenly risen into provincial, and even national importance. Wherever nature had thrown out any encouraging hint, it has been eagerly taken advantage of by the hand of art, and, under the guidance of taste and liberality, been turned into a source of public emolument. It is, comparatively, only a few years ago since Blackpool exhibited in its appearance nothing superior to that of an inconsiderable hamlet, with few visitors, less trade, and little opportunity of extending the sources of native industry. It is now a fashionable and well-frequented watering-place, deriving a certain annual revenue from its visitors, and enjoying a considerable share of trade, with every reasonable prospect of a progressive increase. These are gratifying facts which abundantly prove the healthful vigour with which the country is animated, and the boundless resources which are everywhere thrown open to native industry and talent.

The line of coast at Blackpool runs in a nearly straight direction for several miles; and the cliffs which form the sea boundary, mostly clay, rise to various heights – the greatest elevation above high-water mark being about twenty yards. The sea-bank is lined with houses at considerable intervals to the extent of a mile or more; not grouped together as in villages, but each occupying a position independent of its neighbour. Most of those houses intended for the accommodation of visitors have an aspect due west, so as to command an uninterrupted marine view, which at this point presents a field of interest of which the mind and the eye are never weary. The land, gradually rising as it recedes from the beach, acquires a degree of elevation which excludes the eastern landscape; but for this defect the other points of the compass make ample amends, and present landscapes so varied and extensive as can be rarely met with on the coast of Great Britain. To the southward, at the distance of fifty miles or more, and gradually stretching forward till lost in the horizon, the "Cambrian Alps" present a grand and imposing feature, connected with glimpses of Cheshire, Flint, Caernarvon, and the Isle of Anglesea. On the north, the promontory of Furness, the mountainous features of Westmoreland, Cumberland, and the craggy summits of Lancashire, give a bold transition to the picture; while in front the dimly-visioned Mona finishes the panorama, and conjures up many a slumbering image and recollection of the past.

The sea on this point of the coast retreats nearly half a mile at ebb-tide, so that an ample space of nearly twenty miles, on a bed of hard sand, is left for the enjoyment of pedestrian, horse, and carriage exercise. These, indeed, are the principal out-door resources during the fine season, and, with the additional luxury of a salubrious and bracing atmosphere, produce a highly invigorating effect upon the constitution of invalids, – particularly dyspeptics, who derive great and almost uniform benefit from this new and salutary mode of life. The air of Blackpool is proverbial for its salubrious quality; the best evidence of which is afforded by the patriarchal age of many of its inhabitants.

LYTHAM

"All places that the eye of Heaven visits
Are to the wise man ports and happy havens."

    Shakespeare.
Lytham is another of those delightful watering-places to which, in our brief survey of the Lancashire coast, we have so often had occasion to refer. There is not a bay, indeed, along the whole line of sand which forms our ocean frontier on the west, but offers some pleasing summer retreat, where the invalid may repair his constitution, and return with renovated strength to the active duties of life.

Lytham is about twelve miles west from Preston, and offers every accommodation to visitors which is either usual or desirable in sea-bathing quarters. The town is cheerful, well-built, containing about fifteen hundred inhabitants, and is a place of considerable antiquity. It was here, that in the reign of Richard the First, Baron Fitz-Roger founded, in honour of the Virgin Mary and St. Cuthbert, a cell of Benedictine monks; the annual revenues of which, at the dissolution of religious houses, amounted to fifty-four pounds – equal in the present day to at least three hundred and twenty pounds. The site of this ancient cell was shortly after granted by Parliament to Sir Thomas Holcroft. Lytham Hall, the seat of John Clifton, Esq., is an object of considerable interest in the neighbourhood, and familiar to all who have ever listened to the "Lass of Lytham Hall."[17 - "I've climb'd the Alps, – I've cross'd the seas,And travers'd many a land,Where summer smiles on spicy isles,And coral decks the strand:But the fairest spot that Earth can boast,Is here, by the blue sea-wall,And the fairest maid on her native coastIs the Lass of Lytham Hall," &c. &c.]