coals for the consumption of the town, and its exports principally oak
timber and plank, for the purposes of ship-building. The great supports
of the town are the numerous visitors who take lodgings there during the
bathing season, and the fishery, which gives employment to about 500
persons. What may now be considered the old town of Hastings is situated
in a hollow between two hills, the East and the Castle-hill, and
consists chiefly of two streets, which run nearly parallel to each
other, and are called High-street and All-Saints-street. The new town of
Hastings, which has been almost wholly erected within the last thirty
years, lies to the south and westward of the Castle-hill, so called from
the ruins of the old castle on its top. There are two old churches at
Hastings, St. Clement's and All-Saints', and a modern chapel, St.
Mary's, in Pelham-crescent, immediately under the Castle-hill. From the
accommodation which it affords to visitors, and the beauty and interest
of the walks and rides in its vicinity, Hastings is one of the most
agreeable watering-places on the southern coast of England.
[12] Camden's Britannia, Bishop Gibson's Translation.
[Illustration: HASTINGS.]
HASTINGS.
FROM THE BEACH.
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 space 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 class, 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 noble 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,
assembly-rooms, bath-houses, and hotels of large size and the most
complete arrangements. There are also pleasure-grounds and other
contrivances for the amusement or comfort of visiters. St. Leonards has
been able to boast of a large array of noble 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 assigned 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.
[Illustration: RYE
(Sussex)]
RYE,
SUSSEX.
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
entitled, 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 association;
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, constitute 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 institutions 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.
[Illustration: 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 principally 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' institute, 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 accumulation 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 passengers 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 passengers 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 _Illustrated Guide to the South-Eastern Railway_.
[Illustration: 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 assembled 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 principal port in the kingdom for
persons taking shipping in proceeding to France, acts were passed in the
reign of Edward III. and Richard II., appointing the rate of passage.
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 passed 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
surpassed by no other town on the coast.
At a short distance from the entrance to Dover Castle is mounted the
long brass 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?
_Edgar._--Ay, master.
_Gloster._--There is a cliff, whose high and bending head
Looks fearfully in the confined deep:
Bring me to the very brim of it.
* * * * *
_Edgar._--Come on, sir; here's the place:--stand
Still.--How fearful
And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eye so low!
The crows, and choughs, that wing the midway air,
Show scarce so gross as beetles: halfway down
Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head:
The fishermen that walk upon the beach
Appear like mice; and yon tall anchoring bark,
Diminished to her cock; her cock, a buoy
Almost too small for sight: the murmuring surge,
That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes,
Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more,
Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight
Topple down headlong."
[Illustration: DOVER.
_KENT._]
DOVER.
Dover is in the county of Kent, and lies about seventy-two miles
south-south-east of London. The town is situated in a valley, having on
one side the cliffs on which Dover Castle is built, and on the other the
eminence called the _Heights_; these are strongly fortified, and form
the principal defence of the town and harbour. The greater part of the
town lies on the western side of a small stream, called the Dour, which
there discharges itself into the sea. The view in the Engraving is taken
from the beach, on the eastern side of the harbour, looking towards the
north-east. The row of houses seen extending in a line nearly parallel
with the beach is called the Marine Parade; and, crowning the cliff, is
perceived what of old was termed "the Key and Bar of England,"--Dover
Castle. Its importance as a place of defence against the attacks of an
invading enemy has, however, been seldom proved; and for the last three
centuries the best defence of England against the invasion of her foes
has been her wooden-walls.
"Britannia needs no bulwark,
No towers along the steep;
Her march is o'er the mountain wave,
Her home is on the deep.
With thunders from her native oak,
She quells the floods below,
As they roar on the shore,
When the stormy tempests blow;
When the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy tempests blow."
The height of the cliff, on which Dover Castle stands, is about three
hundred and twenty feet above the level of the sea; and the area of the
ground inclosed by the outward walls is about thirty-four acres. It has
been supposed that the Romans, in one of Julius Caesar's expeditions,
first built a castle and established a military station at Dover; but
this opinion is founded on mere conjecture, and is extremely improbable.
That the Romans, at some subsequent period, had a station not far from
the present keep is certain; for the remains of the walls and ditch are
still perceptible. It however appears to have been but of small size,
and was probably only a _castrum exploratorum_, or look-out station,
garrisoned by a small body of soldiers detached from a neighbouring
camp. Within the boundary of the exploratory camp the Romans had built a
pharos, or watch-tower, the greater part of which is yet standing.