Once a Week (magazine)/Series 1/Volume 9/A day at Great Yarmouth

by Edward Walford

A DAY AT GREAT YARMOUTH.

 

The South Quay, Great Yarmouth.

Although the scenery of the eastern counties, as a rule, is far from attractive, I know not of a more interesting place, or one more worthy of a visit than the “ancient borough of Great Yarmouth.” Its historical associations are neither few nor poor; in its corporate capacity it has a character quite its own, as also have its inhabitants, who are composed of the old Saxon stock, planted here by Cerdic and his followers, with a strong infusion of the Danish^[1] element. And as you stand upon its long and handsome quay, you might easily fancy that you were in some seaport town of Belgium, were it not for the simple fact that such a quay is not to be found in Europe, except only at Seville.

We will leave it to antiquaries to settle the old dispute as to what place is the veritable Garianonum of the Roman era, and whether that name in reality belongs to Burgh Castle or to Caistor,—both villages in the immediate neighbourhood of Yarmouth. Garianonum is placed by Spelman at Caistor, instead of at Burgh, on the alleged ground that the latter is too far from the sea. Spelman, however, did not know that the sea really washed its walls in former times, and that a wide estuary penetrated inland nearly as far as Norwich. Camden identities Garianonum with Burgh Castle; and in support of his view it should be mentioned that anchors, buoys, and sea-shells have been found there, together with Roman coins, from Domitian downwards. Moreover, the western side is open, the Romans considering that it was sufficiently protected by their ships. At Caistor, or Caistre, were probably the ‘æstiva’ or summer quarters of the Roman legions. The castle there was erected about 1420-40, by the family of Fastolf, and it was for some centuries the residence of the Pastons, Earls of Yarmouth. Sir John Fastolf was esquire to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and distinguished himself at Agincourt, and at the battle of the Herrings, so called from the salt fish which he was convoying. It is almost superfluous to add that these Fastolfs were in no way connected with Shakspeare’s Falstaff, had not the confusion been repeatedly made. It is enough to state that both at Burgh and at Caistor great quantities of coins and other relics of the Roman empire, from Galba to Constantine, have been dug up, and that the name at Caistor and the massive ruins at Burgh, remain to this day as standing proofs that the vicinity of Yarmouth was an important station for the legions of Rome.

There could have been no Roman station at Yarmouth, for the very good reason that while the Roman eagles waved over Britain, the spot on which Yarmouth stands was not land, but sea. Like many other places situated at the mouth of rivers, Yarmouth has sprung up on soil partly alluvial and partly deposited by the tides and currents of the German ocean. It is not a little singular that while at Aldborough and Dunwich to the south, and at Cromer to the north, we have been losing acres of terra firma, year by year for centuries, and while old Neptune, by eating away the cliffs, has contrived to swallow whole a bishop’s see and the metropolis of the East Angles, here, on the contrary, he has rejoiced to give back his stolen property, and yearly to deposit some yards of the cleanest and firmest sand which he had been holding in solution. This process has been going on gradually but surely for nearly two thousand years, if not from a date anterior to Christianity itself.

The fact is that the Yare, the Waveney, and the Bure, which intersect Norfolk and divide it from Suffolk, appear to have entered into a conspiracy, either with or against the god of the sea. Flowing through a fertile, gravelly, and loamy soil, they each bring down from the interior rich deposits, and these being beaten back by the tidal action of the sea, in the course of many centuries, have formed a large inland estuary called the Breydon waters. At length they blocked up their own mouths, and formed what would have been a Delta, if the northern channel had not become dried up, leaving their waters to find their way into the ocean by a narrow bed to the south. The result has been that a long tongue of dry land sprung into existence during the Roman, Saxon, and Danish eras, reaching from the old Castrum or Caistor to Gorlestone. Thus arose out of the waters the firm sandy beach upon which, nearly 1400 years ago, Cerdic the Saxon leapt from his primitive ship of war, and from which he forced his way into the country of the East Angles, and settled amongst their northern and southern “folk.” If we may believe the local traditions, it was only a few years before the Norman Conquest that houses began to be built upon what now is the old town of Yarmouth, then a very narrow island. Soon after the Conquest the northern outlet of the three rivers became choked up, and the island grew into a part of the solid mainland. Yarmouth soon became an important place, and it numbered as many as seventy burgesses in the time of Edward the Confessor.

The rest of the early history of the town is soon told. Within half a century, Herbert de Losynga, Bishop of Norwich, in compassion for the fishermen who had built their huts on this lonely spot, founded a church on the north side of the present town, and dedicated it to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of fishermen. In consequence of the concourse of fishermen from different parts of England, and especially (so say the records of the borough) from the Cinque Ports, to catch herrings at certain seasons of the year, and of the convenience of the open sand for drying and curing what they caught, the Barons of the Cinque Ports sent their bailiffs to attend the fishery for forty days in each year, and ultimately contrived to exercise a jurisdiction of their own. The town, however, was too independent to play second fiddle to the “Men of Kent,” and, at the request of its citizens, King Henry I. was pleased to invest one of their number with the authority of provost, who was annually chosen by the burgesses.

The good town of Yarmouth continued to flourish under this kind of government until the reign of King John, who, with several bad points in his character united one virtue—a taste for incorporating the rising towns in his dominions, and more especially the seaports. He granted the burgesses of Yarmouth a charter, the original of which, still in existence, is kept in the Guildhall. The borough soon rose in tonnage and in independence, and in the course of a few years became the most important seaport between the Thames and the Humber. Henry III. granted to the burgesses of Yarmouth leave and licence to fortify the town with a wall and moat; but the walls were not finished for a century afterwards. When completed, they inclosed a space of 2238 yards, running southwards from the north-east wall of St. Nicholas’ churchyard. The town had, in all, ten gates and sixteen towers. Its walls were surrounded by a deep moat, and the bridges at each gate were kept most carefully with watch and ward. The eastern wall, of course, was then close to the sea; though now, owing to the receding of the waves, there is a space of more than a quarter of a mile between that line of walls and the sea. In the intervening space stands the modern town of Yarmouth, with its noble marine drive of a mile and a half in length.

The town, thus fortified, was deemed proof against all assailants with bows and arrows, battering-rams, and the other engines of attack then known; but when gunpowder was discovered, it was rightly judged that the walls would not hold out against a siege without several additional outworks:

Old Tower, standing in 1863.

when, therefore, Henry VIII. declared war against France and Scotland, the government of the day ordered the walls on the east side to be ramparted up and backed with earth; and this was done with such speed that in ten weeks the town was pronounced impregnable. The works were enlarged and completed by Elizabeth in the year before the coming of the Spanish Armada. Several portions of the old walls may still be seen between the houses in the back of Chapel Street, and along the edge of the churchyard of St. Nicholas. The towers by which the town was defended were named after King Henry, the Black Prince, &c.; three of the towers still stand in a more or less perfect condition—one at the north, and two at the south-east of the town. The gates under them have long since disappeared. They were narrow and inconvenient, like Temple Bar, and, not having equally rich associations or influential friends, were sentenced to demolition. The northern gate was of more than common interest, as tradition records that it was built out of the earnings of the workmen who buried the dead bodies at the time when the plague visited Yarmouth. Most probably, the real artisans were members of some guild or religious association whose special duty it was to perform the last of the “corporal acts of mercy,”—viz., to bury the dead.

After the alarm of the Spanish Armada had passed away, the burgesses of Yarmouth raised a large mound of earth outside the southern gate, to command the river and the South Denes, and crowned it with large pieces of ordnance, at a cost of £125; the place is still known as the South Mount. It was by this southern gate that William III. entered, when he landed at Yarmouth in 1692, when he was sumptuously entertained by the municipal authorities. We will not specify the various charters which, from time to time, have been granted to the “ancient borough,” beyond mentioning that Charles II. superseded by a mayor the two bailiffs who had previously ruled jointly, and reduced the numbers of the aldermen and councillors. It appears, however, that the good people of Yarmouth did not much like being thus shorn of their second chief magistrate, and, partly in the spirit of discontent, and partly for purposes of real practical use, elected annually a “water bailiff,” who exercised on the bench a summary jurisdiction in disputes relating to the fisheries, though not, of course, in the king’s name. This popular election, however, came to an end on the passing of the Municipal Reform Bill of 1836.

The town of Great Yarmouth is built for the most part in little narrow lanes, or “rows,” as they are called, 156 in number, which run eastwards from the quays towards the sea. Very many of these “rows” have a most foreign aspect. They are mostly unpaved, and so narrow that common waggons and carts cannot go up or down them: but the people use instead a curious vehicle, called a Yarmouth cart, consisting of a narrow frame, of which the front part constitutes the shafts and the hinder part rests upon a single pair of wheels.

Along the South quay stand some handsome mansions of the merchant princes of Yarmouth, bearing testimony to the wealth of the town a century or two ago. One of these, formerly the residence of Ireton or Bradshaw, but now occupied by Mr. Charles J. Palmer, presents a specimen of very magnificent oak carving in the interior, and has a special interest on account of its large drawing-room having been the room in which the execution of King Charles I. was resolved upon. It has lately been restored to its original condition; and we much wish that it had been possible to add to this paper an illustration, giving a view of it in its present state. Mr. Palmer is well known as an antiquary and a man of great taste and of public spirit; and his influence has largely contributed to the preservation of many antiquities relating to the borough. Another of these handsome mansions, now the Star Hotel, contains some very fine oak carving.

During the war with the great Napoleon a considerable addition was made to the importance of Yarmouth by its being made the chief rendezvous for the fleet, and Nelson (himself a Norfolk man) was frequently here.^[2] In 1810 the ex-king of Sweden landed here, just as, three years before, Louis XVIII. sought a refuge on its shores as an exile, under the assumed name of Count de Lille.

A jetty was first built out into the sea at Yarmouth in 1560; but, having fallen into absolute decay, it was replaced early in the present century by the present building, which is consecrated to memory as the spot from which Nelson, Duncan, Gambier, Jervis, and many other gallant heroes, stepped on board their ships, when Yarmouth Roads were the rendezvous of the British fleet in the northern and eastern seas. When first opened, it ran 450 feet into the sea; but the sand deposited by the receding waves has reduced its length to about half that length at ordinary high-tides. Two handsome piers, one at the north and one at the south of the town, add much to its attractions; and Yarmouth is well provided with other places of amusement in the shape of a theatre, a public library, and some assembly-rooms, which are places of recreation during the summer season. To these must be added the races and regatta, and a more than fair proportion of reviews and public balls. Consequently, it is not to be wondered at that the annual visitors to Yarmouth in the summer and autumn are steadily increasing in numbers, and that it is found necessary year by year to build increasing accommodation for their reception. The fashionable season is the latter part of the summer and the beginning of autumn.

Yarmouth roads afford excellent anchorage, and they are seldom empty of a large fleet of merchantmen and colliers, though the numbers vary much, according to the state of the weather. We have counted as many as 1300 sail in the roads.

The anchorage is protected by the Scroby and Corton sands, which run parallel with the beach at the distance of something more than a mile from the shore. At very low tides portions of these sands are dry; but they are generally covered by a shallow depth of water which with the least wind, and often without any wind at all, is lashed into furious breakers. The beach itself, and indeed the entire coast of Norfolk, is most dangerous to coasters; as the tombstones in the churchyard can tell the visitor. When a storm visits this coast, it seldom leaves its work half done. Thus in 1789 no less than thirty-five vessels were driven ashore on the last day of October between Happisburg and Corton; and the records of the town relate that in the year 1692 above 200 sail of ships and at least 1000 souls belonging to the ports of Norfolk, including Yarmouth, were lost in one night between Lowestoft and Lynn. It is singular that it is not with an easterly gale that the greatest damage is done on the Yarmouth coast, though it lies so open to the east, the waves being broken and spent upon the sands in the offing. The severest storms are those which come up under a north-westerly wind, which forces up the waters out of the Northern Sea in vast excess of the average. Such was the case only so lately as the month of May, 1860, when the whole Norfolk coast was swept by a terrific gale, which strewed its sands with wrecks, and caused a sad loss of life. On that occasion even the life-boat crew felt that it was impossible for human hands to make way with their gallant vessel against the joint force of wind and tide, and were obliged, therefore, to leave several sufferers to their fate. Still, for the most part of the summer the sea is smooth and calm, and the bathing is safe, the ordinary tides rising and falling little more than six or seven feet.

Among the various public buildings of Yarmouth we should particularise the Town Hall upon the South Quay, built in 1716; the Naval Hospital, erected in 1809-11 at a cost of 120,000l., (now occupied as a Naval Lunatic Asylum); and the Armoury and Naval Arsenal, built under Wyatt in 1806, when Yarmouth Roads were the head-quarters of the fleet; it was calculated to hold stores for six ships and six sloops, and 10,000 stand of arms; but the establishment has recently been broken up, and the place turned into quarters for the militia. The Theatre was built in 1778; the Baths were opened in 1759, and the Public Rooms adjoining in 1788: the original drawbridge connecting the two quays together was erected in 1786. The Custom House, a handsome building on the middle of the South Quay, was formerly the residence of the ancient and respectable family of Sayers,^[3] who still are well represented at Yarmouth. Besides the above, there was a curious and old-fashioned Guildhall at the entrance to the churchyard of St. Nicholas, but it has recently been taken down.

St. Nicholas, Yarmouth, is one of the finest and handsomest parish churches in England, and in its original beauty it could have fallen little short of St. Mary Redcliffe, at Bristol. It is 230 feet long, by 108 broad; and in its original design was cruciform, with a handsome tower and spire in the centre. Before the Reformation it was rich in its decorations and celebrated for the “Miracle Plays” performed within its walls; but its chief glory was a certain “Miraculous Star.” In the church-books we still find entries of items for “leading in” the Miraculous Star, and for making a new one: and for making a “thread line” and a new “forelock” for the “Paschal.” The organ of St. Nicholas is said to be the finest known, except that at Haarlem. There is in the church a curious and valuable library, and a desk of singular construction, so arranged as to turn round and present the books on any of the shelves to the reader’s hand without displacing others. The church was formerly rich in monumental brasses, but these were all removed in 1551, and sent up to London to be cast into weights for the use of the town.

A lofty stone cross, according to the general custom, once marked the ground of St. Nicholas churchyard as consecrated; but every vestige of it has long since gone, together with the yew tree which no doubt grew near it. The adjoining gardens, which once formed part of the monastic grounds, are still the property of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich; and in them there still stand several pear and mulberry trees planted by the monks in former days; one of the latter is the largest in the east of England.

At the era of the Reformation the new doctrines were received with much favour at Yarmouth, and we read of one William Swanton, a chaplain, who interrupted the sermon on a Sunday, in 1535, by denouncing the honour given to saints’ pictures and images, and avowing his belief that “holy water is good sauce for a capon:” as also of four merchants of the town who greatly disturbed the congregation by uttering “heretical words” of a like import; one of the latter, with an eye to business which savours of neither faith nor works, but rather of worldliness, bargained loudly for a last of herrings while the preacher was in the pulpit.

There were frequent quarrels between the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and the burgesses of Yarmouth, as to the patronage of the Church, the latter desiring to get the nomination into their own hands; but their efforts were unsuccessful, as a reference to the “Clerical Directory” for 1863 will show. Adjoining the parish church are the remains of the old Benedictine monastery, recently restored in excellent taste, and now used as the national school. A public breakfast used to be given here to the inhabitants every Christmas Day; this caused great scandal, and an attempt was made to suppress it in 1614; but the parishioners liked this part of the old religion too well to abandon it without a struggle, so they brought the matter before the Lords of the Privy Council, but without success, and eventually it was put down by authority.

The constant and easy intercourse by sea between Yarmouth and Holland, where the reformed religion had assumed a freer action, had so powerful an effect upon the inhabitants of Yarmouth that we find the ecclesiastical authorities at Norwich had to put the laws into motion for the suppression of “Sectaries,” and Queen Elizabeth supported her ministers by commanding the “Anabaptists and such like heretics, who had flocked to the coast towns of England, to depart the realm within twenty days.” On this occasion an Anabaptist preacher named Cayne was imprisoned; and with admirable impartiality one John Wright, “a Jesuit or seminary priest,” and a Franciscan Friar, whose name is not recorded, then lying as prisoners in Yarmouth Gaol, were “sent over the seas” by the bailiffs of the town, apparently on their own authority. A chapel used by the Dutch, in which a Mr. Brinsley had preached, was also forcibly closed by the authorities and turned into a warehouse. The Rev. Thomas Bridge, who having held a living in Norwich, had become an independent, and had settled in Yarmouth, preached here frequently and powerfully during the Commonwealth, and after fighting a hard battle for his ground, obtained the use of the chancel of the parish church as a chapel for his congregation, and he continued to minister there until the Restoration, (the Presbyterians having their own ministry), when he was ejected.

We have already hinted that the borough of Yarmouth, in its corporate capacity, has on various occasions shown a high and independent spirit, as if its inhabitants were resolved to “hold their own” against all rivals. Nor is this to be wondered at, considering the maritime position of the town, and the distinguished character of many of those individuals who have been entrusted with its liberties. The High Steward of Great Yarmouth, in the words of the Charter of Charles II., must be unus præclarus vir; and there can be no doubt that few towns can show a nobler list of distinguished names than Yarmouth. Among the High Stewards since the reign of Edward VI. have been Dudley, Duke of Northumberland; Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk; Dudley, Earl of Leicester; Cecil, Lord Burleigh; Devereux, Earl of Essex; Howard, Earl of Nottingham; Sydney, Earl of Leicester; Sackville, Earl of Dorset; Henry Cromwell (the Protector’s youngest son); Hyde, Earl of Clarendon; Paston, Viscount and Earl of Yarmouth; Sir Robert Walpole, and his son and grandson, successors to his title of Earl of Orford; George, first Marquis Townshend; Lords Bayning, Sydney, Lichfield, and Sondes. In the list of the Recorders of the borough occur the names of Miles Corbet, the regicide; the Honourable Robert Walpole, &c.

The Seal of the Corporation of Yarmouth is of the early date of 1251. It consists of the patron saint, Saint Nicholas, seated in a chair of state, with his pastoral staff in his hand, and an angel on either side, with the incription “O Pastor vere, tibi subjectis miserere.” on the reverse is a ship of the twelfth or thirteenth century, and the legend “Sig:Comunit:de:Gernemutha.”

At one time, viz.: in 1667, the cool independence of the good people of Yarmouth rose so high that they took upon themselves to begin a coinage; and in that year, farthings (now very rarely to be met with) were struck off by them. King Charles, as might he expected, was very indignant at their presumption, and forced the citizens to pay the fine of 1000l. before he would grant them his royal pardon. The same thing, we have heard, happened at Beccles, a town situated some ten or twelve miles inland, but with what result we are not informed.

But our sketch of Great Yarmouth would not be complete without some notice of its fisheries, which are of ancient celebrity.

Then followed Yar, soft washing Norwitch wall,
And with him brought a present joyfully,
Of his one fish unto their festival,
Whose like none else could show.
Whose liSpenser’s “Faërie Queene,” IV., canto xi.

During the mackerel season, the beach at Yarmouth, near the jetty, affords a most amusing scene; great quantities of fish are continually brought ashore in large flat boats, called ferry-boats, and sold upon the beach. The fish are then washed, packed up in hampers, or “peds,” and sent off to the railway. The mackerel fishery realises many thousands annually, and employs a large number of vessels, with ten hands in each. The herring fishery,^[4] however, is even a greater source of profit to the town, nearly double the number of both boats and hands being engaged in it.

The mackerel fishery begins the early part of May, and terminates in the first week in July; it is a complete voyage of adventure, both to owners and men, each participating in the amount of stock raised, according to their several stations and interests.

The deep-sea white herring fishery comes next in succession; the boats are obliged to be at the place of rendezvous, Brassey Sound, in the island of Shetland, by the twenty-second of June, where their nets, stores, and materials are examined, and their men mustered by the officer of the fishery residing there, who is appointed by the Board of Commission at Edinburgh. There is a bounty allowed of 3l. per ton on the admeasurement of the boat, and 4s. per barrel on the number of barrels of fish caught, and this fishery is regulated by Act of Parliament.

The Red Herring, or Home Fishery, for which this town and Lowestoft have been for a long time celebrated, commences a little before Michaelmas (though of modern years the seasons have been somewhat later than formerly), when the fish appear at first in small quantities upon the Norfolk shore, and in the neighbourhood of the sands. “The latter part of October,” says the author of a local guide-book, “is the season for the greatest plenty, and when the fish have attained their full growth (which seems not to be the case at first), they are ready to spawn and then become shotten; this event is hastened by stormy weather. The fish are caught in equal quantities in the mid-seas and near sands, and the range is from Smith’s Knoll (seldom to the north of it), to the foreland.”

The method of catching and curing herrings is as follows:—At the beginning of the season the boats sail off to sea, about ten leagues north-east from this port, in order to meet the shoals, or second part of the first division of herrings, which separate off the north part of Scotland. Being arrived on the fishing-ground in the evening (the proper time for fishing), they shoot out their nets, extending about 2200 yards in length, and eight in depth, which, by the help of small casks, called bowls, fastened on one side at a distance of thirty to forty yards from each other, are suspended in a perpendicular position beneath the surface of the water. If the quantity of fish caught in one night amount only to a few thousands, they are salted, and the vessels continue on the fishing-ground two or three nights longer, salting the fish as they are caught, till they have obtained a considerable quantity; when they bring them into the roads, where they are landed and lodged in the fish-houses. Sometimes, when the quantity of fish is very small, they will continue on the fishing-ground a week or ten days; but in general they bring them in every two or three days, and sometimes oftener, especially when the quantity amounts to six or seven lasts,^[5] which often happens, and instances not unfrequently occur of a single boat bringing into the roads at one time fourteen to sixteen lasts. As soon as the herrings are brought on shore, they are carried to the fish-offices, where they are salted and laid in heaps on the floors, about two feet deep; after they have continued in this situation about fifty hours, the salt is washed from them by putting them into baskets and plunging them in water; thence they are carried to an adjoining apartment, where, after being pierced through the gills by small wooden spits, about four feet long, they are handed to the men in the upper part of the house, who place them at proper distances, beginning nearly as high as the top of the roof, and proceeding downwards, where they are cured or made red. The house being thus filled with herrings, many small wood fires are kindled underneath upon the floor, whose number is in proportion to the size of the room, and the smoke which ascends from these fires dries or cures the herrings. After the fish have hung in this manner about seven days, the fires are extinguished, that the oil and fat may drip down; about two days after, the fires are rekindled, and, after two more such drippings, the fires are kept continually burning until the herrings are perfectly cured; but this requires a longer or shorter time, according as they are designed for foreign or home consumption. After the herrings have hung a proper time, they are taken down (or “struck”), and packed away in barrels, containing eight hundred or one thousand each, and then shipped off for market. The ships receive the barrels on board in the harbour, and sail direct for the Mediterranean Ports. The trade formerly was chiefly confined to foreign parts, especially to Roman Catholic countries, only a small quantity being reserved for home consumption, but of late years the home consumption has greatly increased. This fishing terminates in November.

In 1784 there were equipped at this port, two Greenland ships, called The Yarmouth and The Norfolk; and afterwards no less than eight ships were fitted out for the Greenland and Davis’s Straits whale fisheries; this continued for several years, but owing to some partial failure of success, and perhaps still more to the want of a little perseverance, this trade was on a sudden relinquished, the ships and stores were sold to a great loss, and the whole concern totally abandoned. It is, however, to be hoped that this trade will hereafter be revived again through that enterprising spirit for which Yarmouth is so highly distinguished.

E. W.

 

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1. Many Danish terms are still in use along this coast. For instance, the deep water between the sandbanks is called a “gatt,” just as in Denmark.
2. The visitor to Yarmouth will be much struck by the beauty of the Nelson Column on the South Denes: it is 144 feet in height, and was erected in 1817-18, by a public subscription in the county of Norfolk.
3. One of this family, Capt. Sayers, when in command of the Revenue cruiser, Ranger, in 1817, captured a lugger of Folkstone, off the Yorkshire coast, with a cargo of smuggled silk, tobacco, &c., valued at £18,000.
4. That the herring-fishery of Yarmouth was formerly deemed interesting, is evident from Tom Nashe’s “Lenten Stuffe,” a curious pamphlet, written in 1598, containing eighty-three quarto pages; the title of it is “Nashe’s Lenten Stuffe; containing the Description and First Procreation and Increase of the Towne of Great Yarmouth, in Norffolke; with a New Play, never played before, of the Praise of the Red Herrings: Fitte of all Clearks of Noblemen’s Kitchins to be read; and not unnecessary by all Serving Men, that have short Boord-Wages, to be remembered.”
5. A fisherman’s last of herrings is thirteen thousand two hundred, and a merchant’s last, ten thousand.