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Beacon Hill and Thames Barge, Harwich Beach Dovercourt, Harwich
from http://unlockingessex.essexcc.gov.uk/custom_pages/monument_detail.asp?kids=1&monument_id=12288
Harwich town is a port founded probably in the late C12 (certainly before 1229) by the Earl of Norfolk. Grant of a market and fair followed in 1253, and the borough charter in 1318. An area of c 6.5 ha on a narrow promontory into the estuary of the River Orwell was walled by the mid C14, grants of murage being made in 1338 and 1352. <2> According to ref <3>, grant of a market was 1222 not 1253. <3> Ref <2>'s information probably comes from ref <4> Place-name Harwich means 'army-camp' and it is mentioned in documentary references to the Saxon-Viking wars of the 9th and 10th centuris as a site of sea-battles and raiding parties up the Stour to Ipswich, it is posssible that there was a temporary encampment on the peninsula. Morant <6> in 1768 described an earthwork half a mile long and 12ft high which ran from near the present High Lighthouse to Beacon Hill, where there was a second earthwork 12ft high with a 6ft ditch <7>. These may represent the Saxon camp, or maybe linked to subsequent military activity, all the earthwork has been removed by the sea. The earliest mention of harwich however, dates to 1177 when a chapel at Harwich was willed to Earls Colne Priory by the Earls of Norfolk, it is not known whether there was an accompaning settlement. The town itself was planned and built by Roger, Earl of Norfolk as a commercial venture. In either 1222 or 1253 he granted a weekly market to his new foundation and he was active in encouraging trade, to the extent that Ipswich, which was losing trade to the new town, complained that the Earl was waylaying merchant vessels and forcing them to sell their goods at Harwich. In 1319 King Edward II confirmed a charter making Harwich a Free-Borough. By the fourteenth century Harwich had become an assembly point for the ships summoned by the King in times of war. The war-supplies requisitioned from the Essex Hundreds were brought to Maldon and Manningtree, from where they were shipped to Harwich and stored. The present street plan is still largely that of the medieval town. There were three main north-south streets, King's Head Street (formerly High Street or East Street), Church Street (formerly Middle Street) and West Street. These were sub-divided into rectangular blocks by a series of east-west lanes. The largest properties were sited at the northern end of the town, with the most prominent building being the Earl of Norfolk's townhouse. The area on the western side of West Street was largely open space, used for the grazing of the townsfolk's livestock. They also had the right of 'cowgoing', which allowed them to graze their cattle on the town marsh. The earliest excavated evidence from the town comes from the Methodist Chapel site, Church Street (14987) where features of a structural nature dating from the late twelfth to early thirteenth century were found. Overlying these were at least three phases of thirteenth century buildings. In 1978 excavations at the Kings Head garage, Kings Head Street (3378) recovered thirteenth century occupation. Excavations in Church Street found the remains of thirteenth and fourteenth century buildings with brickearth floors and septaria and clay footings for timber walls. Excavations adjacent to the Ebenezer Chapel (3381) revealed masonry cellars. These had been back-filled in the early fourteenth century. Above the cellars was a large merchants house, with a central courtyard and three masonry wings, fronting Kings Head Street, St Austin's Lane and Eastgate Street. In 1972 the Essex Archaeological Society excavated as substantial medieval building at 14 St Austin's Lane. This was a two or three storey masonry structure with a central courtyard, probably a wealthy merchant's house. Excavation in 1985 on George Street found a line of post-holes dating to the fourteenth century, suggesting the presence of a fence or barn. However, excavations at White Hart Lane, George Street (3388) did reveal evidence of thirteenth century occupation of the site, indicating that there was at least some areas of occupation on the town's common land. Harwich was also subject to considerable coastal erosion and flooding, as a consequence of which some areas have been lost to the sea, particularly in the vicinity of Beacon Hill, and other areas have been reclaimed, especially along the eastern side of the town. The Church Street excavations show that the thirteenth and fourteenth century buildings were demolished and a thick layer of beach sand dumped on top in the later fourteenth century, raising the ground level by about half a metre <8>. The town remained in the Duke of Norfolk's hands until 1574 when the Duke was executed for treason. His rights to Harwich then passed to the Crown. In 1597 these were transferred to Sir Edward Coke, Elizabeth's Attorney General, who granted a charter to the town naming eight (later twelve) leading burgesses, a steward and bailiffs to deputise for him. In 1604 the village of Dovercourt and the Borough of Harwich were merged to form one corporate body with a mayor and council. The churchwardens' accounts of 1550-1600 record that a regular source of income for the town's public bodies came from the tolls on herrings, wheat, rye salt and coal landed at Harwich, and on 'groundage' fees for vessels taking on ballast or berthing in Harwich Harbour. Fishing was an important part of the local economy <7>. An enquiry into the defense of the town in 1585 noted that the vast majority of able-bodied men were away between February and June, fishing off Iceland and the Shetlands, and in October they fished for herring off the East Anglian coast. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries coastal defence played a prominent role in the life of Harwich, due to successive wars with France, Spain and Holland. The town walls and defences were repaired and extended on several occasions and war-ships were mustered in the harbour. There were also constant skirmishes between Harwich boats and French privateers, known as Dunkirkers. In 1650 Harwich was appointed the victualling station for the navy, although this was subsequently transferred to Ipswich. Then in 1657 the government decided to build a naval dockyard at Harwich, but this was closed in 1713. Trade and coastal defence continued to be of considerable importance during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and these activities influenced the later development and morphology of the town. Commercial activity was concentrated around the harbour with moorings beside the quay or along the Ha'penny Pier. Ships were initially guided into the harbour by two lights; a fire situated in a room above the town gate and a wooden lighthouse above the beach to the southeast. These were replaced in 1818 by the brick High and Low Lighthouses which continued to operate until 1863. With the arrival of the railways in the 1860s lines and sidings were laid alongside New Quay. The six-inch Ordnance Survey map of 1878 (sheet 21) shows a large rectangular transit shed on New Pier with warehouses, timber yards and cattle pens between the harbour and railway station. Passenger transport became increasingly popular from the mid-nineteenth century onwards and cross channel ships and paddle steamers frequently provided services from the Ha'penny Pier. The hotels beside the harbour provided ample accommodation and travel tickets were obtained from a weather-boarded booth. The ever present threat of invasion during wartime led to the construction of several gun emplacements within the town. In 1811 gun batteries were erected on Bathside Bay and at Angel Gate. A large circular Redoubt was located on high ground to the south of the town overlooking both installations and a small battery was built on Beacon Hill, although the latter construction collapsed into the sea due to coastal erosion in 1822. Barrack blocks were built for the personnel manning the Harwich defences at this period. During the First World War Harwich was declared a Class A fortress because of its strategic position and the harbour sheltered the destroyers of the Harwich Force. Again, in the Second World War Harwich offered a vital deep-water anchorage for Allied Shipping, and additional defences, including a new emplacement on Beacon Hill Fort and the construction of the Stanier Line of pill-boxes and anti-tank obstructions, were erected to guard against air, sea and land attack. All the defences from the Napoleonic period onwards formed part of a larger chain of defense around Harwich Harbour, which included Landguard Fort and Shotley in Suffolk and in the Second World War HMF Rough Sands some seven miles out to sea guarding the entrance to the harbour <8> The post-war period saw a number of important changes to the town, most notably the lack of a military presence in the town and the removal of the ferries and docks to Parkeston Quay <8> At the end of the sixteenth century there were about 140 houses in the town according to the churchwardens' accounts <7>. At that time the most prominent citizens and ships-masters all lived in Kings Head Street (East/High Street). The 1603 map of the town <9> depicts West Street as being built-up along both sides and also shows the line of George Street. Much of the waste-land on the eastern side of the town was leased for building after 1680. Severe flooding of the town in 1685 and 1690 led to attempts to raise the ground level of the waste-ground (now the Green) by the spreading of refuse from the town. The eighteenth century was a period of prosperity in Harwich, as reflected by the number of new buildings erected in the town, particularly on Church Street and West Street and the new facades added to the older buildings. By 1750 <10> Kings Quay Street was in existence, built along the line of the old town walls <8>. Two trenches excavated in 2003 near Trinity House Pier, off George Street found potential evidence for a period of large-scale redevelopment of the quay front, dating from the late 1700's to the late 1800's.<14>
Comments (1)
from http://unlockingessex.essexcc.gov.uk/custom_pages/monument_detail.asp?kids=1&monument_id=12288
Harwich town is a port founded probably in the late C12 (certainly before 1229) by the Earl of Norfolk. Grant of a market and fair followed in 1253, and the borough charter in 1318. An area of c 6.5 ha on a narrow promontory into the estuary of the River Orwell was walled by the mid C14, grants of murage being made in 1338 and 1352. <2> According to ref <3>, grant of a market was 1222 not 1253. <3> Ref <2>'s information probably comes from ref <4> Place-name Harwich means 'army-camp' and it is mentioned in documentary references to the Saxon-Viking wars of the 9th and 10th centuris as a site of sea-battles and raiding parties up the Stour to Ipswich, it is posssible that there was a temporary encampment on the peninsula. Morant <6> in 1768 described an earthwork half a mile long and 12ft high which ran from near the present High Lighthouse to Beacon Hill, where there was a second earthwork 12ft high with a 6ft ditch <7>. These may represent the Saxon camp, or maybe linked to subsequent military activity, all the earthwork has been removed by the sea. The earliest mention of harwich however, dates to 1177 when a chapel at Harwich was willed to Earls Colne Priory by the Earls of Norfolk, it is not known whether there was an accompaning settlement. The town itself was planned and built by Roger, Earl of Norfolk as a commercial venture. In either 1222 or 1253 he granted a weekly market to his new foundation and he was active in encouraging trade, to the extent that Ipswich, which was losing trade to the new town, complained that the Earl was waylaying merchant vessels and forcing them to sell their goods at Harwich. In 1319 King Edward II confirmed a charter making Harwich a Free-Borough. By the fourteenth century Harwich had become an assembly point for the ships summoned by the King in times of war. The war-supplies requisitioned from the Essex Hundreds were brought to Maldon and Manningtree, from where they were shipped to Harwich and stored. The present street plan is still largely that of the medieval town. There were three main north-south streets, King's Head Street (formerly High Street or East Street), Church Street (formerly Middle Street) and West Street. These were sub-divided into rectangular blocks by a series of east-west lanes. The largest properties were sited at the northern end of the town, with the most prominent building being the Earl of Norfolk's townhouse. The area on the western side of West Street was largely open space, used for the grazing of the townsfolk's livestock. They also had the right of 'cowgoing', which allowed them to graze their cattle on the town marsh. The earliest excavated evidence from the town comes from the Methodist Chapel site, Church Street (14987) where features of a structural nature dating from the late twelfth to early thirteenth century were found. Overlying these were at least three phases of thirteenth century buildings. In 1978 excavations at the Kings Head garage, Kings Head Street (3378) recovered thirteenth century occupation. Excavations in Church Street found the remains of thirteenth and fourteenth century buildings with brickearth floors and septaria and clay footings for timber walls. Excavations adjacent to the Ebenezer Chapel (3381) revealed masonry cellars. These had been back-filled in the early fourteenth century. Above the cellars was a large merchants house, with a central courtyard and three masonry wings, fronting Kings Head Street, St Austin's Lane and Eastgate Street. In 1972 the Essex Archaeological Society excavated as substantial medieval building at 14 St Austin's Lane. This was a two or three storey masonry structure with a central courtyard, probably a wealthy merchant's house. Excavation in 1985 on George Street found a line of post-holes dating to the fourteenth century, suggesting the presence of a fence or barn. However, excavations at White Hart Lane, George Street (3388) did reveal evidence of thirteenth century occupation of the site, indicating that there was at least some areas of occupation on the town's common land. Harwich was also subject to considerable coastal erosion and flooding, as a consequence of which some areas have been lost to the sea, particularly in the vicinity of Beacon Hill, and other areas have been reclaimed, especially along the eastern side of the town. The Church Street excavations show that the thirteenth and fourteenth century buildings were demolished and a thick layer of beach sand dumped on top in the later fourteenth century, raising the ground level by about half a metre <8>. The town remained in the Duke of Norfolk's hands until 1574 when the Duke was executed for treason. His rights to Harwich then passed to the Crown. In 1597 these were transferred to Sir Edward Coke, Elizabeth's Attorney General, who granted a charter to the town naming eight (later twelve) leading burgesses, a steward and bailiffs to deputise for him. In 1604 the village of Dovercourt and the Borough of Harwich were merged to form one corporate body with a mayor and council. The churchwardens' accounts of 1550-1600 record that a regular source of income for the town's public bodies came from the tolls on herrings, wheat, rye salt and coal landed at Harwich, and on 'groundage' fees for vessels taking on ballast or berthing in Harwich Harbour. Fishing was an important part of the local economy <7>. An enquiry into the defense of the town in 1585 noted that the vast majority of able-bodied men were away between February and June, fishing off Iceland and the Shetlands, and in October they fished for herring off the East Anglian coast. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries coastal defence played a prominent role in the life of Harwich, due to successive wars with France, Spain and Holland. The town walls and defences were repaired and extended on several occasions and war-ships were mustered in the harbour. There were also constant skirmishes between Harwich boats and French privateers, known as Dunkirkers. In 1650 Harwich was appointed the victualling station for the navy, although this was subsequently transferred to Ipswich. Then in 1657 the government decided to build a naval dockyard at Harwich, but this was closed in 1713. Trade and coastal defence continued to be of considerable importance during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and these activities influenced the later development and morphology of the town. Commercial activity was concentrated around the harbour with moorings beside the quay or along the Ha'penny Pier. Ships were initially guided into the harbour by two lights; a fire situated in a room above the town gate and a wooden lighthouse above the beach to the southeast. These were replaced in 1818 by the brick High and Low Lighthouses which continued to operate until 1863. With the arrival of the railways in the 1860s lines and sidings were laid alongside New Quay. The six-inch Ordnance Survey map of 1878 (sheet 21) shows a large rectangular transit shed on New Pier with warehouses, timber yards and cattle pens between the harbour and railway station. Passenger transport became increasingly popular from the mid-nineteenth century onwards and cross channel ships and paddle steamers frequently provided services from the Ha'penny Pier. The hotels beside the harbour provided ample accommodation and travel tickets were obtained from a weather-boarded booth. The ever present threat of invasion during wartime led to the construction of several gun emplacements within the town. In 1811 gun batteries were erected on Bathside Bay and at Angel Gate. A large circular Redoubt was located on high ground to the south of the town overlooking both installations and a small battery was built on Beacon Hill, although the latter construction collapsed into the sea due to coastal erosion in 1822. Barrack blocks were built for the personnel manning the Harwich defences at this period. During the First World War Harwich was declared a Class A fortress because of its strategic position and the harbour sheltered the destroyers of the Harwich Force. Again, in the Second World War Harwich offered a vital deep-water anchorage for Allied Shipping, and additional defences, including a new emplacement on Beacon Hill Fort and the construction of the Stanier Line of pill-boxes and anti-tank obstructions, were erected to guard against air, sea and land attack. All the defences from the Napoleonic period onwards formed part of a larger chain of defense around Harwich Harbour, which included Landguard Fort and Shotley in Suffolk and in the Second World War HMF Rough Sands some seven miles out to sea guarding the entrance to the harbour <8> The post-war period saw a number of important changes to the town, most notably the lack of a military presence in the town and the removal of the ferries and docks to Parkeston Quay <8> At the end of the sixteenth century there were about 140 houses in the town according to the churchwardens' accounts <7>. At that time the most prominent citizens and ships-masters all lived in Kings Head Street (East/High Street). The 1603 map of the town <9> depicts West Street as being built-up along both sides and also shows the line of George Street. Much of the waste-land on the eastern side of the town was leased for building after 1680. Severe flooding of the town in 1685 and 1690 led to attempts to raise the ground level of the waste-ground (now the Green) by the spreading of refuse from the town. The eighteenth century was a period of prosperity in Harwich, as reflected by the number of new buildings erected in the town, particularly on Church Street and West Street and the new facades added to the older buildings. By 1750 <10> Kings Quay Street was in existence, built along the line of the old town walls <8>. Two trenches excavated in 2003 near Trinity House Pier, off George Street found potential evidence for a period of large-scale redevelopment of the quay front, dating from the late 1700's to the late 1800's.<14>