Bridlington Quay, Yorkshire, England. Further historical information.

BRIDLINGTON QUAY

BRIDLINGTON QUAY, in the parish of Bridlington, wapentake of Dickering; 1 mile to the SE. of Bridlington. It is a pleasant and healthful sea bathing place, to which, for the last seventy years, there has been a considerable resort of genteel company in the summer season.

The Quay constitutes of itself a small town, and has a brisk and handsome appearance. The houses are in general well built and modern; and the principal street, which opens directly to the harbour, is remarkably spacious. The harbour is formed by two piers which extend a considerable way into the sea, the northernmost of which having a convenient platform, furnishes an agreeable promenade, commanding a delightful view of the lofty promontory of Flamborough Head, and the number of coasting vessels which in time of adverse winds resort to this Bay for safety, frequently impart to the scene a peculiar degree of animation, The port, though small, is clean and secure. It is sheltered on three of its sides by the coast, the town, and the piers, but the access, owing to the narrowness of the entrance, is somewhat difficult. The harbour is defended against the approach of an enemy by two batteries, one on the North, and the other on the South side of the town, which batteries enfilade the entrance of the port, and form a cross fire at right angles. The first mention of this harbour occurs in a mandate of King Stephen, to the Earl of York, commanding him "to permit the prior of Bridlington to have and to hold, well, and in peace, the harbour of Bridlington, as Walter de Gant, and Gilbert, his ancestor, held the same." The piers were anciently kept in repair by the owners of the manor, but in later times they have been repaired, strengthened, and extended, by certain duties on the imports and exports of the place, imposed under the authority of various acts of parliament. On the expiration of the last act, in 1816, a new act was obtained, further increasing the duties, to continue for twenty-one years, and the commissioners therein appointed were empowered to re-build the piers with stone, either on the present, or on any other foundations. In compliance with the provisions of this act, the first stone of a new North pier was laid in the summer of 1818 on a plan by Mr Goodrick, but the work is not yet completed. The harbour, which is dry at low water, has a spring tide flow of about eighteen feet at the entrance, which gradually diminishes as it approaches to the shore.

The harbour presents the striking phenomenon of an ebbing and flowing spring of fine fresh water. This copious fountain was discovered in 1811, by the late Benjamin Milne, Esq. collector of the Customs at this port. Mr Milne, whose public spirit and enterprize were most exemplary, with a view to improve the harbour, bored through the alluvion, which was found to consist of a bed of compact clay, twenty eight feet thick and a bed of cretaceous flinty gravel fifteen feet thick, beneath which was the solid chalk, on the aperture being made a fine column of fresh water rose with the flow of the tide, and at high water it gushed out in a copious stream, as the tide receded the newly discovered spring gradually fell and at low water it disappeared, This discovery, so important to the town and port of Bridlington, was made on the 5th of July 1811 and in order to keep open the spring a tinned copper pipe of three inches diameter was sunk from the surface to the spring through which the water, begins to flow at quarter flood, and stops at three quarters ebb tide; the discharge continuing 4 or 5 hours flood. At full tide the spring water stands in the perpendicular tube eight feet above the level of the salt water in the harbour, and is so pure and soft, that it is used in the washing of the finest linen, and so copious, that it would supply the whole navy of England. A reservoir has since been constructed into which the waters of this interesting spring is conducted for the use of the town and the shipping.

The most easy and obvious way of accounting for this phenomenon, is to suppose, that the spring has an outlet into the sea, probably beneath low-water mark, which outlet is open at low-water so far as to permit the spring to empty itself into the sea, but is obstructed or choked up by the flood tide, so that the fresh water accumulating in its gravelly receptacle, bursts forth at the opening which has been made for it; and continuing to flow from thence till the falling of the tide permits it to resume its original passage. (Young's Geological Survey, page 23). This water is of unusual purity; its specific gravity is 1001, distilled water being 1000. In the year 1816, Mr. Hume, of Long Acre, London, an eminent chemist, submitted it to a series of experiments, and the result proves that it contains per gallon about 17 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas, and the following materials,

     viz.    Of Carbonate of lime.9,625 grains
             Of Muriate of lime.3,750
             Of Silex, and a small
                   portion of Oxide of iron.125
                                 ---------- 13,500
 

Mr. Milne, the discoverer of the spring just described, is entitled to rank amongst the principal benefactors of Bridlington. - To his public spirit and active mind the town is indebted for its daily post, the public baths, and the erection of the lighthouse at Flamborough. This gentleman was a Yorkshireman by birth, and was born at Brockwell, in Sowerby, near Halifax, on the 15th of October, 1751; In 1791 he was appointed collector of the customs at this port; and on the 22nd of February, 1819, he died, to the general regret of all who had witnessed his career of active usefulness. Hitherto his ashes have slept in the north aisle of the church without a monument to do justice to his memory, and to excite others to imitate his example: till that imperious duty is performed by those he so much benefited, the following stanza, written by a gentleman of Bridlington, may contribute to preserve the memory of so much worth:

-"Is Milne then forgotten? His works answer, No! And their voice, like the voice of the loud-sounding deep, Shall be heard, while its waters continue to flow, And yon edifice flames from the far-lighted steep. Like its halo, dispread through the mists of the ocean, his honours, eclips'd by no envious emotion, Through the vista of ages shall challenge devotion, When the spot is unknown, where his ashes shall sleep."'

In addition to the ebbing and flowing spring, there is also at Bridlington a chalybeate spring, situated about half a mile to the NW. of the Quay, and issuing out of a pleasant garden near the subscription mills, the medicinal properties of which resemble the chalybeate springs of Scarborough and Cheltenham, though the water seems to be less purgative. ( Nicholson's Dictionary of Chemistry. )

Few places present a more inviting beach than that which here descends from the Quay to the sea, and the gentle declivity of the surface is peculiarly favourable to sea-bathing. At low water the promenade is agreeable and extensive, and the compact tension of the elastic sand imparts firmness and buoyancy even to the step of the valetudinarian. Here many elegant and valuable specimens of minerals and fossils are found, which serve to give interest to the shop of the lapidary, and to swell the varieties in the museum of the collector. - Warm and cold baths are provided in rooms replete with conveniences, built beneath the terrace, which supply the invalid or the timid with the advantage of sea-bathing without the necessity of plunging into the open sea.

The sources of amusement here are somewhat circumscribed, but the facilities for equatic excursions, so inviting to the inhabitants of inland districts, are afforded in every variety; and the news-room and library are at hand, to impart information and amusement in the hours between the intervals of relaxation in the open air. -The neighbourhood abounds with walks and rides, affording extensive prospects, of Bessingby, Carnaby, and Boynton to the west; Sewerby; Marton, and Flamborough to the north; and Hilderthorpe and Barmston to the south, all possess their several beauties, and claim in succession the attention of the visitors. The places of public worship at the Quay are, a commodious Methodist meeting-house, and a newly built chapel, appropriately called the Union Chapel, which is used alternately for the religious services of the Independents and the Baptists.

Here, as at the parent town, the operations of commerce are very limited. The exports consist chiefly of corn and other agricultural productions shipped to the port of London, and of horses and horned cattle to Germany and Russia. The imports are principally coal from Newcastle, timber from the Baltic and America, and general merchandise from London and Hull. -During the war an extensive ropery was established and flourished at this port, but since the peace it has been greatly reduced, and the ship-yards have also felt the deadening influence of the stagnation in the shipping interest, in a port so situated as Bridlington, a " vessel sacred to humanity" became an indispensable requisite, and in the year 1806, a life-boat was purchased by voluntary subscription from Mr. Greathead, at an expense of three hundred pounds, for the use of this port, the beneficial effects of which is experienced every season. The population of Bridlington and the Quay, which in 1811 amounted to 3741, has been swelled during the succeeding ten years to 4272, as appears from the returns made to Parliament up to the 28th of May, 1821. The directory which is sub-joined will point out the inns, lodging houses, &c in this place, and afford a tolerably complete list of the traders and other inhabitants.

The following is the entire data from Langdale's Topographical Yorkshire Dictionary:

--Principal Inns, Britannia, & Ship.

Bridlington Quay, is a pleasant healthful place, to which great number of genteel people resort during the summer, for the purpose of sea-bathing. The streets being spacious, and houses modern and well built, give an air of cheerfulness to it, which is not to be seen in the parent town. It has two Piers stretching a considerable way into the sea, for the defence of the harbour, the north one having a convenient platform, furnishes a pleasant promenade, and in summer evenings is much frequented by the company for the sake of the prospect and sea air; it commands a delightful view of Flamborough Head and the Bay; and the number of coasting vessels, that are often detained here by contrary winds, gives at such times a pleasing animation to the scene. The Beach, a fine hard sand, affords at low water, many fine and valuable specimens of minerals and fossils. The gentle declivity of the surface is peculiarly favourable to sea-bathing, to which several machines are provided. Warm and cold sea water baths, for the accommodation of valetudinarians are provided in rooms, which are replete with every convenience. The Chalybeate spring, which has its votaries, issues from a small garden near the Subscription Mills, a short distance from the Quay; "it is a brisk Chalybeate water, and resembles those of Scarborough and Cheltenham, though less purgative."

The port, though small, is well sheltered on all sides, and capable of containing upwards of 100 ships, but in stormy weather it is rather difficult for ships to run in, on account of the narrowness of the channel. The Bay is well sheltered by Flamborough Head, and is by far the safest anchoring place on this coast.