Harwich

Electric Palace Cinema, Harwich

The Harwich Society were our hosts on an all-day excursion to the compact historical town on 24 September 2011.  Members assembled outside the Electric Palace cinema, now one of the oldest surviving purpose-built picture houses.  It was founded by Charles Thurston and opened in 1911 following the passing of the Cinematograph Act of 1909 which forbade the showing of films in tents, requiring a projection room to the separated from the auditorium on account of dangerous inflammable nitrates which existed with reel film.  The projectionist climbs a ladder to his room from the east side of the building.  It was named ‘electric’ to sound innovative, new and clean like the new source of power which was then sweeping Edwardian England. The fact that the Electric Palace did not have mains electricity until 1927 did not matter.  Cinema was only in its second decade when the venue was built, and it was another form of media, television, which caused its sudden closure in 1956.  For the next thirty years the building was locked and became a place for fishermen to store boats.  The local Council proposed its demolition in favour of a lorry park but this was met by so much opposition that a group of volunteers was formed to save and restore both the exterior and interior to its former Edwardian glory using the original blueprints.  Today attendees sit in a 199 seated auditorium for weekend showings of both modern and vintage films as well as Jazz concerts. At one time 452 people were crammed on benches.  The digital age is now upon us and the venue has had to change with the times by investing £70,000 in new technology. The old will be kept and used in tandem with the new.  My late Uncle, a film, cinema and theatre organ enthusiast, used to wax lyrical about the Electric Palace after it reopened in 1981.  It was lovely to visit one of his old haunts.  Charles Owen, Hollywood actor and local resident is today a great supporter of the Electric Palace Cinema. The lovely, compact Edwardian-style venue has rightly been accorded Grade II* listed status, is much loved by the town and appears to have a great future in store.

St Nicholas Church

Nearby, St Nicholas Church was rebuilt in 1822 using the latest mass produced materials of the industrial revolution.  With its soaring slender pillars, large windows and three-sided gallery it is a large and bright worship area.  A church had been sited here since 1177.  One of Harwich’s most famous residents, Christopher Martin, who sailed The Mayflower in 1620, married here twice.

Christopher Martin is remembered at his former home on one of the many informative plaques sited by the active Harwich Society.  Local enthusiasts are attempting to rebuild adjacent to the railway station a replica of The Mayflower which they hope to float in the harbour.  Their more immediate quest is to source around 200 suitable oak trees.

Next to the church is the former Three Cups inn, which only in the last generation became a private house.  It is reputed that Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton stayed there, but evidence is flimsy to say the least.  Mr Bull was the landlord in 1820s, and I was able to contribute a story (reproduced below) which adds to the social history or folklore of the place.  Sharing research is one of the pleasures of an amateur local historian.  Our volunteer guide, a musician and local Morris dancer, hopes one day to weave the story of Harwich into folk-song, and the passage gave him a ready-made chorus.

The story of the Three Cups is taken from a commonplace book, written by Edward Henry Lisle Reeve of Stondon Massey in 1881.  It reads:

“Mr Smythies of Colchester is to be remembered among other reasons for his celebrated toast at the hostelrie of ‘The Three Cups’ at Harwich.  The ‘Three Cups’ was kept by a Mr Bull who was a universal favourite. Mr Smythies being called upon for a toast when dining there one evening gave, to the delight of the party assembled, this following sentiment.

““Here’s to health of Mr Bull

And may his Cups be always full”.

“We have said Mr Bull was popular.  And no wonder.  He was a man whom it was impossible to put out of temper.  At any rate he was capable of enduring considerable provocation without a murmur.

“On one occasion twelve officers [of the West Suffolk Militia] were to dine together at the “Three Cups”.  While waiting for dinner to be served they began to form a wager among themselves as to the possibility or impossibility of ruffling the temper of Mr Bull, and for the sake of the bet, they divided their number equally, six taking one side, and six the other.  Dinner was served in due course, and Mr Bull, according to his custom, brought on the first dish – a beautiful salmon – himself.  This the officers found great fault with, saying that it was bad, and odoriferous.  And, all through dinner, they took occasion to complain of everything brought to the table.  The very bill at the end they grumbled at, and called the items in question: the wine – the best Mr Bull could produce – they voted positively disagreeable.  Mr Bull came forward himself to apologize.  He was not the least ruffled, but said that he was truly sorry not to have given satisfaction, as he had taken a great deal of trouble about the dinner, and could only say that he begged they would think no more about the bill, but let it pass.  Upon this they all burst into a hoarse laugh; explained to Mr Bull that they had had a wager at his expense, voted him a capital good fellow, paid the bill, and ordered just such another dinner for the ensuing week.”

Treadwheel Crane

Returning to the tour, the re-sited Treadwheel Crane was originally built in 1667 for the Harwich Navy Dockyard and remained in use until 1928.  It is the only surviving example having a double treadwheel.  It was operated by human exertion but unfortunately the mundane of how men worked it is lost in the mists of time.  Perhaps small gangs hauled vessels out of the harbour keeping time by using a sea-shanty or similar work song.

Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, was Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Harwich in the 1660s and also Secretary of State to the Navy. His influence brought a dockyard from the Thames to Old Harwich, which “stands between two strands”. A bell on the street towards the Ha’Penny Pier records that Thomas Darby of Ipswich cast it in 1666.

We passed the High Lighthouse (built 1822), which in the 1960s was the home of a local resident known as ‘Lighthouse Lil’.  Alignment with the Low Lighthouse out at sea allowed safe passage into the harbour for sailors.  The Low Lighthouse was painted by Constable: his canvas is now in the Tate Gallery in London.  The High Lighthouse now marks the end of an 81-mile walk from Epping Station called the Essex Way, and I can personally recommend it having completed the whole route over five days back in 1996.

Rainback

Fresh water was always a problem in Harwich. Older houses had brick-built wells in their gardens which stored rainwater. These are known as rainbacks. Members trooped through a house of a kindly resident to view an example in his small back garden.  Thomas Cobbold had plenty of trade on tap when he set up his Brewery in 1727 but brackish water and expensive transportation of a fresh supply proved so impractical that he moved his operation to Ipswich, where the firm stayed until very recent years.

The Harwich Redoubt was built during the Napoleonic Wars between 1808 and 1811.  It formed part of a strategic defence stretching from Southwold in Suffolk to Eastbourne on the south coast.  From its prominent position the town could be defended through 360 degrees by 24lb guns firing up to a range of a mile, as far as Felixtowe across the river.  Several Martello towers along the coastline and Stour and Orwell River estuaries were pointed out by the guide.  The fort itself is 180 feet in diameter and has a dry moat 20 feet wide.  It fell into disuse after the Second World War.  The Harwich Society, recognising its importance began work in 1969 to remove debris thus beginning an ambitious project of restoration using mainly voluntary labour. In doing so members discovered an original gun thrown down in the moat, which was excavated and hauled to its original position.  Rooms inside the amphitheatre-like structure, called casements, tell the story of the Redoubt and the town.

In Harwich Redoubt

Our day finished with an excellent tea served by the churchwardens of St Nicholas Church in the Church Hall, the former Infants School.  All around the old town is evidence of a community which cares about its rich history and heritage.  The Harwich Society is an energetic and enthusiastic body of volunteers of 40 plus years standing which brings the social history of the town alive.  They hope that we will visit again either as a Society or as individuals.  For me a revisit with Pevsner’s Perambulation (updated by James Bettley) would be a good basis for future investigation, perhaps during next year’s Harwich Music Festival.

This item first appeared in the ‘Newsletter’, Winter 2011