1700s

CREDIT: Ivan Bunn and David Butcher

Origins

This article is in its original form, with minor alterations. It was published (with editorial adjustments and changes) in English Ceramic Circle Transactions, vol. 21 (2010), forming pp. 49-74 of that journal.

Reasons for the move

It is perhaps unwise to single out any one particular event in the life of a community over a period of about 1,500 years as being the crucial or formative one (other than its founding), but there is a good case for doing so where Lowestoft is concerned.

17th & 18th Century Naval Commanders

It is a claim – not made lightly by this writer – that no town of its size, in the whole of England, produced as many eminent top-rank Naval commanders as Lowestoft did between 1660 and c. 1720. During that time, no less than four admirals and five captains came from five local families mainly involved in fishing and maritime trade: the Allins, the Arnolds, the Ashbys, the Leakes and the Mighells.

The Provision of Credit 1585-1730

Provision of credit in the community

The importance of scriveners as community bankers in London during the second half of the 17th century has been noted, as has their role as providers of funds elsewhere. Nor has the function of the goldsmith escaped attention. Lowestoft, being a town of modest size, had few named scriveners among its inhabitants (no more than six or seven have been identified between 1560 and 1730) and most of them had other occupations.

Saved by the Argus

One of the earliest balloon flights in England took place on Saturday, 23 July 1785, at 4.25 p.m. in Quantrell’s Gardens, Norwich – located in the city adjacent to present-day Queen’s Road (part of the A147) in the area now occupied by a large Sainsbury supermarket.

On 15 January 1737 – the year being 1736, by use of the old Julian Calendar – King George II (1683-1760) made a sudden and unplanned landing at Lowestoft, on a return journey from the North-western German province of Hanover – where he and his father, George I, were the rulers (as Electors) as well as being monarchs of Great Britain. Both of them made summer journeys, periodically, to spend time in their land of origin, and it was on his return from one of these that George II was forced to put ashore.

Inns

The configuration of roads and the importance of land transport have always been major influences on the development of towns and their inns. Large yards were necessary for stabling horses, and for standing carts and carriages; buildings were required for storing hay and other forage; and provision had to be made for watering the animals. Adequate accommodation was also needed for those people making overnight stops or staying in a place for longer.

A small house (early 18th century) 

John Cousens (carter) lived with his wife Mary in a three-roomed house somewhere in the side-street area to the west side of the High Street. Their son, Benjamin (aged twenty-four years) had left home, but their daughter, Mary (aged twenty years) was possibly still living there. When the inventory of Cousens’s goods was made on 6 June 1711, his total estate was valued at £73 8s 9d. Out of this sum, £50 consisted of good debts and a further £16 17s 0d. of his working equipment and horses.

(16th-18th Century)  

Construction details

In May 1545, the Duke of Norfolk was carrying out a review of coastal defences between Great Yarmouth and Orford because of a perceived invasion threat from France. Having commented on the hostile landing capacity of both anchorage and beach at Lowestoft, as well as on the positioning of the three small gun batteries, he made the following remark concerning the place itself: “The town is as pretty a town as I know any few on the sea coasts, and as thrifty and honest people in the same, and right well builded.” – ref.

In some ways, buildings are every bit as much historical documents as written sources and can inform the observer of many aspects of human activity in days gone by. Where they have survived in original form, they have much to say of former economic and social conditions – be they domestic, ecclesiastical or industrial in nature. And, if altered and converted at different times, there is just as much to be learned from them. Let us take three of Lowestoft’s buildings, covering these three categories, and consider each one of them in turn within its context.