HARWICH, a sea-port and borough and market-town, having separate
jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Tendring, county of ESSEX,
42 miles (N. E. by E.) from Chelmsford, and 72 (N.E. by E.) from
London, containing 4010 inhabitants. The name of this place, which is
expressive of circumstances connected with its early history, is,
by Camden, derived from the Saxon Harewic, signifying a station
or harbour for soldiers; and from the same authority
it is supposed that, during the time of the Romans,
the counts of the Saxon shore had a strong hold or
castle here, in which a force was stationed to .repel
the Saxons and the Danes, who at that time made
frequent incursions from the opposite coasts,- This
opinion is in some degree confirmed by the remains of
a Roman camp and tumulus in the vicinity of the town,
near which coins and fragments of tesselated pavements
have been found at various times, and by the discovery
of teeth and bones of large animals in the southern chit,
which are.by some antiquaries thought to be the remains
of elephants brought into England by the Emperor
Claudius. After the departure of the Romans, Harwicn,
with the district adjoining, was wrested from the Britons
by Erehenwine, or Erchwine, a Saxon chief, who held
it under Octa, grandson of Hengist, till, with the rest
of the kingdom of East Saxony, it fell into, the possession
of Egbert in 746. In 885, a considerable -battle
was fought near this port, between the fleet of Alfred
and sixteen Danish ships, which terminated in the
entire defeat and capture of the latter. In 1326, Prince
Edward and his mother, Queen Isabel, landed here from
Hainault, with a force of two thousand seven hundred
and fifty soldiers, and being joined by several of the
nobility, and headed by Thomas de Brotherton, Duke of
Norfolk, then lord of the manor and resident in the
town, proceeded to Bristol, to make war against the
king. In 1338, the same prince, then Edward III.,
embarked at this port with a fleet of five hundred sail,
manned with archers and slingers, on his first expedition
against France; and in the year following, the French,
in retaliation, made.an unsuccessful attempt with eleven
galleys to set fire to the town. In 1340, the French
navy, consisting of four hundred ships, having been
stationed near Sluys, in Flanders, to intercept the king's
passage to France, Edward assembled here his naval
forces,. and sailing on Midsummer-eve, and forming
with the northern squadron under the command of
Lord Morley, encountered the enemy, destroyed- onehalf
of their ships, and killed or captured nearly thirty
thousand of their men. In some of the naval engagements
between the English and the Dutch, in the reign
of Charles II., the contending parties approached so
near to the town as to render their operations visible
to spectators on the cliffs. Henry VIII. visited Harwich
in 1543, and in 1558 preparations were made
there for the reception of Philip, King of Spain, on his
arrival to celebrate his nuptials with Mary, Queen of
England. Queen Elizabeth was sumptuously entertained
here in 1561 by the [corporation, who escorted
her as far as the windmill on her return. When Harwich
was fortified against the Dutch in 1666, Charles II.
having proceeded from Newmarket to Landguard fort,
sailed hither in his yacht, accompanied by the Dukes of
York, Monmouth, Richmond, and Buckingham, and, with
others of his suite, attended divine service at the parish
church; in the evening the royal party embarked for
AJdborough, whence they proceeded by land to Ipswich.
William III., George I., and George II., visited Harwich
on their respective tours to the continent; and the Princess
of Mecklenburgh Strelitz landed at this port on her
arrival in England to celebrate her nuptials with King
George III. In 1808, the Countess de Lille, consort of
Louis ,XVIIL, the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme, the
Count and Countess de Demas, and others of the
nobility of France, seeking an asylum in this country, in
the reign of Napoleon Buonaparte, arrived here in the
Euryalus frigate, commanded by the Hon. Captain
Dundas. On the 16th of August, 1821, the remains of
Queen Caroline, consort of his late majesty, George IV.,
were brought to this place, whence they were conveyed
by the Glasgow frigate to be interred at Brunswick.
Harwich is situated on a peninsular projection
on the--north-eastern extremity of the Essex coast,
bounded on the east by the North sea, and on the west
and north by the testuaries of the Stour and the Orwell,
which uniting previously to their influx into the sea,
form a spacious and secure harbour nearly three miles
in breadth. The town is in general well built, and con
sists principally of three streets; an act of parliament
was obtained in 1819, for watching, paving, and
lighting it, and for supplying the inhabitants with
water, under the provisions of which it has been well
paved, but is not yet lighted; and, after boring to the
depth of four hundred and ninety-five feet, all attempts
to procure a supply of fresh water have failed; the
inhabitants] are consequently supplied with rain water
preserved in cisterns, and with spring water brought in
carts from Dover-court, and in boats from Landguard
fort, and from Arwarton, in the county of Suffolk. The
foundations of a-castle and fortifications by which the
town was defended were seen previously to the encroachment
of the sea, at an extraordinary ebb of the tide in
1784; but of its ancient walls and gates, with the exception
of a very small portion serving to indicate their
former strength, the memorial is preserved only in the record
of tolls levied in the reign of Edward III. for their
repair, Harwich is much resorted to during the season
for sea-bathing, and hot and cold baths, arranged with
every accommodation, are supplied from a large reservoir
of sea water; there are also bathing-machines on
the jetty. The harbour is protected on the east by the
isthmus on which the town is built, verging towards the
north, and on the west by a similar projection of the
coast towards the south; the entrance is defended by
Landguard fort, erected .on the eastern promontory of
the opposite coast, by a large martello tower, and by a
number of shoals near the fort, which so much contract
the passage as to admit only one large vessel at a time,
rendering -the harbour difficult of access, except to
expert navigators. Though of unequal depth, the harr
hour and the bay together form a capacious roadstead
for the largest ships of war, one hundred of which were
assembled here during the war with Holland, in the
reign of Charles II., exclusively of their attendant
vessels, and three or four hundred sail of vessels carrying
coal. To facilitate the entrance into the harbour
by night, two light-houses were erected, under letters
patent of Charles II., and furnished with patent lamps,
previously to building which that object was effected by
burning at night a. blazing fire of coal, and six one-pound
candles,-in a room with a glazed front, over the principal
gate at the south entrance into the town: on the eastern
part of the town, where the light-houses are situated, is
a convenient stone quay, and near it is a delightful promenade,
called the Esplanade. By means of these lights,
vessels are guided off a sand bank called the "Andrews,"
forming a bar across the entrance to the harbour
from Landguard fort into the Rolling grounds, from
which the passage leading into-good anchorage is safe.
The customhouse establishment consists of a collector,
comptroller," tod other officers. The trade of the port
principally arises from its being the station of the postoffice
packets, by which a constant intercourse is kept
up between this country and the continent; four extra
packets sail hence every week for Gottingen, and this
is the principal place of embarkation for Holland and
Germany, from which circumstance, previously to the
establishment of steam-packets in so many other places,
it derived considerable benefit. The inhabitants are
principally employed in maritime pursuits; the North
sea fishery, though materially declined, still affords
employment to a considerable number of vessels belonging
to the port, and a constant traffic is carried on,
by means of wherries, with Ipswich and Manningtree.
One hundred and three British and ten foreign vessels
entered inwards, and fifty-eight British and five foreign
vessels cleared outwards, in the year 1826: the
number of ships belonging to the port in 1828 was
ninety-one, averaging a burden of sixty-four tons. Shipbuilding
is also carried on to a considerable extent;
the dock-yard is well provided with launches, storehouses,
and other requisites; several third-rate and
other large vessels have been built here, and a patent
slip has been recently constructed, on which ships of
very large burden may be hauled up for repair with great
facility. About one hundred small vessels and boats
are employed in and near the harbour in dredging for
stone for making cement. The manufacture of copperas
from stones, which are found in abundance on the
shore, was carried on here in the seventeenth century,
about which time an attempt was made to obtain potash
from various sea-weeds, but it was soon abandoned. The
market days are Tuesday and Friday: the fairs, principally
for toys, are on May 1st and October 18th, each
for three days.
The borough was first incorporated by charter of Edward
II., which was renewed, with additional privileges,
by James I., through the interest of Sir Edward Coke,
and subsequently confirmed by Charles II., by which
the government is vested in a mayor, recorder, high
steward, eight aldermen, and twenty-four capital burgesses,
assisted by a chamberlain, town clerk, and other
officers. The mayor is elected annually on the 30th
of October, from among the aldermen; the recorder,
high steward, chamberlain, town clerk, water bailiff, and
other officers, are elected by the corporation at a court
of common council: the mayor, the late mayor, recorder,
and steward, are justices of the peace for the borough.
The freedom is inherited by the eldest son of a freeman,
and obtained by purchase or gift, and, among
other privileges, confers an exemption from serving on
juries for the county. The mayor and eleven of the
corporation possess conjointly the powers of the court
of admiralty, with all its privileges and profits, without
accounting to the Exchequer; and at the admiralty
sessions, the mayor was usually preceded by a person
bearing a silver oar, which was kept for that purpose
in the town chest: the extent of their maritime jurisdiction
has not been strictly defined, but the corporation
have amerced persons for unlawfully fishing at Shotley,
about a mile north of the town. The corporation hold
quarterly courts of session on the day preceding the
sessions for the county, for the trial of all not accused of
capital offences; and a court of record, under the charter
of Charles II., every Tuesday, for the recovery of
debts not exceeding £100, which from the expensiveness
of the proceedings, has almost fallen into disuse. A
new guildhall has been recently erected, the lower part of
which is used as a prison for the borough, chiefly for the
confinement of prisoners previously to their committal
to the county gaol, and the upper part is appropriated
to the holding of the courts, and to the transaction of
the public business of the corporation. In the old guildhall,
a small brick building, were several buckets bearing
the arms and names of members of the corporation,
among which were those of Sir Edward Coke, Attorney-
General in the reign of James I.; Christopher Monk,
Duke of Albemarlej Colonel Sir Charles Lyttleton
Governor of Landguard fort in the reign of Charles II
Sir Harbottle Grimstone, Master of the Rolls in the
same reign; the Duke of Schomberg; Lord Bolingbroke;
and Edward, Earl of Oxford; who were recorders
of the borough. The borough first sent members
to parliament in the 17th of Edward III., but discontinued
till the 12th of James I., since which time it
has made regular returns: the right of election is vested
in the mayor, aldermen, and capital burgesses, thirtytwo
in number; the mayor is the returning officer.
The borough comprises the parishes of Dover-court
and St. Nicholas, in the archdeaconry of Colchester,
and diocese of London. The living of Dover-court
is a vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of St. Nicholas,
rated in the king's books at £5. 0. 10., endowed
with £200 private benefaction, and £200 parliamentary
grant, and in the patronage of the Crown. The
church, dedicated to All Saints, is an old building:
it contains several ancient monuments, and was eels
brated for a rood, or crucifix, held in high veneration,
for the destruction of which three men from Dedham,
who had stolen it from the church and burnt it, were
hanged for sacrilege in 1532. The church of St. Nicholas
was rebuilt in 1820, at an expense of £18,000:
it is a handsome edifice in the later style of English
architecture, with a lofty square embattled tower, and
contains one thousand free sittings; in the chancel are
three finely-painted windows, presented by John Hopkins,
Esq., and containing severally the arms of that
gentleman, those of the town, and of Dr. Howley, then
Bishop of London: among the monuments is a wellsculptured
bust of Sir William Clarke, Secretary at War
to Charles I. and Charles II. There are places of worship
for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists.
A school-room, with an adjoining house for the
master, was built in 1724, by Sir Humphrey Parsons,
and given to the corporation, in which thirty-two boys
of their nomination are instructed; there is also a National
school supported by subscription, in which nearly
two hundred children of both sexes are taught. Two
almshouses for aged widows were built by the corporation
in 1785. A fine spring of clear water formerly
issued from the cliff between the beacon and the; town 5
it was much esteemed for its medicinal properties, and
possessed a petrifying quality, turning the blue clay
which falls from the cliff into stone, sufficiently hard for
paving the streets and for building;: it is noticed in
the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1669.
Quantities of amber, and, according to some, ambergris, are
occasionally found on the shore; and in the vicinity of
Landguard fort transparent pebbles are found, which
were formerly set in rings by the inhabitants.