188 BRIDPORT HARBOUR. 



of the County Council of Dorset, is the jury's award, dated 15 

 Sept., 1740, which fixed the compensation to be paid by the 

 borough to the owners and occupiers of the 8a. 3r. 30p. 

 (chiefly a sandy waste) lying between the east and west cliffs 

 and extending northward to a point known as Irepool, 

 under the compulsory purchase clause of the Act of 1721-2 

 (see also Boswell's Civil Division 1795, p. 88). 



There is also among the archives at Dorchester a vellum 

 book of account, in excellent condition, which forms a complete 

 narrative of events from the date when the haven was finished, 

 down to the year 1819. The first entry shows that the total 

 sum expended under all headings was 4,231, which figures 

 were allowed and confirmed at Quarter Sessions held at Brid- 

 port on 2 Oct.. 1744. In the same account the words " build- 

 ing the piers there and digging the channel " occur in a 

 description of the work done by the engineer, thus indicating 

 the change of site which necessitated the diversion of the river, 

 as to which I shall have more to say presently. A few 

 later extracts from this MS. book will not, I think, be out of 

 place. The receipts from shipping dues w r ere at first very 

 small, as might be expected after a dislocation of the coasting 

 trade for about three years ; from Oct., 1743, to Oct, 1744, they 

 were 18 Is. lid. only, and from 1744 to '45, 22 16s. lOd. 

 Afterwards the dues slowly but steadily increased until 1817, 

 when 808 were paid by shipowners and others during the 

 twelvemonths. Shortly after the reopening of the port the 

 west foot wharf was " greatly damaged by a storm," a some- 

 what unlucky beginning, which resulted in an expenditure 

 for driving new piles in 1744. Hutchins, on p. 17, says that 

 certain alterations were carried out in 1756 ; probably he 

 refers to an outlay of 21 on " building the wall round the 

 bason," which represents the first attempt to excavate a 

 dock or basin, as the engineer's agreement contained no pro- 

 vision for such accommodation, and did not include any 

 masonry work. The names of those who collected the tolls 

 and " looked after the harbour " were 



Lionel Browne, 1743 Nicholas Bools, 1794. 



