Tenby, The Harbour 1898

Photo ref: 41065

More about this scene

The 200-foot Royal Victoria Pier (left) was built out from Castle Hill at Butlers Horse, and was erected to coincide with Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897. In 1898 work was being undertaken to extend it further. This was completed in 1899, and opened on 9 May by the Duchess of Kent. A popular promenade, it was also used as a low water landing stage for excursions and paddle steamers. It was demolished in 1953. IN 1328, during Edward III's reign, rights were given to 'the good men of Tenby' so that the town might benefit from taxes of murage and lastage applied to goods coming into the town by sea. With the money raised by these taxes, the townsfolk should maintain the walls of the town and build a pier to defend the harbour, and it is thought that Tenby had the earliest pier in Wales. Fishing and especially dredging for oysters was an important part of Tenby's trade. Oysters from the Caldey beds were so large that a single specimen was considered too much for one person. However, over many years and with a decline in the availability of oysters, and subsequently an increasing depend- ency on the new industry catering for seasonal visitors, the importance of fishing in Tenby lessened. Fishermen came from elsewhere around the coast, and soon Brixham trawlers became a common sight in the harbour. They would berth amongst the shallow-drafted clinker-built Tenby luggers peculiar to the town, three-masted open boats used mainly for drift-net fishing and oyster dredging. Throughout the 19th century, luggers were still built in Tenby. In summer, many luggers provided pleasure trips for visitors, a more profitable trade than fishing.