Lowestoft is, happily for the peace and cordiality of its people, neither a parliamentary Borough nor a corporate town: so that political and party feuds in no degree embitter the charities of private life. These are advantages of which its inhabitants are fully sensible; and if they are disposed to forget them, they are abundantly admonished by the example of a town nine miles to their north, which is a prey to the dissensions Lowestoft is so luckily a stranger to. Another reason for the complete absence of those quarrels and bickerings which are usually found in country towns, is the fact, that the inhabitants of this parish are not called upon to pay church-rates, the lands belonging to the church being amply sufficient to keep it in repair. Many of these unseemly disagreements common in other and less fortunate localities are thus avoided. The Vicar, however, makes a claim for a tithe of fish—about half a guinea on the return of each boat; but with his well-known good nature he has only taken this step pro formÂ, his unbounded charity and benevolence being one of the “great facts” of the locality. Amongst the other immunities and privileges enjoyed by the inhabitants may be mentioned exemption from payment of toll, service upon juries, &c., granted them by charter of Henry VI., in 1442, and confirmed by Elizabeth and Charles I.
Adjoining the pier is the Royal Hotel, forming the commencement of one of the finest of terraces, which strikes the attention of the traveller from its elegance and architectural beauty, as the reader will have no great difficulty in discerning through the aid of the artist.
This superb establishment, the Royal, having been recently erected, with an entire disregard to expense, and under the ablest supervision in every department, comprises all the latest improvements in the cellerage, batterie de cuisine, and dormitories; while the coffee and dining rooms and suites of private apartments are most admirably adapted for their respective uses, combining in singular perfection all the desirable characteristics of a first-class hotel and family mansion, without the least encroachment of the one upon the province of the other. The house comprises within itself almost every comfort that can be needed by the valetudinarian, or desired by the luxurious pleasure-seeker. Situate on the very edge of the sea, and the tide receding but very few feet during the day, out of door bathing is nearly at all times practicable at will, the neighbourhood being in every way favourable for it; while salt water baths, at every temperature, are within doors, as well as all the ablutionary appliances available under Mahmoud at Brighton, or the most eminent professors of human detergency at Scarborough or elsewhere. A billiard room of noble dimensions, a large conservatory, partly filled with exotics, and partly with native plants, chiefly indigenous to the horticulture of East Anglia (a district peculiarly rich in this respect), and a well supplied news room, offer potent antidotes to ennui. If with these accessories, added to the auxiliaries of a most recerchÉ refectory, the attendance being at once unobtrusive and assiduous, and everything which the experience of a long skilled and discerning maitre de hotel can suggest for the regalement of his guests, a sojourner at the Royal Hotel, Lowestoft, do not discover a true specific against the blue devils, he must belong to the category of Sir Charles Coldstream’s hypochondriacs in Used Up, who could find neither tranquillity in a domestic Elyseum, nor excitement in the crater of Vesuvius. Perhaps it may be supposed that the agremens we speak of are materially qualified by the undue “inflammation of one’s weekly bills.” But not so. The pecuniary administration at the Royal is conducted as nearly as possible on the model of the most approved Metropolitan Clubs, combining the maximum of service with the minimum of charge compatible with the high character of the house and the completeness of its appointments. The present proprietor, Mr Samuel Howett, possesses peculiar facilities for conducting it with advantages on this score denied to any other person. As owner for several years of the Royal at Norwich—one of the finest establishments of the kind in England, as the Festival visitors can testify, and as is demonstrated by the constant patronage of the officers of the troops stationed in that city—he has had large local experience of the district, enjoying the respect of many of the resident families, and well known for his business habits, urbanity of manner, and liberal-handed management of all public banquets or private entertainments committed to his supervision. With such a commissariat for head-quarters, as the Royal at Norwich, the Royal at Lowestoft becomes, in his hands, adequate to almost any exigency that can arise, especially as, since last Autumn, its former great capacity for accommodation has been very considerably extended. The view in our illustration is on too small a scale, and is taken from too remote a point to give an adequate idea of the extent or peculiarly commanding position of the Royal; but still it will serve to show that it is a sumptuous-looking pile externally, and we can assure the reader that its interior is of fully corresponding excellence in every possible respect. Another story has recently been added to the original building, and an entirely new wing erected, affording a large number of additional bed-rooms, sitting-rooms, and other appliances of comfort and luxury, all of which are furnished and adorned with unusual taste and elegance. The pictorial establishments will especially attract the attention of the artistical. The accommodation for guests now so ample, however large their number, and the servants’ department so well ordered and efficient, that there is no over-crowding, confusion, or inattention. In securing order, regularity, quietness, and promptitude on the part of his domestics, Mr. Howett has proved himself an admirable tactician, and has made his hotel a model of comfort in these important respects. When full of guests it has more the air of a private mansion than an hotel. All conveniences for visitors of rank, such as carriages and horses, &c., are provided in great variety and abundance, the extensive and handsome mews being a very noticeable feature of the Royal. Amongst the recent improvements we may add, that the restaurant has been enlarged and redecorated. Public banquets, or private dinner parties, must be large indeed, if stinted for space in this noble apartment. Connoisseurs assure that for extent, variety, excellent taste in selection, and samples of the choicest vintage, Mr. Howett’s wine cellars are unequalled in this part of the kingdom.
The establishment is conducted on the convenient principal of furnishing the guests with the ordinary scale of charges, which Mr. H. forwards on application to any gentlemen wishing to visit his hotel. The applicant must be fastidious in the extreme if he finds any items in this scale to complain of. As evidence at once of the salubrity of the climate, and of the suitability of the Royal Hotel for the utmost requirements of its various frequenters, it may be mentioned, that Earl Cardigan makes it his occasional head-quarters, (bringing his beautiful Yacht, the famous “Enchantress,”) and assembling around him a large circle of his military and fashionable friends; and, on the other hand, the Royal is often occupied by several eminent members of the Society of Friends, to whom its quietude and methodical system of management, no less than the seclusion and healthiness of the locale, recommend it in preference to watering-places of more eminent repute among the faculty. The increasing eclÂt of the Annual Regatta, the number and value of the prizes, and the celebrity of the Yachts that have assembled and competed on occasion of the last Regatta or two, give promise that henceforth the most “crack” Yachts and most prominent members of the Royal Yacht Club will make an annual visit to Lowestoft, and greatly enliven the season. From its proximity to the harbour and sea, and other attractions, the “Royal” is the favourite rendezvous of the Yacht owners and Regatta patrons, and the most eminent sons of Neptune on their visit to Lowestoft; and frequently, on other occasions, contains a large and distinguished assemblage of rank and fashion.
We are thus particular in dwelling upon the Royal Hotel, not only because it is one of the principal features in the beautiful new town of Lowestoft, but because its character must necessarily have a considerable influence upon those who may contemplate visiting the place. Under the same admirable management of Mr. Howett is the excellent secondary hotel at a short distance, called the Harbour Inn, which is inferior to the Royal only in the splendour of its fittings up; but in all its substantials of comfort and convenience it is wholly impossible it could be surpassed; and it may be recommended unhesitatingly to those of less aristocratic pretensions than the usual inmates of the Royal. In the Old Town, also, there are several inns of great respectability and merit, extremely moderate in their charges, and distinguished by a naÌvetÉ and heartiness of manner in their proprietors and assistants that will astonish a philosopher as being found at the terminus of a railway—belonging, as those attributes do, rather to the primitive hostelries of Addison and Goldsmith, than to the days of electric telegraphs and Bradshaw’s Time Tables. In concluding this portion of our subject, we may add, and in no town within our experience are the lodgings, speaking generally, so good, so economic, so unexceptionally conducted, as in Lowestoft—the cost of all household necessaries and rural luxuries being fabulously trifling compared with the tariff in other latitudes, whether on the south-west, the north-west, or even on the Welch coast.
The sanitary condition of Lowestoft is most satisfactory. Unlike some neighbouring towns, there has been no occasion here for the compulsory clauses of the “Health of Towns Bill.” A few years ago, an admirable plan of systematic and thorough drainage was adopted and carried out under the superintendence of Messrs. Lucas, at a large expense,—the situation and physical characteristics of the town affording peculiar facilities for an effective scheme of sewerage. In addition to this, a plan has been resolved on for thoroughly draining the North Beach, and thereby preventing the possibility of effluvium arising from “pulk holes” in the vicinity of the fish houses.
Waterworks and Gasworks (at Kirtley), for supplying the south end of the town, have been completed and in operation some time; and, in the course of last year, a private bill received the Royal assent, incorporating a company for supplying and erecting, at the north part of Lowestoft, Waterworks, enlarged Gasworks, new Market Place, Abattoirs, and other appropriate adjuncts, at an expense of £20,000, to be raised by two thousand £10 shares. These shares were immediately taken, chiefly by the inhabitants and promoters of the undertaking, which promises to be a very successful one, pecuniarily, and a signal advantage to the town.
The new Waterworks are now in progress near the “Church Lane” where the element, according to repute and chemical analysis, is of excellent quality and unusual purity; and the Market House, &c., is speedily to be erected near the present Market square, and upon the new site now occupied by the excellent Queen’s Head Hotel, and adjacent buildings.
To the new Waterworks Mr. Clemence’s recently-erected Soap Factory, pretty near thereto, would seem an appropriate appendage. If abundance and cheapness of soap and water will secure cleanliness, the inhabitants of Lowestoft must not be classed amongst the “great unwashed.”
The various comprehensive reports of the Directors of the Harbour of the Shareholders show at a glance the progressively improving nature of this locality, and the extent of the trade carried on. They are all drawn up by the energetic and accomplished Captain W. S. Andrews, for several years known as the Captain of the Medway West India Mail Steamer, and whose appointment here first as Harbour-master, and more especially as Managing-director of the North of Europe Steam Packet Company, has been a most important auxiliary in the advancement of everything connected with Lowestoft, especially all matters pertaining to the docks and shipping.
