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The Kingswear Daymark -


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“Dartmouth is a fine harbour, all it needs is a beacon!”


by Jonathan Turner


hese words were spoken by a Dartmouth shipowner to the Admiralty Surveyor, at a public meeting in Dartmouth in 1859. Not for the first time, Dartmouth


mariners were lobbying local authorities to make the case for better harbour facilities to increase the port’s appeal to shipowners. In 1840, Dartmouth narrowly lost out to Southampton in a public tender for lucrative contracts to carry post and passengers to colonial outposts. At the time it was believed that the reason Dartmouth lost out was that it was considered to be a “blind” harbour; meaning that it was difficult


for navigators to fix on from certain directions. It was easy to find the port coming from the


southwest, but coming from the east or south, Dartmouth was hidden by Froward Point, and merged into the rest of the Start Bay coastline. So increased aids to navigation were required, notably a ‘Day Beacon’ (the description Daymark came later). At that time, several ports had built beacons (see table overleaf) and local sentiment believed Dartmouth should have one too. Since the Napoleonic wars, Dartmouth’s


international trade, in particular its fishing trade from Newfoundland, had almost disappeared. It had become a harbour of refuge, benefitting from the protection provided by its steep surrounding hills and the deep harbour waters: local Governor, Arthur Holdsworth estimated it was enough for 300 ships, in waters 7 to 15 fathoms deep. But although there was broad agreement


Start Bay from Start Point


that Dartmouth needed better communication and navigation facilities, the political will was lacking, and landowners were often uncooperative. This was well illustrated by the difficulties the town had in securing a passage from the mainline South Devon railway: it had reached Totnes in 1847, but still no plans had


© photo by dartmouthphotographs.com


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