Bovisand, near Plymouth (1825)

William Daniell
  • image IMAGEFORDA2991
RepositoryLibraryShelf
Devon West Country Studies L SC2385
Devon PLY I/S
Illustration Reference
SC2385
Location
CD 36 DVD 6
Publication Details
Date
1825
Publisher
Scope and Content
Daniell, William. A voyage round Great Britain, undertaken in the summer of the year 1813 and commencing from the Land's-End, Cornwall. London: Longman & Co and W. Daniell, 1825. Vol. VIII. pp. 27 - 29.The first of them, […]is BOVEYSAND, a secluded village on the bay of that name, near which is situated the residence of Mr. Whidbey, the superintendent of that stupendous national work the Breakwater […]Mr. Whidbey very kindly offered a conveyance to the Breakwater in his boat, which he had ordered out for the purpose of going to receive the duke of Norfolk, who had passed up the Sound on the preceding day in his beautiful and fast-sailing vessel, the Swallow of Arundel. In honour of this visit from his grace, the colours were hoisted, and were lowered on his departure.From the boldness of its design, and the magnitude of its dimensions, the Breakwater may be said to resemble some of those stupendous structures of ancient date, to which ignorance and wonder have ascribed a preternatural cause. Without being actually upon it, the spectator cannot form an adequate idea of its vastness, which is such, that if its origin had been involved in obscurity, it might have merited the appellation of a Giant's Causeway. Nor is it possible for any one, without being personally on the spot, to appreciate in its full extent the public utility of the work. Of the motives which gave rise to it, and of the progress that has been made towards its completion, a short account may here be given from the details that have been published.[…]The first stone was laid on the 12th of August, 1812, and the structure was carried on with such spirit, that it appeared above the surface at low water of the spring tide on the 31st of March, 1813. In August, 1816, the work was considered as half completed, at an expense of 364,000l.; and by the end of that year upwards of a million tons of stone had been deposited. […] The line when completed will extend 1700 yards across the sound, nearly in a direction from east to west; its eastern extremity will be about sixty fathoms to the eastward of St. Carlos rock, and the western three hundred fathoms west of the Shovel. The middle part is continued in a straight line, one thousand yards in length; the two extremities, each three hundred and fifty yards, will be completed with an inclination towards the central and straight part, in an angle of about 120 degrees […]. Light-houses are to be erected at each extremity, and their place is, at present, supplied by a floating light.[Text may be taken from a different source or edition than that listed as the source by Somers Cocks.]
Embellishment
col
Format
Aquatint
Dimensions
161x239mm
Series
S40. DANIELL William (text by AYTON, Richard): A VOYAGE
ROUND GREAT BRITAIN UNDERTAKEN IN THE SUMMER OF THE YEAR 1813 AND COMMENCING FROM THE LAND'S END, CORNWALL.
Note
As it was in 1813
Aspects
Exterior
Counties
Subjects
Dates
1813