A general state of the Whitehaven Dispensary, : for the year 1807.

Whitehaven Dispensary (Whitehaven, England)

Date:: [1808]

Credit: A general state of the Whitehaven Dispensary, : for the year 1807. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$To these considerations, which may induce the opulent and humane to patronize such Charitable Establishments, limi^ht be added their beneficial effects in populous and con- fined communities. That the salubrity of this situation* has been promoted <by the unremitting exertions of the Directors of the Dis- pensary, * Whitehaven, in latitude 54® 32' North, longitude 30 30' Wed, has not impro- ■j perly been ftyled the Montpelier of the North. The health of its inhabitants has been preferved by various advantage* peculiar to its fituation. The foil is Tandy and dry ; I and, though the hills on each fide and oppofite the harbour are lolty, the fea fhore is considerably elevated The coaft is remarkably bold and rocky ; abounding with ma- i rine vegetables, whofe exhalations muft afford a copious fupply of vital air. The town is (ituated at the head of the Vale, which leads to St Bees, and the com* tnunication with the fea, at its further extremity, a range of four miles, occafions a re* ! gular fupply, and indeed conftant ftream, of frefh air ; the immediate effects of which are gratefully felt in fultry weather ; as its falutary influence muft undoubtedly operate at all feafons; and to this circumftance alone the healthy ftate of Whitehaven and its vicinity has been attributed. The town is fo contiguous to the fea, that the tide flows up to it. With regard to the interior, (a circumftance of no fmall confideration to the well-being of the inhabi- tants of any populous town) Whitehaven is remarkably well-built; the dwellings are generally commodious and comfortable. The houfes, with a very few exceptions, are j of free (lone, covered with flate. There is not a tiled, nor a thatched roof in the town. Many of the ftreets are fpacious; and moft of them crofting each other at right angles, the Ventilation (another important matter) is preferved clear and uninterrupted ; in | fhort, the principal ftreets are completely ventilated by the north-weft and fouth-eafb wirds and the opportunity which the inhabitants have of recreating themfelvesby their ; occafional walks on the noble piers, which form the Harbour of White hayen, contri- : butes ftill more to the falubrity of the place. Sea-port towns, from the conftant effluvia of burning tar, are obferved to be more j healthy than the interior country. This, Whitehaven enjoys, of courfe, only in common with other maritime places of trade ; but it pr fieftes other advantages, which are not { extended to all fuch places It is fituated in the neighbourhood of extenfive Col- I lieries and Lime Works ; and the bowels of the earth al£> contain great abundance ot free ftone, fla’e, and iion*ore. The limeftone is burnt in the neighbourhood, and j carted through the central ftreets, in large quantities for exportation j and the coals, j which are of excellent quality, are the only article of fuel. Bur the occupation of the numerous, highly ufeful and ornamental Rows of Houfes, | (each two ftories-in height) built upon the rifing ground to the weftward rf the town, (in vshich every poor family, employed in the coal-works, poflefles a feparate, conve- A 2 foient,$

A general state of the Whitehaven Dispensary, : for the year 1807.

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