A FORMER CLIFF HOUSE, SALCOMBE, AS IT WAS IN 1842
Photo credits: J. Fairweather-Tall
The pictures on this page show a former residence which stood on the site of the present Cliff House, Salcombe. It was also called Cliff House, and is depicted as it was in 1842. This date is authenticated by the aloe, known to have flowered that year in the front garden, and by the period dress, which experts confirm is correct for the time.
Many years before, in 1774, the first aloe ever to flower in Great Britain had grown on this same terrace, attracting wide interest. In mid-June that year, a horizontal flower stem shot out, then slanted upwards, and within a fortnight was growing vertically at a rate of nine inches (23cm) a day. By August it was 25 feet (7.6m) high, when a handbill was printed and circulated. Some of its content reflects social distinctions of the time. It read:-
Now to be seen at Salcombe, near Kingsbridge, in full blow, a remarkable Aloe, supposed to be the largest that ever was seen in this Kingdom; and altho’ continually exposed to the Weather, it hath grown to the following dimentions: in height 20 feet (6.1m), length of leaf 9 feet (2.7m), thickness of ditto 6 inches (15cm). As the Proprietor hath been at great Expenditure to keep it for the Curious, the Terms of Admittance are, for Ladies and Gentlemen 2s.6d* each; all others at One Shilling* each Person, to be paid at the Door.
The words, “2s.6d each; all others”, were soon struck out: even one shilling was more than many were prepared to pay.
A covering was erected on the east side, next to the road, to try to hide the aloe from the view of the non-paying public, but this was only partially effective. By the end of September it had reached a height of 28 feet (8.5m) and bore countless flowers on 42 branches. The plant perished at the end of that autumn.
* The two sums of money, 2s.6d and 1s.0d, are pre-decimal amounts. Equivalent coins today are 25p and 10p respectively. However, purchasing power in 1774 compared with that of the early 21st century would be about £9.00 and £3.60 respectively.
The pictures were found in 1970 in the attic of the present building.
Three framed pictures of old Cliff House, Salcombe, with a fourth frame of explanatory text, seen on the wall of the library corridor in the present building
The old Cliff House, Salcombe, viewed from the estuary in 1824
The aloe that flowered on the terrace garden of the old Cliff House, Salcombe, in 1824
An aloe flowering on the terrace garden of the old Cliff House, Salcombe, with a bow window section in the background
