The charm of Cromer’s fishing industry and its “good lobsters” meant that it acquired a reputation which grew until many more families heard about it. The corn and coal trade was one way in which people could have heard about Cromer’s developments and recommendations. As more people visited the fishing village more accommodation was needed leading to the development of houses for the tourists to stay in. As White’s Directory says; “ The number of tourists continued to increase yearly” which led to “many neat houses” being built and the town being “considerably improved”.
Although in the 1800s people still came to Cromer and enjoyed the fish there, good lobsters were not the only reason that they had to visit. They could instead enjoy the clean beaches, quiet countryside and entertaining locals. There was more money to be made out of visitors than out of curing houses and nets.
In 1798 fishing had been so important that lower class of people were “chiefly supported by fishing” and yet in 1875 in Buckland’s “Report on the Fisheries of Norfolk” less than 10% of the population were supported by fishermen. This decline of fishing can partly be explained by the decline of the fish and crabs themselves. These were overfished off the shore of Cromer, the small crabs being “smashed up at sea and used as bait”, meaning that there were no small crabs to grow into big crabs to exported in Norwich and London. So Cromer had to rely more on its faithful tourist families such as the Gurneys and less on fishing. People who might have been fishermen instead had futures as entrepeneurs in the accommodation business, developing more land into “many neat houses”.
The corn and coal trades helped in a different way to develop Cromer. The coal trade was a dangerous business; three ships called Wensleydale, Commerce, and Ellis were beached together in 1867. Normally though, the coals were unloaded and taken from the vessels by carts to be dragged up the gangway by horses and stored in the coal yard. The gangway was a slump in the cliff developed to help the coalers move the cargo from beach to town. However, this everyday procedure did not seem so normal to visiting gentry. Bartell found that “from the loading and unloading the vessels arises another source of picturesque amusement”. Like fishing, the coal trades rural charm provided entertainment for the upper class. The corn trade was a major export of Cromer and allowed news or Cromer’s developments to spread around Britain and Europe. The corn trade ended in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars and the coal trade ended in 1880.
Long before the corn and coal trades ended, some new ideas were published that completely changed Cromer. The idea of mineral water being healthy was first discovered by the Romans and was then re-discovered in the eighteenth century. In 1702 Queen Anne visited Bath making spa towns immediately fashionable. It became a popular pastime and social occasion for the well-to-do. Then in 1740 when Dr. Russell claimed that sea water was just as good as mineral water with the same health benefits the idea was immediately successful and people started flooding to the coasts. It was made fashionable by the Prince of Wales who was advised to visit Brighton for his health in 1783.
Cromer is a beautiful town with a beach that “cannot be exceeded”, meaning that it was sure to cash in on the new trend. It was first recognised as a watering place by White’s in 1785, which reports that: “ It was first frequented as a watering place, about the year 1785, by two or three families…whose favourable reports of the beautiful scenery [etc.] soon attracted others here to share these enjoyments”. According to White’s, “the number of visitors continued to increase yearly” and it was then that new houses were built to accommodate them, as well as hotels and places such as Simeon Simon’s Bath House which contained billiard rooms and reading rooms to entertain the gentry. Cromer was developed so far beyond the familiar sight of a small fishing village to a larger watering town of about 1415 souls in 1875.
In my opinion, it was Dr. Russell’s new ideas on the health giving benefits of seawater that proved the most helpful in the development of Cromer. The accommodation and entertainment that was needed to sustain the image of a watering place expanded Cromer a great deal, and gave the former fishing village a reputation that attracted new visitors long after the railways.
