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Newhaven Heritage Update
In October this year, members of the community of Newhaven gathered together at the harbourside to commemorate with a service of remembrance the fishermen from the village who had been drowned in the Eyemouth Fishing Disaster in 1881. In all, out of the 189 souls that lost their lives that dreadful day, 17 men and boys came from Newhaven leaving 11 widows and over 50 fatherless children.
Over the generations, Newhaven has lost many fishermen to the sea — certainly numbering at least over 100. Over the centuries, tragedy was never far away from Newhaven’s doorstep. In that, it is, sadly, no different from other fishing communities up and down our coasts. Yet Newhaven has no memorial to these lost souls unlike these other villages. Newhaven Heritage would like to remedy this omission. An appeal for a suitable memorial to be located in the Old Burial Ground is now being launched. In the old cemetery in the middle of Newhaven Main Street lie at least 455 of Newhaven’s ancestors. This would make a fitting place for a memorial. In 2019, Newhaven Heritage were able to retrieve the Fishwives’ Drinking Fountain originally located at Anchorfield and removed when Lindsay Road was realigned. The Drinking Fountain had been presented to Newhaven in 1910 by trawler owners Thos. Devlin & Sons, at the time that they also donated the ornamental fountain in Starbank Park.
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Thanks to the eagle-eye and generosity of Messrs Brick & Stone of Broxburn, which was contracted to clear a Council yard in Sighthill, the long lost fountain was recovered and offered to Newhaven Heritage for its safekeeping. Although it was incomplete with the domed top missing, presumed broken, and the inscription badly abraded, it was nevertheless back home.
The proposal is that a sculpture would sit on top of this pink granite pillar as a tribute to our fishermen who had been killed. In the form of a small creel in which the fishwife would display the customer’s selection, the carving will also act as a birdbath bringing life and joy in the face of tragedy. Not only will this carving be representational of the working relationship between the fisherman and the fishwife who sold the fish — the derivation of the Bow-Tow, the sobriquet for those born in the village — it will be a fitting tribute to many who not only died but whose bodies were never recovered. If you wish to support this appeal, you can donate online by visiting our appeals page at www.jumblebee.co.uk/newhavenheritagecentre.Alternatively, you can send a cheque to our Boxmaster (treasurer) made out to “Newhaven Heritage” to Mr Dougie Ratcliffe, Newhaven Heritage, 19 Bathfield, Edinburgh EH6 4ED. Finally, you may make your donation in cash to members of Newhaven Heritage who staff the police box at Newhaven Harbour on Saturday mornings. In this instance, please place your donation in a sealed envelope marked Memorial Appeal. However you choose to pay — and we are grateful for any amount you wish to give — we ask you to considering signing a Gift Aid form if eligible. That way your contribution can be boosted by 25% which would help us reach our target all the quicker.
