"Old Customs House, Dunbar"
Maker
John Peat Munn
Production date
07 Jun 1948
Description
Text on negative envelope reads 'Dunbar. "Glory Departed". Customs House Square (Demolished January 1949). Old Customs House seen being left meantime. This was the only Customs house, in early days, between Berwick & Leith'. Unaccessioned letter from HM Customs Library enclosed with image.This photo is not scanned. You can see the original in the Archives in Callendar House
Object detail
'Dear Mr Munn
I must thank you for your letter of the 4th enclosing the print of Dunbar Old Customs House. It is certainly a fine print. I do not know whether I would go as far as to describe it as " the only Custom House between Berwick and Leith". Apart from whether or not the staff stationed at Eyemouth and North Berwick were housed in a building dignified by the title of a "Custom House", Preston Pans (sic) in the 18th Century certainly boasted a custom house, and a staff almost the same as Dunbar. It was Dunbar however that housed the "Surveyor of the Riding Officers of the Borders".
The print might very well interest such periodicals as "Seascape: The Coast Quarterly", (50 Carter Lane, Ludgate Hill, London, E.C.4) or "Sea Breezes: The Ship Lovers' Digest", (Chas. Birchall & Sons Ltd., 17 James Street, Liverpool 2), although the latter is largely confined in its interest to vessels the association may be sufficiently close. The former periodical is more general in its appeal.
I must in any case thank you for kindly forwarding me a print of this interesting study.
Yours faithfully (sic)
R James
Librarian'
Summary by Munn enclosed with print.
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