ABSTRACT
The roots of the English seaside holiday lie in the Georgian period (1760-1830). In the search for a cure, fashionable society moved from inland to coastal spas. Further, the growing vogue for recreational travel within Britain took many to the coastal regions, the journey to which, even in these small islands, could seem like a fascinating voyage into strange parts. Only affecting the leisured and wealthy, these trends derived also from the transformation in the way coastal scenery was ‘read’ towards the end of the early modern period. In the opinion of Corbin (1995, p.viii) it was this which lay behind the ‘desire for shore that swelled and spread between 1750 and 1840’.
