The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1880-12-23
SWALLOWED BY THE SEA.
Facts Illustrating the Remarkable Raw.
ages of the Ocean.

ages of the Ocean.
Shakespeare tells us ''the seas a
thief" and our experience fully corrobo-
rates his. Our coasts have been tho
roughly ravaged by the relentless force
of this powerful element, and many are
the towns and villages that have fallen
victims to its Unsuitable NAV. No doubt
the sen has always been washing away
our crumbling cliffs. and many traditions
still hnger of ancient cities and vast
tracts of land forever buried beneath the
wave. Let us recount few
On the coast of Yorkshire, from Flam-
borough head to Spurn point, the dam
age done by the sea for ages has been
very extensive. Prof. Phillips estimates
the loss of land at the rate of about two
and quarter yards per year on an aver
age. Many villages have been washed
from its shores which are now forgotten.
On some of our old maps we may read
such items as "Hartburn, washed away
by the sea-" Clyde, lost in the sea-"
'Here stood Auburn, which was washed
away by the sea-" The Rev. r. Wilton,
M. A, has composed graceful little
poem on the latter place. 1t is said that
the ruins of Auburn are still to be seen
opposite Auburn house. Bridlington
quay has been subjected to many ravages;
In 1897 after stormy weather, the whole
was scene of ruin. houses being de-
stroyed and the north pier severed from
the land. Houses have frequently been
taken down to save them from being
swept into the sea. Seventeen or eigh-
teen hundred years ago we are told that
Roman villa of great proportions stood
on. Filey Bay (their Felix Portusl; how
much remains of it now? Within the last
twenty years Prof Phillips tells us of
the discovery of the traces of building
on the very edge of the cliff, rudely
paved, with corner-stones mortised in
the middle for upright posts; a central
stone; the floor covered from foot to a
foot and n half deep with the bones of
animals used for food; great amount of
pottery, nearly all Roman; coins, and
many other things, showing it to have
been a large residence luxuriously kept,
possibly part of a prsetorium
Outhorne is another departed village.
In 1928 its churchyard remained with
only one tombstone, which the sea soon
claimed for its own.
On the coast of Lincolnshire the raw
ages of the sea, though not extensive,
have still been very considerable. From
Grimsby to Skegness there are still many
visible vestiges of submarine forest.
Dugdale, however, attributes its sub
mersion to an earthquake. Itterby Owle
and Clee Ness were so despoiled and
flooded that they originated the local
term, "Gone to Humber"
At Thrunscoe church, village. and
seven hundred acres of land are said to
have been destroyed by the sea, and near
the low-water mark stones have been
found which seemed to have belonged to
a..church. About sixty years ago fish
erman drew up large bell-clapper in
the meshes of his net. Near Sutton-in-
the-Marsh and Huttoft there are again
distinct traces of submarine forest: Mt
the former place great part of st.
| Clements is said to have been washed
away centuries ago with its original
| church. At the lowest Gibbs of the tide
| great number of islets and decayed
| trees may be seen. When the late Sir
Joseph Banks examined these islets-or
| clay huts as they are sometimes called
the people told him that their ancestors
could discern the ruins of the old church
at very low water.
At Addlethorp and Mablethorpe traces
of submarine forest are especially visi-
BILE. Birch, fir, and oak are the trees
which are the most distinguishable; the
the soil in which they are fixed and to
which they grew is a soft, greasy clay,
above which is a stratum of decayed
leaves and other vegetable matter several
inches thick.
| According to Lyell, at Sheringaam, on
the coast of Norfolk, there is now depth
of twenty feet of water, where forty
eight years ago there stood a cliff fifty
feet high, with houses upon it. The an
cient villages of Shipden, Wimpwell, and
Eccles have been lost. The esite of ancient
| Corner is now part of the German
ocean, the inhabitants having gradually
retreated inland to the present town.
In Suffolk, at Dunfich, once the larg-
est seaport on the coast, the loss has
been very great. Monasteries, churches,
and public buildings have at different
times been destroyed, including four hun
dred houses at once. The town is now
reduced to a small village with about two
hundred inhabitants.
In the time of Queen Elizabeth,
Brighton, in Sussex, stood where the
chain pier now stretches into the sea.
Part of the town was destroyed in 1865,
and in 1705 and 1705 the remainder was
overwhelmed, consisting of one hundred
and thiateen houses.