445 Church Was in a Great Measure Due to the Exertions of Mr. John Ambler, Superin Tendent of the Spurn Beach and Works, Under the Board of Trade
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
KILNSEA PARISH. 445 church was in a great measure due to the exertions of Mr. John ambler, superin tendent of the Spurn beach and works, under the Board of Trade. The Diocesan Society contributed £102; the remainder was raised by subscription. The church of Kilnsea was given by Stephen, Earl of Albemarle, to Birstal Priory, and passed by sale, with the rest of the possessions of that alien cell, to the abbot and convent of Kirkstall. At the dissolution of monasteries, the patronage and rectory reverted to the Crown, and in 1667 they were purchased by Edward Slater, of Hull. From this family they descended to the Thompsons, of Sheriff Hutton. The living is a discharged vicarage, united with Easington and Skeffiing, in the patronage of the Archbishop of York, and held by the Rev. Henry Maister, M.A., who resides at Skeffiing. The Primitfve Methodists have an iron chapel here, built in 1885, at the expense of the late Henry Hodge, Esq., of Hull. A stone cross, that formerly stood here close to the cliff, was removed, in 1818, to the park of Sir Thomas Constable, Bart., at Burton Constable, to preserve it from destruction by the encroachments of the sea. It was subsequently removed to the town of Hedon, where it now stands. The greatest breadth of the parish, between the sea and the Humber, is a little under one mile, but we may infer from the terminal ness of its ancient name that it was formerly mlA.ch wider. The encroachments of the sea have been con stant and progressive upon the perishable coast of Holderness, and it is probable that, since the Norman Conquest, the extent of the parish has been reduced fully one half. From measurements and close observation, it has been ascertained that a strip of land two yards in breadth is wasted yearly along the cliffs. Spurn Head or Sp'llrn Point is a low headland of gravel and sand, accumulated by the sea and the wind, and disposed in its peculiar forms by the united action of currents from the sea and Humber. It is a wild dreary spot, a trifle more than a mile, in circuit, and but little amenable to the hand of cultivation. A long narrow ridge of pebbles and sand connects it with the land. Some years ago the sea made a clean breach through this sand bank, and the sum of £24,000 was voted by the Government for the repair of the breach and the strengthening of the bank. Strong timber groins have also been placed along the shore so as to form a firm beach, and thus prevent the further encroachment of the sea upon the parish. There are two lighthouses at the Spurn, under the management of Trinity House, London, a few cottages for the seamen who have charge of the life-boats, and a public house. The first lighthouse on this part of the coast was projected by Richard Reedbarrow, hermit of the chapel of Our Lady and St. Anne, at Ravenspurne. He petitioned Parliament for permission to build a tower which should be a signal by day, and a light for the direction of the mariners by night. To assist him in the completion of the work, Letters Patent were granted empowering the mayor and certain merchants to levy for a period of 10 years, a duty of Is. on every ship of 120 tons and upwards, 8d. on every vessel of 100 tons, and 4d. on every vessel of less burthen. This Ravenspurn, where Reedbarrow had his oratory and erected the tower and beacon, was situated at the mouth of the Humber, in the immediate neighbourhood of Spurn Head, and is also variously called, in old writings and documents, Ravenser, AId Ravenser, Ravenesse, and Ravensburgh. It was a seaport and town of some importance, returning two members to Parliament in the reign of Edward 1. and 11. It was here that Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, landed in 1399, to fight for and win the crown of England, and here Edward IV. landed in 1471, after a brief exile in Holland, to renew the struggle of the House of York for the crown, and to over throw the Kingmaker and the Lancastrians on the field of Barnet. The stone cross, mentioned in the accounts of Kilnsea and Hedon, is supposed to have been originally erected at Ravenspurne to commemorate the landing of Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV. Ravenspurne has long been numbered among the" lost towns of Holderness." It has been engulfed by the sea, but neither the time when it was destroyed, nor Bl.