To Meet The Shore Of Holderness, Which I Said Runs Out Into
The Sea Again At The Spurn; And The
First land they make or desire
to make, is called as above, Flamborough Head, so that
Wintertonness and Flamborough Head
Are the two extremes of this
course, there is, as I said, the Spurn Head indeed between; but as
it lies too far in towards the Humber, they keep out to the north
to avoid coming near it.
In like manner the ships which come from the north, leave the shore
at Flamborough Head, and stretch away SSE. for Yarmouth Roads; and
they first land they make is Wintertonness (as above). Now, the
danger of the place is this: if the ships coming from the north
are taken with a hard gale of wind from the SE., or from any point
between NE. and SE., so that they cannot, as the seamen call it,
weather Wintertonness, they are thereby kept within that deep bay;
and if the wind blows hard, are often in danger of running on shore
upon the rocks about Cromer, on the north coast of Norfolk, or
stranding upon the flat shore between Cromer and Wells; all the
relief they have, is good ground tackle to ride it out, which is
very hard to do there, the sea coming very high upon them; or if
they cannot ride it out then, to run into the bottom of the great
bay I mentioned, to Lynn or Boston, which is a very difficult and
desperate push: so that sometimes in this distress whole fleets
have been lost here altogether.
The like is the danger to ships going northward, if after passing
by Winterton they are taken short with a north-east wind, and
cannot put back into the Roads, which very often happens, then they
are driven upon the same coast, and embayed just as the latter.
The danger on the north part of this bay is not the same, because
if ships going or coming should be taken short on this side
Flamborough, there is the river Humber open to them, and several
good roads to have recourse to, as Burlington Bay, Grimsby Road,
and the Spurn Head, and others, where they ride under shelter.
The dangers of this place being thus considered, it is no wonder,
that upon the shore beyond Yarmouth there are no less than four
lighthouses kept flaming every night, besides the lights at Castor,
north of the town, and at Goulston S., all of which are to direct
the sailors to keep a good offing in case of bad weather, and to
prevent their running into Cromer Bay, which the seamen call the
devil's throat.
As I went by land from Yarmouth northward, along the shore towards
Cromer aforesaid, and was not then fully master of the reason of
these things, I was surprised to see, in all the way from
Winterton, that the farmers and country people had scarce a barn,
or a shed, or a stable, nay, not the pales of their yards and
gardens, not a hogstye, not a necessary house, but what was built
of old planks, beams, wales, and timbers, etc., the wrecks of
ships, and ruins of mariners' and merchants' fortunes; and in some
places were whole yards filled and piled up very high with the same
stuff laid up, as I supposed to sell for the like building
purposes, as there should he occasion.
About the year 1692 (I think it was that year) there was a
melancholy example of what I have said of this place: a fleet of
200 sail of light colliers (so they call the ships bound northward
empty to fetch coals from Newcastle to London) went out of Yarmouth
Roads with a fair wind, to pursue their voyage, and were taken
short with a storm of wind at NE. after they were past
Wintertonness, a few leagues; some of them, whose masters were a
little more wary than the rest, or perhaps, who made a better
judgment of things, or who were not so far out as the rest, tacked,
and put back in time, and got safe into the roads; but the rest
pushing on in hopes to keep out to sea, and weather it, were by the
violence of the storm driven back, when they were too far embayed
to weather Wintertonness as above, and so were forced to run west,
everyone shifting for themselves as well as they could; some run
away for Lynn Deeps, but few of them (the night being so dark)
could find their way in there; some, but very few, rode it out at a
distance; the rest, being above 140 sail, were all driven on shore
and dashed to pieces, and very few of the people on board were
saved: at the very same unhappy juncture, a fleet of laden ships
were coming from the north, and being just crossing the same bay,
were forcibly driven into it, not able to weather the Ness, and so
were involved in the same ruin as the light fleet was; also some
coasting vessels laden with corn from Lynn and Wells, and bound for
Holland, were with the same unhappy luck just come out to begin
their voyage, and some of them lay at anchor; these also met with
the same misfortune, so that, in the whole, above 200 sail of
ships, and above a thousand people, perished in the disaster of
that one miserable night, very few escaping.
Cromer is a market town close to the shore of this dangerous coast.
I know nothing it is famous for (besides it being thus the terror
of the sailors) except good lobsters, which are taken on that coast
in great numbers and carried to Norwich, and in such quantities
sometimes too as to be conveyed by sea to London.
Farther within the land, and between this place and Norwich, are
several good market towns, and innumerable villages, all diligently
applying to the woollen manufacture, and the country is exceedingly
fruitful and fertile, as well in corn as in pastures; particularly,
which was very pleasant to see, the pheasants were in such great
plenty as to be seen in the stubbles like cocks and hens--a
testimony though, by the way, that the county had more tradesmen
than gentlemen in it; indeed, this part is so entirely given up to
industry, that what with the seafaring men on the one side, and the
manufactures on the other, we saw no idle hands here, but every man
busy on the main affair of life, that is to say, getting money;
some of the principal of these towns are:- Alsham, North Walsham,
South Walsham, Worsted, Caston, Reepham, Holt, Saxthorp, St.
Faith's, Blikling, and many others.
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