Cromer, August 3, 1841.
A GUIDE TO CROMER
AND
ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.
There are few places in this kingdom which combine to a greater degree the advantages of a salubrious and invigorating air, a fine and open sea, or more pleasing scenery than Cromer. The lover of nature, the student, or the invalid may frequent its shores with equal benefit, and with equal gratification. That it is not more known, or become a place of more general resort, is the result rather of circumstances, than of any deficiency in itself. True, indeed, it has not the metropolitan luxuries of Brighton, or the elegances of some of our more southern favourites to recommend it, neither does it offer any resources of gaiety for the amusement of its visitors; but nevertheless, it will never want admirers, so long as an unvitiated taste, a desire of scientific knowledge, or a wish for the renovation of health shall exist.
Cromer is situated on the most north-easterly point of the Norfolk coast, nine miles N. N. W. of North Walsham, ten miles E. N. E. of Holt, eleven miles N. by E. of Aysham, twenty-two miles north of Norwich, and one hundred and thirty N. E. by N. of London. It is built on lofty cliffs, not less than sixty feet high, nearest the town, and is sheltered on three sides by an amphitheatre of hills, partly covered with woods, and commanding a view of the wide waters of the German Ocean, nowhere to be excelled in extent or sublimity. Its population had increased between the years 1801 and 1836, from six hundred and seventy-six souls to twelve hundred and thirty-two: by the last census it appeared that it was twelve hundred and twenty-nine; but this apparent decline may be accounted for by the time of year in which it was taken, when no visitors were in the place, and the greatest part of the fishermen were absent at Yarmouth, engaged in the mackerel fishery, where their business frequently takes them. The parish now comprises only about seven hundred acres of land, mostly belonging to the Countess of Listowel, (widow of the late George Thomas Windham, Esq., of Cromer, and one of the daughters of the late Admiral Windham, of Felbrigg,) who is also the Lady of the Manor, and the owner of Cromer Hall.
For some centuries the sea has continued to make considerable encroachments on this part of the coast. Cromer itself was formerly situated at some distance from it, and formed in the reign of the Conqueror, as appears from the Doomsday Survey, a part of the lordship and parish of Shipden, a village of some importance, which, with its church, dedicated to St. Peter, was swallowed up by the sea about the time, as it is supposed, of Henry IV.; for a patent to exact certain dues for the erection of a pier at Shipden was granted in the fourteenth of Richard II., and two years afterwards, Sir William Beauchamp alienated, to a priory of Carthusians, a piece of land in Shipden, adjoining the rectory.
At very low tides, large masses of old wall are still to be seen nearly half a mile from the cliffs, which the fishermen call the Church Rock, from the supposition that they formed part of the old church at Shipden; but some have discredited the idea, on the ground that the constant action of the sea for so many ages must have destroyed all vestiges of the building. We have, however, seen a fragment of the wall which was lately obtained from the mass during a very low tide; and it is undoubtedly composed of the squared flints, such as are used in the present church of Cromer.
The sea has continued to make rapid encroachments on the cliffs. Many large portions of land were washed away in 1611, previous to which the inhabitants had endeavoured, but fruitlessly, although they bestowed much labour and ingenuity in the attempt, to maintain a small harbour. In the winter of 1799, the Light-house cliffs, which rise from the beach to the height of two hundred and twenty feet, made several large slips, or shoots as they are called, one of which brought with it, at least half an acre of ground, and extended a considerable way into the sea at low water-mark. On January 15, 1825, a similar occurrence took place. An immense mass was detached from the cliff, which fell with tremendous force on the beach, extending in breadth above five hundred yards from the cliffs, covering an area of about twelve acres, and containing, it was supposed, not less than half a million of cubic yards of earth. Nothing had been observed which could raise any suspicion of what was about to take place, but providentially no lives were lost, nor did any accident occur, although the coast-guard had to pass in the night the very spot where it fell. A large and rapid stream, the cause in all probability of the catastrophe, immediately after the fall, issued from the bank, discharging itself down upon the beach with great violence.
In the morning of August 19, 1832, the Lighthouse hill again sustained a similar loss. This shoot was so considerable as to cause serious apprehension for the safety of the light-house itself; in consequence of which the master and elder brethren of the Trinity House, London, under whose superintendence all such matters are directed, determined on erecting a new one on the hill, two hundred and eighty yards further inland. The former one, which is partly dismantled, stands about three-quarters of a mile east of the town: both houses are in the parish of Overstrand. The first was built of brick in 1719, by Edward Browne of Ipswich; the present tower is also constructed of brick and stuccoed. It is fifty-two feet in height, and about three hundred above the level of the sea, surmounted with a lantern lighted by thirty lamps in three divisions, placed in plated copper reflectors, which revolve on an upright axis; the whole making a revolution in three minutes, consequently a full light is exhibited to the mariners every minute, consuming about eleven hundred gallons of oil annually. The gleam of light is perceptible about twenty-seven miles distant. The lamps all the year are lighted up at sunset, and extinguished at sunrise.
Many years ago, the first house was lighted up with coals, which was not only an uncertain light, but also a fixed one, and was frequently mistaken. The labour and expense likewise attendant on this method were very great; for the light was kept up by means of a large bellows, which was incessantly worked like a blacksmith’s forge, and the coals, which article is always at a high price in Cromer, could be brought up the hill only by small quantities at a time. In addition to which the smoke and dirt caused by their consumption, made the office of light-house-keeper a most disagreeable and an unhealthy one. The lamps require to be trimmed every three hours; but as the attendance is shared by two persons, a comfortable portion of sleep is allowed to each, the night being divided between them.
The annual salary formerly paid by the Trinity House to the light-house-keeper, was fifty pounds, it is now one hundred pounds. When the writer of this article first visited Cromer, many years ago, the situation was held by two females, by whom the house was kept in such beautiful order, as to form of itself, an object of attraction and admiration.