“By order of the Magistrates.
“Notice is hereby given—Should any person or persons take away or remove any sand near the gangway and foot of the cliffs, he or they shall be prosecuted, and upon conviction, shall suffer the extreme penalty of the law.”
But strange to relate, no sooner did the deputy lord receive permission to dispose of the sea-beach materials, than the board was taken down, and individuals are permitted to take them away, if not in the immediate vicinity of the gangway, at least at the foot or base of the cliffs.
Every remaining vestige of Eccles denotes antiquity. Ancient stone walls have been exposed within the last three years by the action of the sea, removing lofty sand hills, and the peasantry have picked up silver and copper coins of great antiquity. But a still stronger evidence of a remote period may be traced in the wells constructed with large unburned bricks, formed in a mould wider at one end than at the other, to adapt them to the true circumference of the well itself. It is quite clear the wells had been filled up with earth, and ceased to be used before the abandonment of the place, since near to every one of them is a stone well, built with mortar, similar to the churches, which possibly denotes the first step towards civilization in this country. It formerly contained two thousand acres of land, but so wasted by the incursion of the German Ocean, that the inhabitants, in their petition for a reduction of taxes, in the reign of James the 1st, complained they had then only fourteen houses and three hundred acres of land. The whole now comprises a few cottages, with the church tower, and one hundred and fifty acres of land. The church was dedicated to St. Mary.
History informs us, that the parish of Whimpnell, formerly situated between Hasborough and Eccles, has been entirely removed by the sea.
HASBOROUGH.
Hasborough, denominated also Happisburgh, situated seven miles south-east of North Walsham, is a considerable village, containing a church dedicated to St. Mary. Its steeple, 110½ feet in height, stands on an elevated point of land, and is extremely useful to the mariner as a land-mark. In former days a large wooden cross presented itself a considerable height above and from the centre of the steeple, which rendered it still more conspicuous, and prior to 1818 it became so decayed, that it was blown down. The inhabitants erected another in its stead, which, during a heavy tempest in 1822, unfortunately served as a conductor for the electric fluid, which demolished it, and also a large portion of the south-east buttress; the latter fell upon and passed through the roof of the church, on to the aile beneath. On this occasion the electric fluid set fire to the church, and had not the promptest measures been resorted to, it must have been destroyed.
Here also was erected, in 1791, two light-houses, the one a hundred and the other eighty feet high. The upper part of each terminates in a dome; immediately beneath is the lantern, and on the outside a platform, surrounded with iron palisading, whose verge consists of a flat piece of the same material. Some years since, an unfortunate individual, subject to mental aberration, while in an extremely excited state, walked on the top or rim of the palisading, round one of the lights. This feat he safely accomplished, and extraordinary to relate, it had the desirable effect to render him calm and collected for several years.
A lover of the picturesque would be amply repaid for the trouble taken to reach the platform, which, as before observed, describes a circle, the one half presenting, on a clear day, a beautiful marine view, the other a splendid landscape.
In the former, the ocean, as far as the eye can reach, exhibits a vast expanse of troubled water, imparting sound which murmurs discontent. Its bosom too, after northerly and north-easterly winds, is frequently bedecked with vessels bound to some distant port, and from their being so numerous, so variable in size and form, and gliding so near the shore, they produce a beautiful panorama, not surpassed on any other part of the coast.
From the latter is seen in the distance, the spire of Norwich Cathedral, Cromer and Winterton light-houses. The intermediate space presenting pretty scenery of hill and dale, with here and there a mansion surrounded with plantations. The spires of the village churches too are numerous and conspicuous, and the ruins of antiquated buildings, especially the Priory of Broomholme, at Bacton, is a picture in itself inviting our thoughts to roam to by-gone times.—The lands divided with fences, neat and trim, and the fields, exhibit, during the summer months, the various colours of the ripening corn. Farm-houses located at uncertain distances, and the humble cottages of the industrious poor, present at once a coup-d’œil of the blessings conferred on industry and enterprize.