Memorials of the Goodwin Sands, and their surroundngs, legendary and historical ... With maps, etc

Front matter

MEMORIALS OP THE GOODWIN SANDS. THE FIRST SAFETY BEACON EBEOTED JiY CAPT. BULLOCK, B.N., IN 1840. From a Drawing taken onthe spot by S. Owen, Esq. MEMORIALS OF THE GOODWIN SANDS, AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS, LEGENDARY AND HISTORICAL. EV GEOEGE BYNG GATTIE, LATE H. M.'S CIVIL SEBVICE. // WITH MAPS, CHARTS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATEKLOO PLACE, PALL MALL, S.W. 1890. "Here hostile elements tumultuous rise, And lawless floods rebel againBt the skies ; Till hope expires, and peril and dismay "Wave their black ensigns o'er the wat'ry way." Falconer. _o ADMIRAL H.R.H. ALFRED ERNEST ALBERT, DUKE OF EDINBURGH, K.G., K.T., &c, &c, MASTER OF THE TRINITY HOUSE, THESE SKETCHES ARE, WITH THE GRACIOUS PERMISSION OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, MOST RESPECTFULLY AND LOYALLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR.

Preface

. In a great commercial country like England it is perhaps only natural to suppose that anything and everything concerning her ships, her sailors, and her commerce would be a source of much interest to, at least, a fairly large section of the community. It was therefore thought that a sketch might not be altogether unacceptable embracing the history, legendary as well as accredited, of a singular region which for centuries has been only too celebrated as the most dangerous spot on the British coasts, and which is known to have been, and indeed still is, the " grave of many a tall and stately ship," together with its crew and cargo. Nothing of the kind, so far as the writer is aware, has hitherto ever been attempted ; for, except ing short notices in county histories, encyclopædias, gazetteers, guide books, and in Mr. Whymper's work on ' The Sea,' the famous " Goodwins " have never yet been made the subject of any complete account dealing historically with the Sands, and the remarkable events of which their immediate surroundings have been so often the theatre during the last eight hundred years.

In the following pages the fanciful legends and stories of the origin of the Sands and their connection with the " Isle of Lomea " (the " Insula Infera " of the X

PREFACE.

. Eoman3), together with the best known historical facts, bearing upon the whole question, have been carefully brought together. To these have been added many curious and quaint details, with accompanying illustrations, regarding some of the extraordinary schemes which have been proposed, from time to time, for reclaiming, and even building on, these loose and shifting banks ; with much interesting information appertaining to the Sands and the neighbouring coasts, referring generally to the entire subject. Observations will also be found on the early origin, in the thirteenth century, of the East Kent "Hovellers," and also on the lightships, beacons, and buoys, placed as sentinels to warn mariners off these dangerous and fatal shoals. I must beg leave to express my warmest thanks and acknowledgments to John Inglis, Esq., the Secretary to the Corporation of Trinity House, not only for the very great assistance which I have derived from reference to the library books and official records of that Corporation — access to which was always most readily permitted — but also for the untiring courtesy which I have invariably experienced at his hands.

To Charles Dibdin, Esq., F.E.G.S., Secretary to the " Eoyal National Lifeboat Institution," my best thanks are also due for obligingly furnishing me with the Eeports of the Institution, and other documents relating to the work of the Society, from which I have derived very much useful and interesting information. To many private friends also I am greatly indebted, not only for sound practical suggestions, but for valuable and encouraging help. G. B. G. Hastings, 1885. PAGE CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Geographical

The celebrity of the Goodwin Sands — Their evil reputation for centuries — Their use — Their position — Dimensions — Composition — Sir J. H. Felly's remarkable experiment — Depth of clay below the surface — Opinions on their origin — Waste of cliffs — The Sands formerly an island — Not quicksands — General appearance — One vast "Golgotha" — Buried wealth — A natural breakwater to the " Downs" 1

Chapter II. Historical

The Sands originally an island — Ccast-line much changed — Three islands mentioned by ancient writers — Now one only remaining — Earl Godwine's connection with the Sands — Hasted's careless statement — Isle of Lomea destroyed by earthquake, or other natural convulsion — Estuary of Kutupium, now dry land — Portns Rutupinus — Various ways of spelling this name — Eegulbium — Northmuth — Wantsum — Testimony of old writers — Legendary stories — Earl Godwine's connection with Lomea — Neglect of the See of Canterbury — Sir Thomas More's Commission — Latimcr's sermon — Historical statements — Fearful storms in 1014 and 1099 — Early historical writers — Sir J. H. Pelly's experiment — Opinions on the origin of the Sands— The " Trinity House " — Cricket matches played on the Sands — A cycling run — Burials in the Sands ........ 15

Chapter III. The Downs

Orisin of the name — Dimensions — The Sands a breakwater — "Formerly a rendezvous fur the Royal fleets — Old Naval Yard and Naval Hospital at Deal — Earthquakes and CONTENTS. PAGE waterspouts — Great storms— The Downs a general battle ground—Cæsar's fleet — The Vykings — The first regular naval engagement between England and France — "Various others — Sandwich sacked and burnt twice — Earl of Warwick — Perkin Warbeck's fleet — Sir Andrew Barton —Immense fleet of Henry VIII. — Fleet of Charles V. — Life saved by a Deal boat in 15G3 — Pirates and piracy in the Downs — Lord William Somerset robbed — Reprisals — The " Invincible Armada" — Its final defeat in the Downs — Prince Charles Edward's attack on Deal — Van Tromp— Blake — Severe engagement in the Downs — French and English fleets combined — A " scare " — Commodore Wylde's defeat — The ship ' Victory ' — Review of Deal luggers in 1842 — -Various landings — Defences of the Downs — Walmer, Deal and Sandown Castles — Colonel Hutchinson — Armed luggers — Volunteers, naval and military — Harbours of refuge — Various schemes — Bush, Condy, and others — Antiquities discovered in the Downs — Proverbs and sayings ........ 40

Chapter IV. The Hovellers

The term "Hoveller" — Obscurity of its derivation — First establishment of a " Coastguard " by Edward III. — Probable derivation of the name — The modern " HoveUer " — His work and duties — Care and skill exhibited in approaching a wreck in a storm — Difficulties in returning — Scanty rewards — False charges often brought against Hovellers — True character — Smuggling propensities of former days — Their great bravery and noble endurance . 92

Chapter V. Beacons And Buoys

Beacons. Great loss of life annually on the Sands — Difficulty of fixing a light or a beacon — Great necessity of some kind of a "Warning Beacon" — First step taken by Trinity House at end of 17th century — Impossibility of building on the Sands — Attempt given up — First lightship established in 1795 — Two first " Warning Beaoons " erected — Bush's CONTENTS. XIII suggested Beacon— Admiral (then Captain) Bullock's First Beacon in 1840— Simplicity of design— Dimensions— Run down in 1844 — Re-erected same year— Disappeared in 1847 — Bush's Lighthouse Beacon, 1841— Construction — Floating of the great caisson— Cast adrift and sunk — Raised — Rebuilt — Towed out to Sands in July, 1842 — Run down in October, 1842 — Again rebuilt in 1844: — Description — "Living and sleeping" on the Good wins- Faulty position of beacon — Site chosen by the Admiralty, not by Mr. Bush— The structure ultimately removed — Steward's Beacon, 1843 — Failure— Walker's First Beacon, 1844 — Removed in 1850 — Walker's Second Beacon, 1847 — Washed away in two months— Trinity House Beacon, 1849— Stood thirty years — Disappeared in 1879— The last of the Beacons ........ 108 Buoys.

Goodwin Buoys — Herbert's Patent Buoy — Immense one placed at South Sand Head — Courtney's Automatic, or " Whistling Buoy " — Idea not new — Luminous Paint Buoys — Experiments — Luminous Buoy run down in Harwich Harbour — Pintsch's Gas Buoy — Bells on Buoys —Legend of the Inch Cape Bell— The Bell Rock— Bells on Lighthouses — The new Eddystone .... 146

Chapter VI. Lightships

Hamblin and Avery's first Lightship at the Nore — The second Lightship at the Dudgeon — Bad system of mooring — Bridle-chains, mushroom anchors, and stone and iron sinkers — First Lightship on the Goodwins, North Sand Head — Second at the Gull Stream — Third at South Sand Head — Fourth at East Goodwin — Cost and general arrangement of Lightships — Crews — Pay — Dangers to which Lightships are exposed — Constant watchfulness necessary — Spare Lightship always kept ready fitted — Lady Brassey's account of the Harbour of Monte Video — Gross neglect of the lighthouse keeper . e . CONTENTS. PAGB

Chapter VII. Wrecks

Evil reputation of the Sands — Wrecks and lifeboat services — Loss of a whole fleet of men-of-war — Great storm of 1703 — Destruction of the first Eddystone Lighthouse — H.M.S. ' Carlisle ' blown up — Charges against the Lords of the Admiralty — Earl of Dundonald — Wreck of the ' Aurora ' transport — ' British Queen ' — ' Shepherdess ' — Nameless Wrecks — ' Mary Wright ' — ' Eleanore ' — ' Queen of the Tyne ' — ' Violet ' — Rev. John Gilmore's ' Storm Warriors ' — ' Gutenberg ' — Poem entitled " Routine " — Wreck of the ' Honi Svern ' — Of an American clipper — ' Mia Madre ' — ' Leda ' — ' Colina ' — ' Shannon ' — ' Paul Boyton ' — ' Freden '— ' Ganges '—Wreck of the ' Effort '—Extraordinary rescue of six hovellers — Wreck of a Portuguese brig — ' Mary ' — ' Linda ' — ' Amoor ' — ' Pro viden tia ' — ' Aurora Borealis ' — Excessive competition ■ — ■ Great ignorance — A " quiet sleep " in Trinity Bay — Reckless sailing — Ships grounded on Sands pulled off again . . 165

Chapter VIII. The Lifeboat

Original inventor — First patent in 1785 — Apathy of the Admiralty — Lukin's tomb — Fearful shipwreck at South Shields — First Lifeboat started in 1790 — Duke of Northumberland's Lifeboat — Rewards to Greathead — Sir William Hillary's appeal — Foundation of the Lifeboat Institution in 1824— First Lifeboat built under the Institution in 1826, stationed in the Isle of Man — Three others followed — Gradual progress — Gradual decline — Another terrible wreck at Shields in 1849 — Capsizing of Lifeboat and loss of life — Re-organization of Lifeboat Institution — Prize competition — Prize won by Beeching — Improved on by Peake — Revival of Lifeboat interest — " Civil Service Lifeboat Fund " — Cost of Boats — Description — Improvements — Methods of propulsion— Transporting carriage — Boat-house — Appliances — Lifeboat nearest the Sands — Interesting statistics .... CONTENTS. XV

Chapter IX. Proposals And Projects

: — RECLAIMING AND BUILDING, PAGE Martin's "suspended" Lighthouse, 1829 — Bush's scheme, 1842— "The Prince of Wales' Harbour of Refuge"— Reclaiming of land — Proposed erection of Lighthousss and Buildings — Bush's single Lighthouse, 185- — Stevenson's "Rubble Cone" as foundation for Lighthouse — Captain Vetch's Breakwater and "Spinal Embankment" scheme, 1844 — Formation of sunken wells for foundation in 1843 — Rennie's proposed Breakwater on the Brake Sand — A project for fortification suggested by the Duke of Wellington, 1843 — Many and various proposals submitted to the Trinity House Corporation since 1845 . . . 233 '