Ixviii. BRIDPORT AND LYME REGIS MEETING. 



not come ashore in the harbour, as this would have involved 

 appearing among those who were disaffected towards his cause. 

 Mr. Turner also took the party into the Square, where Monmouth 

 was proclaimed King, one of his followers being Daniel Defoe. 

 He pointed out the old column on which the Cobb Gates were 

 hung, and added that it was through these gates that the Lyme 

 rebels, condemned by Judge Jeffreys at the Bloody Assize at 

 Dorchester, were dragged to suffer their doom. The party, led 

 by Mr. Turner, proceeded along the Marine Parade to the 

 Cobb. The harbour had undergone many changes. In Queen 

 Elizabeth's time it was similar in shape to the present structure ; 

 but, instead of being built of Portland stone, as now, it was 

 constructed by driving piles into the bed of the seashore and 

 filling up with cob or cobble stones, which formed an ideal 

 breakwater. A little later he showed members of the party the 

 remaining portion of the original structure, which was called 

 biscuit or dry stone work. The knowledge of this mode of 

 construction had gone ; and now, whenever a breach occurred, 

 it had to be filled up with Portland cement. The semi-circular 

 sweep of wall has the weird acoustic properties of a whispering 

 gallery. It has been described by Gertrude Bacon as "a rough 

 outdoor copy of the whispering gallery of St. Paul's." Placing 

 their ears against the stones, several members of the party 

 experienced the strange sensation of hearing the President, 

 the Hon. Secretary, and Mr. Turner speaking sotto voce at a 

 considerable distance in a tone so subdued as to be quite 

 inaudible but for the sound-conducting medium of the wall. 



The PRESIDENT returned thanks to Mr. Turner, and also to 

 the Vicar and Town Clerk, for their kindly aid in making the 

 meeting so successful. 



On returning to the hotel, the party found vehicles waiting to 

 take them to 



THE LANDSLIP, 



where the Rev. H. S. SOLLY gave a concise and graphic 

 description of the occurrence of the landslip and of the causes 





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