RAVENSPURN. 119 



its mouth, sheltered from the sea by a point of land correspond- 

 ing to that which we now call the ' Spurn/ 



This port was called Ravenser, Aid Ravenser, Ravensburgh, 

 and Ravenspurg. The name is supposed by Thompson, the 

 author of ( Ocellum Promontorium/ to be derived from the 

 Danish standard the Raven ; but may we not suppose that ' Ar 

 Avon/ the Cymraic on the river, lurks in the first part of the 

 word, and that ' burg/ implying its importance, was an Anglian 

 addition ? ' rode' marked its cross, and ' spume/ the latest de- 

 terminative, indicated the beacon which was the precursor of the 

 modern lighthouse. 



Aid Ravenser old, it appears by the prefix, in Anglo-Saxon 

 days existed till 1538, when it was visited by Leland ; but soon 

 after that date its very place was lost. Many Yorkshire villages 

 in its vicinity have disappeared, and new lands have sprung up 

 in the capacious channel of the Humber. When Ravenspurn 

 decayed, the King's Town upon Hull rose to importance. 



" The toun of Kingeston was in the time of Edw. III. but 

 a mean fischar toune, and longid as a membre to Hasille village, 

 a 2 or 3 mile of upper on Humber." The rise of Hull injured 

 also the ancient port and town of Heddon : " The treuth is, 

 when Hulle began to flourish Heddon decaied." (Leland.) 



Both Heddon and Ravenser were of sufficient importance to be 

 summoned to send members to the Parliaments of Edward I., 

 which summons the 'citizens' obeyed. These demands were 

 not repeated afterwards, because, as Leland says, " In Richard 

 the Second's days the town of Hull waxed very rich." In 1298, 

 Hull and Ravenser presented petitions to Edward I. for privileges, 

 the former offering the gift of 100 marks, the latter of 300. 



Ravensrode, as it was often called, before the middle of the 

 14th century, might perhaps have withstood the rivalry of Hull, 

 but by gradual steps it yielded to the sea. In 1346, the injury 

 done to the manors of Saltehagh, Tharlesthorp, Frismerk, 

 Wythefleet, Dymelton, and Ravensrode in Holderness, is ac- 

 knowledged in a grant from the Chapter of St. Peter at York to 



