ALLUVIAL COVERING. 37 



The vestiges of a mere at Withernsea are less obvious than at 

 Skipsea; yet the recess in the shore at that place seems to mark the 

 spot which it occupied. The sea, however, has not only broken into 

 that mere, but encroached on the land beyond it; the boggy remains 

 being found, not in the face of the cliff, nor at the foot of it, but at a 

 considerable distance outward. Some fields on the shore, with part 

 of the church of Owthorn, have been destroyed at no very remote 

 period. On looking into Domesday, we find that another mere for- 

 merly existed in this quarter, called Red mere or Rotmere, with a 

 town called Redewick. It is possible that Redmeve might be so 

 named, in contradistinction to WyihoYnsej or W7^^Ve-Hornsey, one 

 of the ancient names of Withernsea; though it is more likely that Red 

 or Rede, in the former name, corresponds with the modern Avord reed, 

 and that Redmere had its name from the reeds which grew in it. Leve- 

 totholm, and Canutesholm, also mentioned in Domesday, appear to 

 have been low lands formerly opposite to Holmpton, or Holmtown, 

 which is likewise named in that record. It contains the names of 

 various other places in that quarter, as Totele, or Toteley, Cletun, 

 perhaps Claytowii, Andreby, &c. ; no vestige of which is known to 

 remain. 



The depredations of the German ocean at Kilnsea and towards 

 the Spurn point have been still more considerable; and it is probable 

 that more than one mere may have perished there. Ravenser, or 

 Ravenspur, with the latter part of which word the name Spurn seem* 

 to be connected, has long ago been lost, with a number of other 

 places in that vicinity, belonging to Birstal priory; nay, the very site 

 of the priory itself has been totally swept away. 



The marshes along the banks of the Humber, and on those of 

 Hull river, have been of far greater extent than those of the Holder- 

 ness shore. It is stated in Dr. Alderson's paper, above referred to, 

 as a proof of the existence of a stratum of peat bog under the whole 



K 



