ON THE EROSION AND DESTRUCTION, ETC. 187 



XI. — On the Erosion and Destruction of the Coast Line from the 

 Lowlights to Tynemouth and Cullercoats during the last Fifty 

 Years. By Eobert M. Tate, North Shields. 



The recession of the coast line of the Borough of Tynemouth is 

 a fact very apparent to anyone who has been accustomed, during 

 the last fifty years or so, to visit the line of cliffs and banks 

 extending from the Lowlights to Tynemouth and Cullercoats 

 Bay. 



To commence at the Lowlights : I have known the outwork of 

 Cliffords Fort, which consists of a thick and sti'ong stone wall, 

 to have been more than once broken through by the seas, and I 

 saw, a few years ago, some strong timber breakwaters near the 

 same place torn up by the waves and hurled up the Tyne. 



A little north of the Salt Works the bank extended much 

 further out than at present. A house, which was never finished, 

 but which stood on the cliff as a monument of the ill fortunes 

 of its owner, fell a prey to the waves many years ago. 



The site of the Fever Hospital, a little further north, has 

 been much encroached upon. The only thing that saves it from 

 utter demolition is a low wall of good mason work at the foot of 

 the cliff. This piece of wall is the only surviving portion of a 

 large and strong structure that extended for a long distance 

 eastwards at the foot of the cliff. 



We now come to Percy Square which, perhaps, more than 

 any other part of the Tynemouth Coast illustrates the destruc- 

 tive effects of the sea. Extending from the small piece of wall, 

 above referred to, a massive stone wall supported the banks to 

 a little beyond Percy Square. It was built of large blocks of 

 sandstone, or coarse grit, which had been bound together with 

 blue-lias lime, run in hot, and strong iron-cramps fixed with 

 lead. This wall long withstood the action of the seas. To show 

 the strength of the lime used in its construction we may mention 

 that when the upper part had fallen, and the foundation blocks, 

 after having been subjected to the wash of the waves and the 

 grinding effects of the shingle and sand, were hollowed into 



