Anniversary Address. 191 



walls of which were standing in the time of Grose, and are 

 figured in his work. Here was the burial place of the village, 

 but about the year 1806 the river Aln made a breach, which 

 it gradually extended until a new course was formed ; and, 

 what was formerly a part of the main land, is now an island, 

 the river running on the north side of the Church Hill in- 

 stead of the south. There are no remains of the old chapel. 

 A few tombstones are scattered over the hill ; one records a 

 death and burial in 1724. No burials have taken place of 

 late. A neat mortuary chapel, in the Norman style, from the 

 design of Mr T. Robertson, has been lately erected, at the 

 expense of Major Browne and Mr Dickson. The history of 

 Alnmouth has been written by Mr Dickson. The plants 

 noticed on the Church Hill were Cakile maritima, Echium 

 vulgare, Lycopsis arvensis, Cynoglossum officinale y and 

 Aster tripolium gathered by the river side. 



The party re-crossed the river, and embarked for Coquet 

 Island in a steam-boat, kindly placed at the disposal of the 

 Club by Mr Joseph Harrison, of Radcliffe House, Amble. 

 The distance from Alnmouth to Coquet Island is about five 

 miles, and after a voyage of half-an-hour, not without the 

 usual incidents attending a maritime excursion, the party was 

 landed safely. 



As the island has not before been visited by the Club, it 

 deserves some notice. It is part of the Northumbrian coal 

 measures, composed of sandstone, resting on thin strata of 

 coal and shale. Specimens of the latter readily burned. The 

 island seems to have been a residence for monks, at an early 

 period, for in St. Cuthbert's time they had founded a cell 

 here. It was in possession of the Benedictine monks of 

 Tynemouth, in the reign of Henry I., and with the exception 

 of a short period when it was held by the mother church of 

 St. Alban's, it continued in possession of the Tynemouth 

 monks until the suppression of the monasteries. It is now 

 the property of the Duke of Northumberland. The remains 

 of the Benedictine cells are incorporated with the keeper's 

 house. It is the station for an excellent lighthouse, which 



