130 Anniversary Address. 



Chiirches stood on both hills ; the plan, which is distinctly trace- 

 able and is peculiar, is the same in both. Little more than the 

 foundations remain of that on the Kirk Hill ; internally it is 

 72 feet long, and 22 feet broad, with walls 4 feet in thickness, 

 built partly of porphyry and partly of sandstone. The bound- 

 ary of a small cemetery is also visible ; and formerly there 

 were several monumental stones. A farmer, however, it is said, 

 coveted this "God's Acre," tore up the tombstones, tumbled 

 these memorials of the dead over the cliff into the sea, and 

 ploughed up the green ' heaving turf.' 



"The ruins on the Headland most probably mark the site of 

 Ebba's monastery. The situation is singularly wild and picturesque. 

 Here the porphyry presents to the sea a stupendous wall, about 

 300 feet in height ; protruding from this wall into the sea, is a 

 mass having a lower level ; it is indeed a little peninsula of about 

 two acres, united to the mainland by a narrow neck, which has 

 been cut into, so as to form a ditch, the inner edge of which was 

 defended by a strong wall and probably also by a draw bridge. 

 This portion of the Headland is hence named the "ramparts." 

 The church stood near to the edge of the northern cliff, indeed 

 only two yards from it. The remains shew somewhat more than 

 the foundations ; the wall on some parts is three feet high, built 

 entirely of porphyry. The size is about the same as that on Kirk 

 Hill, being 72 feet long by 21 feet broad. A door is in the south- 

 west corner, and there appears to have been a flight of steps from 

 the exterior into the church of about three feet in height ; another 

 door opened from the north about eleven feet from the west end. 

 The peculiarity of both churches is however in the chancel, which 

 was a small recess of a square form at the south-east corner, being 

 about twelve feet in breadth, or about half the width of the church, 

 and eight and a haK feet long. This, I believe, is an unusual 

 arrangement. To the west of the church are obscure remains of 

 other buildings which had probably been the inhabited portion of 

 the monastery. Few if any records throw hght on the history of 

 these edifices. They had, I think, been subordinate to the mag- 

 nificent estabhshment which flourished at Ooldingham ; and they 

 may have been placed on commanding positions on the sea shore 

 to attract the attention of mariners and induce them to make their 

 offerings before the shrine of the Sainted Ebba. 



" Though confined, lonely, and inhospitable, the situation of the 

 monastery was tolerably secure, and the scenery romantic and 

 picturesque. Viewed on a fine day, such as we enjoyed, with a 



