HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



145 



SEAFORD-RECREATIVE AND SCIENTIFIC. 



By EDWARD A. MARTIN" 



Author of "Glimpses into Nature's Secrets," 

 Realms," etc. 



' Amidst Nature's 



£$ HE town of Seaford 

 is by no means an 

 unknown seaside 

 place of resort. 

 Many a one, tired 

 and bored by the 

 constant calls which 

 are made on one's 

 energy at fashion- 

 able sea-side places, 

 has found in this 

 town, nestling, as it 

 does, in a hollow in 

 the chalk downs, 

 the place which had 

 long been sought 

 for as likely to con- 

 tain those re-ener- 

 gising requirements 

 of the busy city- 

 man, which are in vain looked for in the mighty 

 and busy rivals of Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton, 

 and the like. Even now, quietly and with little of 

 that public light which is thrown upon the doings 

 of the greater sea-side towns, Seaford is preparing 

 to welcome, nay, is already welcoming the early 

 season comers, who, tired and out of sorts by reason 

 of the severe winter — or by the influenza, are hurrying 

 off to catch the first summer channel-breezes, irre- 

 spective of whether it be now the " season " or no. 

 What have people in pursuit of health to do with the 

 " season " ? Season, indeed ! Cannot they live without 

 a "season"? can't they enjoy the benefits of the sea 

 without having a sight of the same bores who were 

 30 terrible during the last London " season " ? But 

 we don't go to Seafc ^fo e " season " ; we go, if 

 you like, to wear out' oui oiy clothes, for no one will 

 be any the wiser in this early summer which we are 

 choosing, and after all, there is a comfort about 

 familiar things which is not exactly possessed by the 

 No. 331. — July 1S92. 



first-class tourist suit just turned out by the tailor. 

 Seaford is reached by means of a delightful journey 

 on the Brighton line, during which it is guaranteed 

 that one needn't change more than three times. As 

 Seaford is the teminus of the branch line, the amount 

 of traffic is not very great, and consequently the 

 visitor experiences but little disturbance from this 

 cause. 



Sitilhted like so many of its sister-towns on the 

 south coast, in a "gap" in the cliffs, there is little 

 doubt that at a former time, probably before the 

 town commenced to exist, the hollow of the valley 

 was the estuary of one of those many rivers which 

 flowed through the chalk area, draining the uplands 

 and in many cases the Weald beyond them. Geolo- 

 gists tell us that the final denudation of the chalk 

 hills could only have taken place by means of innu- 

 merable streams and rivers intersecting one another 

 and flowing in the hollows which now intersect the 

 Downs in every direction. The site of Seaford was 

 probably the outlet of some of these streams, besides 

 being supplied, at least until recently, by the river 

 Ouse, although this now makes its entry into the sea 

 at Newhaven. 



In front of the town lies a stretch of land known 

 locally as the " Bemblands." The original entry of 

 the river was evidently made here, for we read of a 

 deed executed in Elizabeth's reign granting all the 

 land known as the " Beamelands," extending on both 

 sides of the mouth of the river, to two gentlemen 

 mentioned by name. Since the time of this grant, 

 the river has shifted its mouth more and more to the 

 west, probably in part owing to the silting up of its 

 ancient bed, until finally it was left no more to its 

 own sweet will, but was secured to make its entrance 

 into the sea at what was thenceforward known as 

 " New Haven." 



Seaford was one of the ancient Cinque Ports. 

 Although not one of the original, it was certainly not 

 the least important of those subsequently added. 



H 



