Flamborough Head (engraving)
From "Finden's views of the Ports, Harbour, Watering Places & Coastal scenery of Great Britain"; drawings by W. H. Bartlett;
descriptions by William Beattie; published by George Virtue, London

From the original description: THE view of Flamborough Head, drawn by Balmer, is taken from the cliffs to the north-west. To the left is the promontory properly called " The Head," at a short distance from which stands the lighthouse. Between the Head and the nearer cliffs is a small haven, which is used as a landing place by the fishermen of the village of Fiamborough, which lies about a mile to the south-west of the lighthouse. Flamborough Head, which lies about eighteen miles southward of Scarborough, and four and a half miles northward of Burlington, is one of the most remarkable promontories on the eastern coast. It projects about five miles into the sea, from a line drawn between Burlington Quay and Filey; and its southern side forms the northern boundary of Burlington bay. The cliffs, which are of limestone rock, are from three hundred to four hundred feet high, and their crumbling sides form the haunt and the breeding place of innumerable flocks of sea-birds; among wilich are cormorants, puffins, razor-bills, and guillemots, with gulls and terns of several species. Guillemots, which are here extremely numerous, are known to the seamen of Shields and Newcastle by the name of " Flamborough-head pilots," as their presence in considerable numbers 4s almost a certain indication of the ship being " off the Head." Great numbers of those feathered denizens of the cliff are killed every year by " parties of pleasure," from Burlington, Scarborough, and other places, who visit the " Head " for the sake of indulging in the heartless sport, which requires neither skill nor courage, of killing birds by wholesale.

At the foot of the cliff, which to the north-west is much indented, there are several caverns and large insulated masses of rock. The largest of those caverns, called Robin Lyth's Hole, has two openings, the one communicating with the land and the other exposed to the sea. The roof, though low at the landward entrance, is in some places fifty feet high; and the view, looking through the rocky vault towardss the sea, is extremely grand. Flamborough Head is a most important land-mark for vessels navigating the eastern coast, lies in 54" 8' north latitude; longitude 2" 30' west. A revolving light is displayed from the lighthouse from sun-set to sun-rise, and presents, first the appearance of two lights on the same tower, and next a brilliant red light. Each of those lights appears at intervals of two minutes; and after gradually attaining their greatest lustre, they in the same manner decline and become eclipsed.

Author

Unsigned; Drawn by G. Balmer; Engraved by E. Finden

Created on

Created

1842

Posted on

Thursday 16 June 2016

Tags

Engraving, Flamborough

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