It returned two members to Parliament. An old
picture of the place shows the church, a large cross, and houses; but
it has vanished with the neighbouring villages of Redmare,
Tharlethorp, Frismarch, and Potterfleet, and "left not a wrack
behind." Leland mentions it in 1538, after which time its place in
history and on the map knows it no more. The ancient church of Kilnsea
lost half its fabric in 1826, and the rest followed in 1831. Alborough
Church and the Castle of Grimston have entirely vanished. Mapleton
Church was formerly two miles from the sea; it is now on a cliff with
the sea at its feet, awaiting the final attack of the all-devouring
enemy. Nearly a century ago Owthorne Church and churchyard were
overwhelmed, and the shore was strewn with ruins and shattered
coffins. On the Tyneside the destruction has been remarkable and
rapid. In the district of Saltworks there was a house built standing
on the cliff, but it was never finished, and fell a prey to the waves.
At Percy Square an inn and two cottages have been destroyed. The edge
of the cliff in 1827 was eighty feet seaward, and the banks of Percy
Square receded a hundred and eighty feet between the years 1827 and
1892. Altogether four acres have disappeared. An old Roman building,
locally known as "Gingling Geordie's Hole," and large masses of the
Castle Cliff fell into the sea in the 'eighties.
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