Rye, too, has been
forsaken. It was once an island; now the little Rother stream conveys
small vessels to the sea, which looks very far away.
We cannot follow all the victories of the sea. We might examine the
inroads made by the waves at Selsea. There stood the first cathedral
of the district before Chichester was founded. The building is now
beneath the sea, and since Saxon times half of the Selsea Bill has
vanished. The village of Selsea rested securely in the centre of the
peninsula, but only half a mile now separates it from the sea. Some
land has been gained near this projecting headland by an industrious
farmer. His farm surrounded a large cove with a narrow mouth through
which the sea poured. If he could only dam up that entrance, he
thought he could rescue the bed of the cove and add to his acres. He
bought an old ship and sank it by the entrance and proceeded to drain.
But a tiresome storm arose and drove the ship right across the cove,
and the sea poured in again. By no means discouraged, he dammed up the
entrance more effectually, got rid of the water, increased his farm by
many acres, and the old ship makes an admirable cow-shed.
[Illustration: Disused Mooring-Post on bank of the Rother, Rye]
The Isle of Wight in remote geological periods was part of the
mainland.
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