In the month of February, 1837, an extraordinary high tide occurred, accompanied with a furious gale from the north-west, which washed the whole of the above-mentioned edifices away, and even for a time threatened the destruction of the town and church. For two days, the 17th and 18th of February, the storm continued to rage. The day previous had been particularly fine, and the wind was gentle;—all had retired to rest in apparent security, fearless of the grand but capricious element which rolled near them. In the middle of the night, however, an alarm was given;—the tide was rising to an unprecedented height, threatening to engulph all within its reach. In a few moments all was terror and confusion; the cliff was crowded with spectators, every assistance was afforded to those immediately exposed to the fury of the mighty billows which poured in, and happily the loss of one life alone is to be deplored. This poor man was left in charge of Simons’s bathing-house; he was aroused, but whether he gave no heed to the admonition, or remained too long on the premises, is uncertain. He was borne away by the waters, together with the house, and his body was afterwards picked up at Bacton, near Mundesley, a distance of ten miles. Morning presented an awful spectacle, and scarcely could the inhabitants recognize their own beach. But the alarm and the danger had not yet subsided; the wind continued to blow from the same quarter with equal violence throughout the day, and the tide was equally high. On the morning of the 18th, the cliff being undermined, fell in, bringing down with it one house; at the same time two vessels were lost, the one off the light-house hill, the other on the western edge of the town. The crew of the former were saved; five of those of the latter perished in an attempt to reach the shore by means of the boat. They were both from South Shields, which place they had left only forty-eight hours before the awful catastrophe occurred. The report of what had happened was speedily circulated through the neighbourhood, and such was the interest that it excited, that the town for many days afterwards was filled with persons anxious to behold the devastation.