From the smooth sweep of golden sand rises a steep slope grown over with
trees and bushes which shade the paths in many places. Without claiming
any architectural charm, the town is small and quietly unobtrusive, and
has not the untidy, half-built character of so many watering-places.
Above a steep and narrow hollow, running straight down to the sea, and
densely wooded on both sides, stands the church. It has a very sturdy
tower rising from its centre, and, with its simple battlemented outline
and slit windows, has a semi-fortified appearance. The high-pitched
roofs of Early English times have been flattened without cutting away
the projecting drip-stones on the tower, which remain a conspicuous
feature. The interior is quite impressive. Round columns alternated with
octagonal ones support pointed arches, and a clerestory above pierced
with roundheaded slits, indicating very decisively that the nave was
built in the Transitional Norman period. It appears that a western tower
was projected, but never carried out, and an unusual feature is the
descent by two steps into the chancel.
A beautiful view from the churchyard includes the whole sweep of the
bay, cut off sharply by the Brig on the left hand, and ending about
eight miles away in the lofty range of white cliffs extending from
Speeton to Flamborough Head.
The headland itself is lower by more than a 100 feet than the cliffs in
the neighbourhood of Bempton and Speeton, which for a distance of over
two miles exceed 300 feet. A road from Bempton village stops short a
few fields from the margin of the cliffs, and a path keeps close to the
precipitous wall of gleaming white chalk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account