Gents Mag 1831 part 1 p.300

---

	introduction
	list, 2nd qtr 19th century
	Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 1 p.300
St Bees
	St Bees Mr. URBAN, THE village of Saint Bees is situated on the coast of Cumberland, in that quintuple division of the county called Allerdale Ward* above Derwent. Its position is remarkable. From Saint Bees to Whitehaven, a distance of about four miles, there is a narrow vale entirely separating the high lands on the coast from the interior. From the general appearance of the soil, and the discovery of an anchor some years since, about the centre of this vale, it is probable that it was formerly an arm of the sea. This opinion is corroborated by the descent of the ground each way, which is evinced by the small rivulet Poe, or Poe-beck, rising about the middle of the vale, and flowing with an easy current into the sea at Whitehaven, while the other part of it, rising at nearly the same spot, falls into the ocean at Saint Bees. In fact, the hilly ground supposed to be thus formerly isolated, is distinguished in ancient deeds by the appelation of Preston Isle. Proceeding along the summit of Preston Isle, or, as it is now called, Preston Quarter, a distant view of the Isle of Man, with its northern bicephalous mountain, may be obtained with the naked eye. Here too is the disjointed rock standing at some distance from the rest, separated by a tremendous chasm called "Lawson's Leap," some adventurous Nimrod of that name having formerly cleared it in the excitation of the chase. Nature has been here exerting herself in the formation of the rocks into the rude semblance of the ruins of a church, called Kelsoe Kirk. As-
	* When England was divided in 878, the subdivisions in Cumbria were called wards, and not hundreds as in most other counties, from the watching and warding necessary against the incursions of the Scots and Irish.
	next page
	gazetteer links
	-- Kelsoe Kirk
	-- Lawson's Leap
	-- St Bees Head
	-- St Bees

Lakes Guides menu.

---