Jonathan Darby

When Jonathan Darby came to be vicar here in 1706 there was no lighthouse on the coast adjoining Beachy Head, although between Birling Gap and Eastbourne sharp rocks under water have little mercy on ships driven too near land.

Every great storm meant the addition of some unnamed graves to the many in his churchyard, and Parson Darby grieved at this loss of life and wondered if some of the men might not be saved.

He did more than wonder. With his own hands he hollowed out a room in the face of the cliff, well above the high-tide line, and constructed a sloping tunnel and steps to lead up to it from the beach.

There, night after night when the seas ran high, the good parson hung a lamp outside his cave and waited within, sheltered in a side recess from the winds, to help any sailors who might be struggling to reach shore.

Many times when a vessel was dashed on to the rocks, and all the crew must have perished for lack of a place to land, Parson Darby saved them in his cave.

Beachy Head lighthouse does his work more thoroughly now, and the old entrance to his cave has been washed away, but East Dean remembers the noble man who did so much to prevent a tragic waste of life before the public conscience was awake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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