Alnmouth Township, 1848

ALNMOUTH, or Alemouth, a small sea-port, and a township, in the parish of Lesbury, union of Alnwick, S. division of Bambrough ward, N. division of Northumberland, 5¼ miles (E.S.E.) from Alnwick; containing 480 inhabitants. This township, which takes its name from its situation on a tongue of land projecting into the sea, near the mouth of the river Alne, comprises 180 acres of land of a light soil, in equal portions of arable and pasture; the surface is undulated, and there are good land and sea views: stone for building is procured from the rocks on the shore. Formerly a considerable trade was carried on in the export of corn, flour, eggs, and pork, to London, and of wool to the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire; but the trade is now limited: the imports are timber, iron, bark, etc., from foreign ports, and groceries, seeds, bones, hardware, and other merchandise, coastwise. The business of shipbuilding, which prevailed here, has entirely declined. The village is resorted to for bathing, and the sands, being very firm, form a fine promenade; hot baths are always in readiness at the Schooner inn. By an encroachment of the sea, and a change in the course of the river, a small island has been formed, on which, until 1807, were the remains of an old chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the site of which was originally on the main land: the hill, called the Church Hill, whereon it stood, is rapidly yielding to the combined action of the sea and atmosphere. The tithes have been commuted for £30. 1. 6., of which £26. 15. 10. are payable to the vicar, who has a glebe of about three-quarters of an acre. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.