Submitted by Yardbroom
In a sprinkle of showers on a summer’s day sometime ago, I walked down to the sea at Rapparee. Rapparee cove lies at the foot of a steep cliff in North Devon on the South Coast of England. Should you have difficulty in locating Rapparee Cove on the map, fear not, it is beneath Hillsborough cliff, which lies between Ilfracombe and the small bay at Hele. Why did I walk those rolling hills, on the verdant landscape of North Devon and what was my purpose to stand alone and dwell by the sea at Rapparee. I invite you to turn the clock back some 214 years this October, for it was then this story unfolded.
On the night of October 9th, 1796 a transport ship “London” bound for Bristol from St Lucia in the West Indies with master William Robinson, sank in stormy seas near the harbour of Ilfracombe. On board were black prisoners some say “slaves” – but I will not labour the point here – who had fought with the French for their freedom against the British and were defeated. They were now on their way to Bristol, England. Also included in the cargo was treasure lots of it and as is often the case, riches can do strange things to men and dare I say it- women as well.
Down below as the ship crashed against the rocks were men chained and fettered unable to escape, as the cold water crashed about them. No doubt there were screams of anguish. Men would have been prepared to rid themselves of their own limbs if that were possible but alas that was not to be. “Tradition says that many of them were drowned with iron fetters on their legs”: Slade-King 1879 TDA p 167. In the dark icy cold waters of North Devon peace came to their souls when water replaced oxygen in their lungs.
Men came in the light of the following morning but there was treasure to be found and harvested. So those souls scattered on the beach were buried/dumped in a hole in the earth on the sea wall. The museum in Ilfracombe on a drawing records that there were “120 black prisoners”. I will not quibble about numbers because the Admiralty in London on 22nd Oct 1796 records 150 slaves…let us say there were lots of souls who perished.
Not a prayer was said, no kind thoughts were echoed. Some said there were heathens and were not suitable for a Christian burial. Others said the lure of treasure was too great for the decent thing to be done.
When the historian Pat Barrow was doing his research for his book “Slaves of Rapparee” pub 1998. It was said some people did not want him to to talk about it, or delve too deeply. I will not enter the fray…I have stuck to the facts in my odyssey.
On the cliffs of North Devon, I looked out to sea and quietly said a prayer for the souls of Rapparee. Later my wife and I climbed the steep hill to reach the Pentecostal Church of Saint Nicholas at the summit of the hill to Ilfracombe harbour. In the chapel all was quiet as we looked across the Bristol channel to the hill of Wales in the far distance. We thought of how many ships had passed this way but soon our thoughts again turned to those souls at the foot of the cliffs of Rapparee Cove and we remembered why we had come down to the sea at at Rapparee…and we said a silent prayer. May their souls rest in peace, they had not been forgotten.
The blogmaster invites you to join and add value to the discussion.