Filey Brigg 4.38

Filey Brigg is a long narrow peninsula situated about a mile north of Filey, North Yorkshire. Its steep cliffs are 20 metres high and consist of a variety of material, from pure sandstone to pure limestone. The landward end of the peninsula of Filey Brigg is known as Carr Naze, whilst the long neck of rock at the seaward end is called the Brigg. In the early 1970s the fields on top of the Brigg were turned into Filey Brigg Country Park. The biology and geology of Filey Brigg place it among Sites of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire.Ancient historyThe first record of Filey Brigg's ancient history was made by a local antiquarian, Dr Cortis, who excavated a Roman signal station in 1857. In November that year he delivered a lecture to Filey's antiquarians in which he enumerated a number of findings made by "a painter belonging to Filey, named Wilson," who had found large quantities of Roman pottery, bones and charred wood in the area of Carr Naze on the northern side of Filey Bay. The findings encouraged more excavations, the result of which was five large stones believed to be altars or bases of pillars, a dog chasing a stag being carved on one of them. Cortis also reported that near one of the stones an inscription had been found bearing part of two lines:CÆSAR S E Q V A M. S P EFurther investigations conducted in 1920 resulted in the belief that the five stones found by Cortis were foundations of a wooden watchtower. However no further remains are visible nowadays because of cliff erosion. It was concluded that the signal station was erected in the late 4th century and was abandoned or plundered around 400 A.D. The five stones can now be seen in the Filey Crescent Gardens.