Spottee’s Cave is a cave formed in a limestone-magnesium ravine on the seafront of
Roker,
North East England
North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...
, between
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
(to the south), and
Whitburn (to the north).
Geology
The geology of this area of the
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
seafront dates back more than 200 million years to when the first famous 'cannonball' rocks began forming.
The limestone cave has been closed to the public for some time, due to concerns over the safety aspect, but new safety checks reveal that it is probably not as bad as had been first envisaged and the cave hosted a “by invitation only” charity event in January 2012.
It is hoped that this may lead to more similar events, or even permanent re-opening, or as envisaged by the local authority, as a classroom for visiting schools and for other special events.
This area of the seafront (and of
Roker itself), which has a rich history, was declared a Conservation Area in 1995 in recognition of its architectural and historic interest.
The cave still retains the name of Spottee’s Cave over two hundred years after he was considered by locals as the “boggle bo” of the children of
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and
Whitburn. However the picture shown is not Spottee's cave, it is the entrance to one of the tunnels that goes up to Hylton Castle. Spottee's cave is further into Roker Park by about 10 yards, about 15 feet up the ravine on the left hand side. In the entrance was a small figure, said to be Spottee who was turned to stone by a witch he argued with and was still visible in the entrance up until the late 1970s, now covered by 'rubble'
(all figures approximate)
Legend
It gets its name from the stranded foreign sailor who could not speak English, and as he could not converse with the locals, he was thought by some to be a poor lunatic, and is so referred to in
The Bishoprick Garland by (Sir)
Cuthbert Sharp.
He earned his name “
Spottee
Spottee was a character from the eighteenth century, thought to be a stranded French sailor, who after living rough and begging, found a Sea cave, north of the River Wear estuary, to the north of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, and which ...
” from the spotted shirt he wore.
The story (and the lyrics to the song) of
Spottee
Spottee was a character from the eighteenth century, thought to be a stranded French sailor, who after living rough and begging, found a Sea cave, north of the River Wear estuary, to the north of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, and which ...
appears in
The Bishoprick Garland by (Sir)
Cuthbert Sharp.
Recording
A recording of the song is available on YouTub
click here
See also
*
Geordie dialect words
Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...
*
Cuthbert Sharp
*
The Bishoprick Garland 1834 by Sharp
''The Bishoprick Garland'' is a book compiled by Cuthbert Sharp which gives historical details of people, places and events from the Bishopric of Durham, and was published in 1834.
Details
''The Bishoprick Garland'' – (full title – "The Bis ...
*
Spottee
Spottee was a character from the eighteenth century, thought to be a stranded French sailor, who after living rough and begging, found a Sea cave, north of the River Wear estuary, to the north of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, and which ...
References
External links
The Bishoprick Garland 1834 by SharpSpottee and his cave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spottee's Cave
Rock formations of England
Geordie songwriters