Sea Haar, St Germain's Churchyard, Marske-by-the-Sea

Image: © Colin Park Taken: 12 Aug 2022

At least two, possibly three churches are believed to have been erected on the site, with the church being dedicated to St Germain. The land for building the church upon was given to the village by Earl Tostig. According to contemporary records, the church was consecrated by Egelric, who was Bishop of Durham between 1042 and 1056. In the early 19th century, the Church of St Germain was in a ruinous state, and so was rebuilt between 1820 and 1821, with the rebuilding seeing all of the church bar the tower destroyed by gunpowder. The rebuilt church continued to serve the village until the newer parish church of St Marks, was built in 1867. The village is believed to have migrated westwards in Medieval times, leaving the church isolated from the rest of the village to the east, on the clifftop. The creation of the newer and larger parish church, was driven by an influx of workers who had come to work in the ironstone industry, which had developed in the area from the 1850s. At the same time as the church was abandoned, the newer Parish of Redcar was created from parts of the parishes of Marske-by-the-Sea and Upleatham. The old church of St Germain's, was demolished in 1955, but the church tower was left standing on its own in the churchyard. The tower was a prominent local landmark used by sailors on the North Sea for navigation. (source Wikipedia)

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