The strange but true tale of a woman who stayed alone in the ruins of a village washed out to sea until her death has been brought back to life by a local newspaper.
Elizabeth Prettejohn remained in the last cottage in the village of Hallsands, Devon, after 37 homes were washed away in a terrible storm in 1917, as well as the store and the local pub The London Inn.
The centuries-old community was destroyed in one night. All 79 villagers managed to escape the wrecked village during a lull in the storm at low tide, with one seven-day-old baby carried to safety in a fisherman's mawn - a willow basket - wrapped in blanket.
One house remains intact in old Hallsands - Sea View, the Prettejohn family home. They were the only ones to stay in the village after the evacuation of 1917, Devon Live reported.
Elizabeth remained alone in the house after the death of her parents, right up until her own passing in 1964 at the age of 80.
Shortly before her death, she said: "I have all my memories here, but it's no good sitting down moping. It was the dockyard that took all our beach. It blew for four days and four nights. The sea was like mountains. I prayed god that the wind would stop...
"This is where I belong with my memories."
Old news footage from 1960 shows Elizabeth in her late 70s, living with her cat and hens in Sea View.
In her belted brown coat and headscarf she clambered over the fallen remains of the village where she had lived until it was destroyed when she was 33-years-old. The report said she lived on eggs from her hens and fish.
The presenter in the footage said the Prettejohn family was the last to leave, but her family had now died and she had lived alone "for some time now".
She was apparently happy to show tourists around the houses of her former neighbours.
Elizabeth was born at The London Inn in Hallsands. Her parents were the landlords of the village inn which was built high above the tideline, but the sand and beach quickly disappeared.
Her father Philip Prettejohn is pictured below, sitting on the sea wall with other villagers making lobster and crab pots.
Also pictured is William James Lynn, front right, who was well known for his wearing of bowler hats and breeding spaniels.
Roger Stone, William's great-grandson, said William's son Jack was the last person to be born in the village.
"He was seven days old when the storm destroyed the village and he was carried to safety in the mawn wrapped in blankets."
Dredging began off Hallsands in the 1890s to provide sand and gravel for the expansion of a naval dockyard near Plymouth. Up to 1,600 tons of material was removed each day and the level of the beach began to drop.
The Board of Trade established a local inquiry in response to protests from villagers, who feared it would destablise the beach and threaten the village, but the inquiry found it was not likely to prove a significant threat and so dredging continued.
However, the level of the beach continued to fall, with the sea causing damage to the sea wall, houses and roads.
In 1901, a new Board of Trade inspector warned severe storms could cause serious damage and recommended an end to dredging. But by the time it was halted in 1902, much of the damage was done.
Edith Patey was 17 on the night of January 26, 1917, when the storm destroyed the village, and said it seemed like "the sea came down the chimney".
"All of a sudden the walls came tumbling down. We felt like being right at sea, the roaring waves bouncing over us, the rafters all breaking in.
"We could see the white waves foaming underneath the floors. The coal house all slipping away, no fires, the sea came down the chimney."
From early on January 26 gales were expected, so fishing boats were hauled up to the village street.
But at 8pm that evening huge waves reaching to the height of the village roofs destroyed buildings behind the sea walls, with many houses collapsing into rock cavities created where the send had been washed away.
By midnight four houses were completely demolished, with none remaining completely intact.
The next high tide, on January 28, broke the sea wall and the village disappeared. Only one house remains, Sea View, which was the highest in the village.
A Hallsands fisherman at the time was quoted as saying: "What are we going to do? We have spent the whole of our lives here fishing. We know no other trade, and we are useless.
"We have no homes, much of our furniture is lost. I tell it's hard, very hard, for our wives and families. It's all gone."
Almost a century later, a previously unpublished report revealed that the fisherman and their families were deprived of compensation recommended by an independent inspector. County records stored in Kew were found with memos from officials rubbishing the villagers' claims for compensation.
Initially many villagers stayed, camping out nearby, or were taken in by friends or neighbours. Many of the families eventually moved to nearby Beesands.
A report on Hallsands in 1924 concluded: "By the manner in which they have endured undeserved ill-fortune, the inhabitants of Hallsands have earned the respect of all who have been associated with them."
Ten houses were eventually rebuilt, but villagers were shocked to learn they would be charged rent.
After Elizabeth's death, Sea View was bought and turned into a holiday home. People continued to stay there until a landslide in 2012, which led to the road - and access to the ruins of Hallsands - being entirely blocked off.
