| Eccles-on-Sea | |
|---|---|
 View across the Bush Estate from the dunes | |
  Eccles-on-Sea Location within Norfolk | |
| OS grid reference | TG407292 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Norwich |
| Postcode district | NR12 |
Eccles-on-Sea (also called Eccles-by-the-Sea) is an ancient fishing village in north-east Norfolk, now virtually all swept into the North Sea. The population is included in the civil parish of Lessingham.
The placename Eccles comes from the Latin ecclesia meaning church, and usually indicates an early British Christian site, for ecclesia was not taken into the Anglo-Saxons' vocabulary other than in inherited place names. When the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, Eccles-on-Sea was a thriving community of around 2,000 acres (8.1 km2), but, situated in a low-lying area on the North Norfolk coast, it was prone to inundation.
In 1605, according to William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, 1883, the inhabitants petitioned for a reduction in their taxes when only 14 houses and 300 acres (120 ha) of land remained following a ferocious storm in 1604. [1] However, this 1604 date cannot be verified by reference to the storm record, and probate evidence clearly demonstrates that by the early 17th century Eccles had been united with Hempstead for some thirty years.
By 1881 it had only 17 inhabitants and comprised 253 acres (102 ha) of land divided into two farms. [1]
Today the majority of the area is occupied by the Bush Estate; a collection of about 200 mostly pre-war bungalows tucked in behind the sand dunes. The Bush Estate was originally a holiday retreat, with just one well between the inhabitants and no mains drainage or power.
However, over the years the properties have been improved, the utility companies subsequently laid on mains drainage, electricity and telephones, and the community took on a more permanent feel. Today about half the dwellings are occupied all year round, and many of the more temporary structures have been rebuilt as conventional bungalows.
The community at Eccles is now nestled behind concrete sea defences constructed after the North Sea flood of 1953.
The circa 12th-century round-tower church of Eccles St Mary next the Sea was badly damaged by storms in 1570, with the nave and chancel dismantled soon afterward. The parish of Eccles St Mary was combined with neighbouring Hempstead St Andrew by a Deed of Union dated January 1571. The church steeple, comprising a basal round tower surmounted by an octagonal belfry was not demolished in recognition of its usefulness as a seamark, and perhaps as a lighthouse. Thereafter Eccles became part of the combined parish of Hempstead with Eccles, although rectors continued to be appointed to St Mary's until the late 19th century as a sinecure , defined as 'a Rectory without cure of souls'.
The steeple remained close to the foreshore, often surrounded by sand dunes, for some 350 years, although coast erosion continued to affect the area throughout that time. In 1605 the villagers applied for a reduction of taxes in a document entitled 'the ruynated state of the town of Eccles' explaining that some 2,000 acres of land and 66 households had been lost to the sea by that time.
By the early 19th century the sea advanced, chewing ever more land away and the sand dunes were pushed back around the church. When Robert Ladbrooke engraved the tower for his series of illustrations of the churches of Norfolk in 1823, the tower was still, just, on the landward side of the dunes. By 1893, the church was not only on the beach, the chancel ruins had been destroyed. That the tower stood until 1895 and formed such a local landmark made it an attraction for early photographers and so we have a number of early plates, most notably the fine image taken by a Norwich photographer called Fitt, c.1890, and which was reproduced and sold in some numbers by him after the tower fell. it has been possible to show that the parish church was originally a two-celled building which had a round west tower, and a south aisle subsequently added. The tower is difficult to date, but from its size, proportions and coursed flint walling, appears to be Norman in date, probably of the 12th century. [2] In January 1913, a large storm reportedly exposed much of the church and the village of Eccles. [3]
It was said[ by whom? ] that in the 1960s the location of the church was obvious from two large piles of flint, but they are covered by sand today. For 15 years from the mid-1980s the site of Eccles, by then designated as the Eccles Deserted Medieval Village, was exposed by beach scours, most notably in 1991 and 1993. An archaeological watching brief undertaken at the time identified the church ruins, evidence of burials, ancient trackways and foundations of former dwellings in the vicinity of the church, including some dozen abandoned water wells. Excavation of these wells produced a wide range of metal, leather, timber and pottery all dateable to the late 16th century, indicating that the village had been abandoned at that time. [4]
Norfolk County Council Archive has a few Victorian prints showing the tower still standing; examples can be seen on the Norfolk County Council website. [5] [6] A beach service is held on the last Sunday in August every year on the beach near North Gap, Eccles to remember the old church and the people who are buried there.
Herringfleet is a place and former civil parish, now in the parish of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet, in the East Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is located 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north-west of Lowestoft. The parish was combined with Somerleyton and Ashby to create the parish of "Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet" on 1 April 1987.
Holme-next-the-Sea is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the west Norfolk coast. It is north-east of Hunstanton, north of King's Lynn and north-west of Norwich.
Walcott is a small village and civil parish on the North Norfolk coast in England between Mundesley and Happisburgh. The name is formed from the Anglian word 'walh' and the Anglo-Saxon 'cot' meaning 'cottage, hut, shelter or den'. The village is 19.1 miles (30.7 km) north east of Norwich, 11.9 miles (19.2 km) south east of Cromer and 137 miles (220 km) north east of London. The village lies 5.6 miles (9.0 km) east of the town of North Walsham.
Portrane or Portraine is a small seaside village located three kilometers from the town of Donabate in Fingal, County Dublin in Ireland. It is in the barony of Nethercross in the north of the county.
Walton is a settlement and former civil parish, now in the parish of Felixstowe, in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, lying between the rivers Orwell and Deben.
Ashby with Oby is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, which is located some 5 km or 3 miles north of Acle and 15 km or 9 miles north-west of Great Yarmouth. It named for the deserted mediaeval villages of Ashby and Oby, with their lost churches.
Berrow is a small residential coastal village and holiday area, a civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in between Burnham-on-Sea and Brean.
Blundeston is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-west of Lowestoft, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Great Yarmouth and around 1.75 miles (2.82 km) inland from the North Sea coast. It is part of the area known as Lothingland in the East Suffolk district. Blundeston Prison was located on the southern edge of the village but closed in early 2014.
Hemsby is a village, seaside resort and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England. It is situated some 8 mi (13 km) north of the town of Great Yarmouth. In the 2001 census Hemsby had a population of 2,973 in 1,221 households; by the 2011 census it had increased to 3,275. Hemsby borders the villages of Winterton-on-Sea and Scratby. For the purpose of local government, the parish is in the district of Great Yarmouth.
Happisburgh is a village civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is on the coast, to the east of a north–south road, the B1159 from Bacton on the coast to Stalham. It is a nucleated village. The nearest substantial town is North Walsham 6 miles (10 km) to the west.
Crantock is a coastal civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, two miles (3 km) southwest of Newquay.
Blakeney Point is a national nature reserve situated near to the villages of Blakeney, Morston and Cley next the Sea on the north coast of Norfolk, England. Its main feature is a 6.4 km (4.0 mi) spit of shingle and sand dunes, but the reserve also includes salt marshes, tidal mudflats and reclaimed farmland. It has been managed by the National Trust since 1912, and lies within the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Ramsar listings. The reserve is part of both an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and a World Biosphere Reserve. The Point has been studied for more than a century, following pioneering ecological studies by botanist Francis Wall Oliver and a bird ringing programme initiated by ornithologist Emma Turner.
Lessingham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 16.3 south-east of Cromer, 17.6 miles north-east of Norwich and 136 miles north-east of London. The village lies 9 miles south-east of the town of North Walsham. The nearest railway station is at Worstead for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish also includes the village of Eccles-on-Sea and the hamlet of Hempstead.
Old Hunstanton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 5.35 km2 (2.07 sq mi) and had a population of 47 in 25 households at the 2001 census. The population had risen to 628 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
Sea Palling, also historically spelled Pawling and Pauling, is a village and civil parish covering 11.05 km2 (4.27 sq mi) in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 19.6 miles (31.5 km) south-east of Cromer, 19.6 miles (31.5 km) north-east of Norwich and 140 miles (230 km) north-east of London. The village lies 4 mi (6.4 km) east of the A149 between Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth. The nearest railway station is at North Walsham for the Bittern Line, which runs between Sheringham, Cromer, and Norwich.
Horsey is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk within The Broads national park. It covers an area of 8.49 km2 (3.28 sq mi) and had a population of 99 in 40 households at the 2001 census. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Sea Palling. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk.
St Mary's Church, Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England is the parish church of the town and its oldest place of worship. It is a Grade I listed building.
Ashby is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet, in the East Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) north-west of Lowestoft.
Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around 92 miles (148 km) north-east of London, 9 miles (14 km) south of Southwold and 7 miles (11 km) north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast.
The North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is an area of European importance for wildlife in Norfolk, England. It comprises 7,700 ha (19,027 acres) of the county's north coast from just west of Holme-next-the-Sea to Kelling, and is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA) listings; it is also part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The North Norfolk Coast is also designated as a wetland of international importance on the Ramsar list and most of it is a Biosphere Reserve.
