Winterton-on-Sea

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Winterton-on-Sea
The Church of the Holy Trinity & All Saints
Winterton-on-Sea shown within Norfolk
Population	1359
OS grid reference	TG488193
Parish	Winterton
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Great Yarmouth
Postcode district	NR29
Dialling code	01493
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
European Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Great Yarmouth
List of places: UK • England • Norfolk

Coordinates: 52°42′53″N 1°40′58″E / 52.71465, 1.68266

Winterton-on-Sea is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. As its name suggests, it is situated on the coast some 13 km north of the town of Great Yarmouth and 30 km east of the city of Norwich.^[1]

1 Introduction
2 Winterton Men & lifeboats
3 Winterton as a resort
4 References
- 4.1 Notes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Introduction

The civil parish has an area of 5.7 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 1,359 in 589 households. Winterton-on-Sea borders the villages of Hemsby, Horsey and Somerton. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Great Yarmouth.^[2]

Between the village of Winterton-on-Sea and the North Sea are the Winterton Dunes which are inhabited by several notable species such as the Natterjack Toad.

Winterton Dunes

Winterton-on-Sea has received awards on several occasions in the Anglia in Bloom competition[3].

The Holy Trinity and All Saints church situated in Winterton-on-Sea dates back to the 16th Century and is 38m tall[4].

[edit] Winterton Men & lifeboats

Between 1851 and 1861 a number of Winterton families migrated South to Caister. Many of those families joined the Caister Beachmen and founded arguably the basis of the modern Lifeboat service. The most notable of these men was James Haylett.

[edit] Winterton as a resort

Overlooking the coastline at Winterton-on-Sea is the Hermanus holiday camp; a popular holiday destination, complete with restaurant, bar and thatched accommodation referred to locally as 'roundhouses'.[5]. The roundhouses were inspired by a previous owner's trip to Hermanus Bay in South Africa.[6].

Roundhouses

The coastline at Winterton has historically been well known as one of the most hazardous parts of the British coastline due to shifting sand banks. On visiting Winterton-on-Sea in 1722 Daniel Defoe remarked on all the houses of the village being made from the timbers of wrecked ships. The hazardous nature of the coastline at Winterton-on-Sea is marked by its lighthouse whose history extends from James I to the First World War [7].

In the late eighteenth century marram grass was planted to stabilise the coastline against sea encroachments and by the early nineteenth century there was a barrier of dunes between high water mark and the ridge on which the lighthouse stood, leaving a valley (The Valley) between. ["Lights of East Anglia", Neville Long, 1983]

During World War II, anti-invasion defences were constructed around Winterton-on-Sea. They included a number of pillboxes. The beaches were protected with unusually extensive barriers of scaffolding and large numbers of anti-tank cubes.^[8]

Over the second half of the 20th century the coastline at Winterton-on-Sea has changed significantly, resulting in some loss of the dunes. The village (like other parts of the Borough) has a flood siren installed which can be used to warn inhabitants. Erosion and flooding are potential risks to the village of Winterton-on-Sea and the Winterton Dunes; as the area is mostly situated at approximately sea level. Although it should be noted that the recent local flooding has occurred in urban areas such as Great Yarmouth were due to inefficient drainage rather than coastal erosion and the Environment Agency's model for flooding indicates that most of the village property would not be affected. However much of the land in Winterton to the North of the village which is part of Burnley Hall Estate; and the nature reserves in the Winterton Dunes, which are home to some species not found elsewhere and a unique habitat not found elsewhere in the country are at risk. The loss of either of these would result in a serious and possibly irreparable loss of wildlife[9]. Duffles Pond, a Seal Sanctuary and the local allotments are also at risk. [10]

On the night of February 13-14, 2005 a landslide resulted; in which many of the WWII anti-tank blocks around the car park toppled onto the beach.^[11].

On the 12th of January 2007 the Environment Agency issued a statement regarding the Flood Defence budget for 2007/8. The budget; planned and distributed on a national basis apportioned £33,000,000 to the Eastern Area. The Anglian (Eastern) Regional Flood Defence Committee expressed their disappointment at this; being £5,200,000 less than the 2006/7 budget due to other areas nationwide taking priority. The Committee were particularly disappointed to hear that funding had not been allocated to realise proposed schemes for development of flood defences from Eccles to Winterton. Proposed schemes for Ipswich and Jaywick also did not receive funding for 2007.[12]

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

^ Foot, William (2006). Beaches, fields, streets, and hills ... the anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940. Council for British Archaeology. ISBN 1-902771-53-2.
^ Ordnance Survey (2002). OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East. ISBN 0-319-21888-0.
^ Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Retrieved December 2, 2005.