| Overstrand | |
The Village sign |
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Overstrand
Overstrand shown within Norfolk |
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| Area | 1.86 km2 (0.72 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population | 952 (parish, 2001 census) |
| - Density | 512 /km2 (1,330 /sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TG2441 |
| - London | 137 miles |
| Parish | Overstrand |
| District | North Norfolk |
| Shire county | Norfolk |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CROMER |
| Postcode district | NR27 |
| Dialling code | 01263 |
| Police | Norfolk |
| Fire | Norfolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | North Norfolk |
| List of places: UK • England • Norfolk | |
Overstrand is a village (population 1,101[1]) on the north coast of Norfolk in England, two miles east of Cromer. It was once a modest fishing station, with all or part of the fishing station being known as Beck Hythe. In the latter part of the 19th century it was catapulted into prominence, and became known as “the village of millionaires”.
As with much of the Norfolk coast, erosion was and continues to be a major problem. Clifton Way is an experimental site, of which sea defences include; riprap (at £1,300 a boulder, predominantly shipped from Norway), wooden groynes, a revetment and they have tried to replant trees on the slumped cliff, but in an act of controversy they were stolen and nothing has since been done. The soft boulder clay cliffs slump because of the water running through the clay, and the resulting material on the beach is removed by the succeeding high tides. And so the process continues over the years. In the neighbouring village of Sidestrand, the whole church was moved back from the cliff edge in the 19th century, though the tower of the church was left standing on the cliff top.
Out to sea there used to be another town but was unfortunately victim to the seas erosion on East Anglia, this town has been nicknamed Understrand.
The London journalist and travel writer Clement Scott came to Overstrand in 1883, christened the area ‘’Poppyland’’, and wrote about the church tower on the cliff edge and its “Garden of Sleep”. While in Overstrand he stayed at the Mill House with miller Alfred Jermy and his daughter Louie. Louie became “the Maid of the Mill” in his articles about ‘’Poppyland’’.
Scott had many London contacts in the theatrical world, and his writings led a number of them and others from London society to come to Overstrand. Some bought land in the village and had houses built there, and for a while the village was the place to visit. A large hotel was built on the cliff edge, though this slid into the sea in the 1950s.
The Edwardian architect Sir Edwin Lutyens worked at Overstrand, designing Overstrand Hall for Charles William Mills, 2nd Baron Hillingdon, The Pleasaunce for Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea and the Methodist Church.[1] Whilst the large houses of the gentry have largely passed from private ownership to other uses, the visitor to Overstrand can still appreciate the development that took place at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
The feudal Lord of Overstrand is Frank Charles Albert Hayer III and his wife, Lady Nancy Christine Hayer.[2]
The artist Fiona Davies is a local resident.
Overstrand railway station was on the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway between Cromer and North Walsham. It is now closed.
The Overstrand biplane bomber was named after the village; being made at the nearby Boulton & Paul aircraft factory in the early 1930s[3].