Brancaster
Encyclopedia
Brancaster is a village
and civil parish
on the north coast of the English
county
of Norfolk
. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale. The three villages form a more or less continuous settlement along the A149
at the edge of marshland fringing Brancaster Bay and the Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve
. The villages are located about 3 miles (5 km) west of Burnham Market
, 22 miles (35 km) north of the town of King's Lynn
and 31 miles (50 km) north-west of the city of Norwich
.
The civil parish has an area of 8.27 square miles (21.43 sq km) and in the 2001 census
had a population of 897 in 453 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district
of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
. The Clerk to Brancaster Parish Council has recently reached 40 years of service in this post.
This idea was further expanded to include the village becoming the base for a facility that could be used by a spy plane to undertake secret flights over the then USSR to take photographs and observe industrial and military build up.
Naturally, such a development would have meant that the village itself would probably have been razed to the ground and the villages rehomed. However preposterous it may sound, this was seriously considered at one time, along with other sites in the Outer Hebrides and Australia, although the latter would only have been used for rocket launches.
The eventual installation of oil rigs in the North Sea saw the idea shelved, the thoughts being that the risk, however slight, of atmospheric re-entry material hitting, or being in close proximity to the rigs, was too great a gamble to take.
settlement here named Branodunum
. The Saxon Shore fort at Brancaster, and accompanying area (much of which was destroyed during the construction of a locally opposed housing development in the 1970s) is not visible now, and remains mainly untouched. The garrison at Brancaster was made up of cavalry
from Dalmatia
. Native Roman centurions and officers were rarely posted to such remote places unless deemed necessary for disciplinary reasons.
Numerous theories exist as to what the Roman presence would have made or exploited in the area, in particular, the natural harbour that the fort would have been very close to at that time. Theories have connected it with amber
although a more likely cargo would have been grain and oyster
s.
The church of Burnham Deepdale St Mary is one of 124 existing round-tower church
es in Norfolk
.
SS Vina which was used for target practice by the RAF
before sinking in 1944. The Vina was built at Leith
by Ramage & Ferguson in 1894, and was registered at Grangemouth
. She was a coast-hugging general cargo ship which would have worked the crossings between the east coast of England and through to the Baltic states
.
As she neared the end of her useful seagoing life in 1940, Vina was requisitioned as a naval vessel for wartime use, carrying a crew of 12. With Great Yarmouth
being a strategic port on the east coast, the ultimate fate for the ship would have been to have had her hold filled with explosives, and destroyed at the mouth of the harbour, thus blocking entry in the event of Nazi invasion. However, as this threat passed, she was taken out of service and towed up the east coast towards Brancaster where she was used as a target for the RAF before the planned invasion of Normandy.
The ship was subsequently sunk and the wreck remains on the sandbank to this day. Numerous efforts have been made to retrieve the wreckage as the ship was not only a danger to navigation, but also an attraction to the holiday makers on Brancaster beach who regularly walked out to the vessel's remains at low tide. Lives have been lost due to these ill-advised actions and the local lifeboats and RAF rescue helicopters have been pressed into service on many occasions each summer.
Removal efforts have long been abandoned due to the excessive costs involved. One ambitious suggestion involved blowing the remains up, but it was calculated that so much explosive would be needed, the subsequent explosion would have broken every window in Brancaster and Brancaster Staithe. A touch apocryphal maybe, but, even so, the wreck is destined to spend many more decades on the sands before time and tide eventually erode it completely.
The Royal West Norfolk Golf Club was founded in 1892, its design being from a Mr Tiny Large. There has been little alteration to Large's design which can be seen at the Clubhouse along with Tiny Large's photo. Many of the original holes are still played today. Two holes in particular, the 8th and 9th, are played over salt marsh, which can be flooded to some considerable depth when the tide is in.
The course is one of the last remaining "Artisan" clubs in the country, this being the original right of the working men and women of Brancaster and Brancaster Staithe to play on the course themselves, the right coming from the fact it was built into common land. The Village club was formed to accommodate the village players, and relations between them and the parent, Royal West club, are mostly cordial and positive.
Despite the courses renown and reputation, its inaccessibility and lack of surrounding land means it will never hold a major championship. Rising sea levels mean that it is expected to be lost completely to the North Sea
by around 2015-2020.
The ghost of his nurse is said to haunt the remaining village pub, "The Ship".
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
on the north coast of the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale. The three villages form a more or less continuous settlement along the A149
A149 road
The A149 is a major route in Norfolk, linking Kings Lynn to Great Yarmouth. It runs via the coast rather than on a more direct route such as the A47. The eastern section runs through The Broads.-Kings Lynn to Wells next the Sea:...
at the edge of marshland fringing Brancaster Bay and the Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...
. The villages are located about 3 miles (5 km) west of Burnham Market
Burnham Market
Burnham Market is a village with and civil parish near the north coast of Norfolk, England. Burnham Market is one of the Burnhams, a group of adjacent villages in North Norfolk...
, 22 miles (35 km) north of the town of King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
and 31 miles (50 km) north-west of the city of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
.
The civil parish has an area of 8.27 square miles (21.43 sq km) and in the 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
had a population of 897 in 453 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district
Non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...
of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
King's Lynn and West Norfolk
King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a local government district and borough in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn.-History:...
. The Clerk to Brancaster Parish Council has recently reached 40 years of service in this post.
Brancaster: The UK's answer to Cape Kennedy
In the 1950's and 60's, Brancaster was seriously mooted as a possible location for the launching site for the British space programme.This idea was further expanded to include the village becoming the base for a facility that could be used by a spy plane to undertake secret flights over the then USSR to take photographs and observe industrial and military build up.
Naturally, such a development would have meant that the village itself would probably have been razed to the ground and the villages rehomed. However preposterous it may sound, this was seriously considered at one time, along with other sites in the Outer Hebrides and Australia, although the latter would only have been used for rocket launches.
The eventual installation of oil rigs in the North Sea saw the idea shelved, the thoughts being that the risk, however slight, of atmospheric re-entry material hitting, or being in close proximity to the rigs, was too great a gamble to take.
Branodunum - Roman settlement
There was a RomanRoman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
settlement here named Branodunum
Branodunum
Branodunum was the name of an ancient Roman fort in the modern English village of Brancaster in Norfolk. Its Roman name derives from the local Celtic language, and means "fort of Bran".- History :...
. The Saxon Shore fort at Brancaster, and accompanying area (much of which was destroyed during the construction of a locally opposed housing development in the 1970s) is not visible now, and remains mainly untouched. The garrison at Brancaster was made up of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
from Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. Native Roman centurions and officers were rarely posted to such remote places unless deemed necessary for disciplinary reasons.
Numerous theories exist as to what the Roman presence would have made or exploited in the area, in particular, the natural harbour that the fort would have been very close to at that time. Theories have connected it with amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
although a more likely cargo would have been grain and oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s.
The church of Burnham Deepdale St Mary is one of 124 existing round-tower church
Round-tower church
Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, almost solely in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, 6 in Essex, 3 in Sussex and 2 each in Cambridgeshire and Berkshire. There is evidence of about twenty round-tower...
es in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
Shipwreck on beach
The wreck that can be seen off the harbour is the coasterCoastal trading vessel
Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters, are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where deeper-hulled sea-going ships usually cannot....
SS Vina which was used for target practice by the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
before sinking in 1944. The Vina was built at Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
by Ramage & Ferguson in 1894, and was registered at Grangemouth
Grangemouth
Grangemouth is a town and former burgh in the council area of Falkirk, Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk, west of Bo'ness and south-east of Stirling. Grangemouth had a resident population of 17,906 according to the 2001...
. She was a coast-hugging general cargo ship which would have worked the crossings between the east coast of England and through to the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
.
As she neared the end of her useful seagoing life in 1940, Vina was requisitioned as a naval vessel for wartime use, carrying a crew of 12. With Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
being a strategic port on the east coast, the ultimate fate for the ship would have been to have had her hold filled with explosives, and destroyed at the mouth of the harbour, thus blocking entry in the event of Nazi invasion. However, as this threat passed, she was taken out of service and towed up the east coast towards Brancaster where she was used as a target for the RAF before the planned invasion of Normandy.
The ship was subsequently sunk and the wreck remains on the sandbank to this day. Numerous efforts have been made to retrieve the wreckage as the ship was not only a danger to navigation, but also an attraction to the holiday makers on Brancaster beach who regularly walked out to the vessel's remains at low tide. Lives have been lost due to these ill-advised actions and the local lifeboats and RAF rescue helicopters have been pressed into service on many occasions each summer.
Removal efforts have long been abandoned due to the excessive costs involved. One ambitious suggestion involved blowing the remains up, but it was calculated that so much explosive would be needed, the subsequent explosion would have broken every window in Brancaster and Brancaster Staithe. A touch apocryphal maybe, but, even so, the wreck is destined to spend many more decades on the sands before time and tide eventually erode it completely.
Royal West Norfolk Golf Club
The village is home to one of the most famous links golf courses in the UK. Known as the Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, it is a 6457 yards long, Par 71. In general golfing standards, this is not considered as being particularly long, however, the closing nine holes can often be played directly into a strong westerly wind which can more than make up for this lack of length.The Royal West Norfolk Golf Club was founded in 1892, its design being from a Mr Tiny Large. There has been little alteration to Large's design which can be seen at the Clubhouse along with Tiny Large's photo. Many of the original holes are still played today. Two holes in particular, the 8th and 9th, are played over salt marsh, which can be flooded to some considerable depth when the tide is in.
The course is one of the last remaining "Artisan" clubs in the country, this being the original right of the working men and women of Brancaster and Brancaster Staithe to play on the course themselves, the right coming from the fact it was built into common land. The Village club was formed to accommodate the village players, and relations between them and the parent, Royal West club, are mostly cordial and positive.
Despite the courses renown and reputation, its inaccessibility and lack of surrounding land means it will never hold a major championship. Rising sea levels mean that it is expected to be lost completely to the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
by around 2015-2020.
Lord Nelson
Admiral Horatio Nelson is said to have learnt to sail, as a young child, in the gentle creeks and channels near to Brancaster.The ghost of his nurse is said to haunt the remaining village pub, "The Ship".
External links
- Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale Guide to these two villages and the beautiful north Norfolk coast
- Dalegate Market | Shopping & Cafe in Burnham Deepdale
- Deepdale Backpackers & Camping | Backpackers hostel, group hostel, campsite, tipis & yurts in Burnham Deepdale
- http://www.suffolknorfolklife.com Suffolk Norfolk Life magazine
- Information from Genuki Norfolk on Brancaster.
- Norfolkcoast.co.uk on Brancaster.
- Madam How and Lady Why by Charles KingsleyCharles KingsleyCharles Kingsley was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire.-Life and character:...
which mentions the petrified forest. - Website with photos of Burnham Deepdale St Mary, a round-tower churchRound-tower churchRound-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, almost solely in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, 6 in Essex, 3 in Sussex and 2 each in Cambridgeshire and Berkshire. There is evidence of about twenty round-tower...
. - http://www.letzersseafood.co.uk Fishing out of Brancaster Staithe from the Whitby Crest and Speedwell. Local fisherman Simon Letzer catches lobsters and crabs many of which are sold to local restaurants and via the crab hut in Brancaster Staithe Harbour.
- http://www.deepdalefarm.co.uk/ Hostel accommodation and campsite at Burnham Deepdale.