Holkham
Encyclopedia
Holkham is a village
and civil parish in the north-west of the county of Norfolk
, England
. Besides the small village, the parish includes the major stately home and estate of Holkham Hall
, and an attractive beach at Holkham Gap. The three lie at the centre of the Holkham National Nature Reserve.
had a population of 236 in 104 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district
of North Norfolk
.
The village of Holkham is located on the coast road (the A149
) between Wells-next-the-Sea
and Burnham Overy Staithe. At one time the village was a landing with access to the sea via a tidal creek to the harbour at Wells. The creek succumbed to land reclamation, much of which created the grounds of the estate, starting in 1639 and ending in 1859 when the harbour at Wells was edged with a sea wall. The land west of the wall was subsequently turned to agricultural uses. Aerial photographs show traces of the creek in the topsoil, and the lake to the west of the hall appears to be based on a remnant of it. Now the village serves principally as the main entrance to the hall and deer park, and to Lady Anne's Drive which leads to the beach. Among the houses of the village are several estate-owned businesses, including a hotel ('The Victoria') and art gallery.
Holkham Hall
is one of the principal Palladian houses of England, built for an ancestor of Thomas William Coke, noted agricultural innovator and later 1st Earl of Leicester of Holkham. The hall is still the home of the current Earl and is surrounded by an attractive park, with a herd of fallow deer
, a lake that was once a tidal creek
, several monuments and drives, and its own church. Both hall and park are open to the public.
From the main coast road Lady Anne's Drive, a toll road
owned by the Holkham estate, crosses the reclaimed salt marshes to Holkham Gap. This is a gap in pine
-fringed sand dunes which form the outer coastline. From here, an uninterrupted sandy beach runs both ways to Wells and Burnham Overy Staithe. To the west of the gap is a nudist section of beach.
A Holkham railway station
was located about half way along Lady Ann's Drive (to the east). The railway line through to Holkham was built in 1864. The line made up part of the Great Eastern Railway
network, which ran from Wells-next-the-Sea station, through Holkham and on to Burnham Market railway station
. The line was closed in 1952.
Holkham Pines is the name of the large belt of pine trees which runs west to east inland from the beach; the eastern end is known as Wells Woods. Holkham Freshmarsh is the name which refers to the series of wet meadows which sit inland from the pine belt, and north of the A149. They are bisected by Lady Ann's Drive, which gives access to the woods and the beach. The marshes are important for their wintering population of pink-footed geese
, and have been designated a National Nature Reserve
.
were the tribe of the Iceni
. They are believed responsible for the earthworks of the Roman Iron Age
visible in the marsh. A Roman road runs along the west side of the estate. Their provincial capital under Roman occupation was Venta Icenorum
near Norwich
.
for the years 449-454 records the arrival of large numbers of Angles
and Jutes
under Hengest
and Horsa, defeating the British king, Vortigern
, in 455.
By about 600 the distribution of cruciform brooches, a diagnostic of Anglo-Jutish society, show that the culture had displaced the Celtic on the east coast of Britain, including coastal East Anglia. A similar displacement was true of Saxon culture in southeast Britain, diagnosed by saucer brooches. Two bands of Saxons protruded into East Anglia, one down the rivers that empty into The Wash
and the other into the centre.
In the 7th century the Germanic kings of these regions were being converted to Christianity. The Anglisc or Englisc of East Anglia may already by that time have been divided into the "North Folk" and the "South Folk." In 654 the Christian king of East Anglia, Anna of East Anglia
, was killed in battle against the last pagan king of Mercia
. So great was his Christian affirmation that his four daughters renounced the world and became saints. Numerous lives of the saints relate that the youngest, Saint Withburga
, was raised at Holkham before she entered the religious life elsewhere in East Anglia. This is the first reference to Holkham. The saint died in 743.
A church on the grounds of the estate, still used for worship, commemorates the saint. It dates to the 14th century, received additions in the 15th-16th centuries and was renovated in 1868. The church was built over an earlier Saxon structure. The existence of the saint is attested by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
, which for the year 798 records that the body of Wihtburg, sister of St. Aethelthryth, was found to be uncorrupted at Dereham
55 years after her death.
The Chronicle and the historian, Bede
, do not state the name of Holkham. It does appear as that in the Domesday Book
, 1086, which means that it must precede Middle English
. The element -ham is clearly identifiable as Old English, "village, manor, home." The Holk- remains unidentified. A suggestion has been made that it comes from *hoelig, "holy", in honor of the saint, but it would not have been named that before she was one.
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 in the north-west of the county 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...
, England
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...
. Besides the small village, the parish includes the major stately home and estate of Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
, and an attractive beach at Holkham Gap. The three lie at the centre of the Holkham National Nature Reserve.
Geography
The parish has an area of 23.92 km² (9.2 sq mi) and in the 2001 censusUnited 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 236 in 104 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 North Norfolk
North Norfolk
North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, United Kingdom. Its council is based in Cromer. The council headquarters can be found approximately out of the town of Cromer on the Holt Road.-History:...
.
The village of Holkham is located on the coast road (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:...
) between Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells-next-the-Sea, known locally simply as Wells, is a town, civil parish and seaport situated on the North Norfolk coast in England.The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 2,451 in 1,205 households...
and Burnham Overy Staithe. At one time the village was a landing with access to the sea via a tidal creek to the harbour at Wells. The creek succumbed to land reclamation, much of which created the grounds of the estate, starting in 1639 and ending in 1859 when the harbour at Wells was edged with a sea wall. The land west of the wall was subsequently turned to agricultural uses. Aerial photographs show traces of the creek in the topsoil, and the lake to the west of the hall appears to be based on a remnant of it. Now the village serves principally as the main entrance to the hall and deer park, and to Lady Anne's Drive which leads to the beach. Among the houses of the village are several estate-owned businesses, including a hotel ('The Victoria') and art gallery.
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
is one of the principal Palladian houses of England, built for an ancestor of Thomas William Coke, noted agricultural innovator and later 1st Earl of Leicester of Holkham. The hall is still the home of the current Earl and is surrounded by an attractive park, with a herd of fallow deer
Fallow Deer
The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...
, a lake that was once a tidal creek
Creek (tidal)
A tidal creek, tidal channel, or estuary is the portion of a stream that is affected by ebb and flow of ocean tides, in the case that the subject stream discharges to an ocean, sea or strait. Thus this portion of the stream has variable salinity and electrical conductivity over the tidal cycle...
, several monuments and drives, and its own church. Both hall and park are open to the public.
From the main coast road Lady Anne's Drive, a toll road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
owned by the Holkham estate, crosses the reclaimed salt marshes to Holkham Gap. This is a gap in pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
-fringed sand dunes which form the outer coastline. From here, an uninterrupted sandy beach runs both ways to Wells and Burnham Overy Staithe. To the west of the gap is a nudist section of beach.
A Holkham railway station
Holkham railway station
Holkham was a railway station which served the coastal village of Holkham in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed with the line in 1952.- History :...
was located about half way along Lady Ann's Drive (to the east). The railway line through to Holkham was built in 1864. The line made up part of the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
network, which ran from Wells-next-the-Sea station, through Holkham and on to Burnham Market railway station
Burnham Market railway station
Burnham Market was a railway station which served the village of Burnham Market in Norfolk, England. Opened by the West Norfolk Junction railway in 1866, it closed with the line in 1952.- History :...
. The line was closed in 1952.
Pink-footed Goose
The Pink-footed Goose is a goose which breeds in eastern Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. It is migratory, wintering in northwest Europe, especially Great Britain, the Netherlands, and western Denmark...
, and have been designated a 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...
.
Celts
The last of the ancient Celts to inhabit East AngliaEast Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
were the tribe of the Iceni
Iceni
The Iceni or Eceni were a British tribe who inhabited an area of East Anglia corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD...
. They are believed responsible for the earthworks of the Roman Iron Age
Roman Iron Age
The Roman Iron Age is the name that Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius gave to a part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, Northern Germany and the Netherlands....
visible in the marsh. A Roman road runs along the west side of the estate. Their provincial capital under Roman occupation was Venta Icenorum
Venta Icenorum
Venta Icenorum, probably meaning "Market Town of the Iceni", located at modern-day Caistor St Edmund in the English county of Norfolk, was the civitas or capital of the Iceni tribe, who inhabited the flatlands and marshes of that county and earned immortality for their revolt against Roman rule...
near 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...
.
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxon ChronicleAnglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
for the years 449-454 records the arrival of large numbers of Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
and Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
under Hengest
Hengest
Hengist and Horsa are figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Great Britain in the 5th century AD...
and Horsa, defeating the British king, Vortigern
Vortigern
Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in...
, in 455.
By about 600 the distribution of cruciform brooches, a diagnostic of Anglo-Jutish society, show that the culture had displaced the Celtic on the east coast of Britain, including coastal East Anglia. A similar displacement was true of Saxon culture in southeast Britain, diagnosed by saucer brooches. Two bands of Saxons protruded into East Anglia, one down the rivers that empty into The Wash
The Wash
The Wash is the square-mouthed bay and estuary on the northwest margin of East Anglia on the east coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire. It is among the largest estuaries in the United Kingdom...
and the other into the centre.
In the 7th century the Germanic kings of these regions were being converted to Christianity. The Anglisc or Englisc of East Anglia may already by that time have been divided into the "North Folk" and the "South Folk." In 654 the Christian king of East Anglia, Anna of East Anglia
Anna of East Anglia
Anna was King of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. Anna was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles. He was one of the three sons of Eni who ruled East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia...
, was killed in battle against the last pagan king of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. So great was his Christian affirmation that his four daughters renounced the world and became saints. Numerous lives of the saints relate that the youngest, Saint Withburga
Saint Withburga
Wihtburh was an East Anglia saint, princess and abbess who was possibly a daughter of Anna of East Anglia. She founded a monastery at Dereham in Norfolk and a traditional story says that the Virgin Mary sent a pair of does to provide milk for her workers during the monastery's construction...
, was raised at Holkham before she entered the religious life elsewhere in East Anglia. This is the first reference to Holkham. The saint died in 743.
A church on the grounds of the estate, still used for worship, commemorates the saint. It dates to the 14th century, received additions in the 15th-16th centuries and was renovated in 1868. The church was built over an earlier Saxon structure. The existence of the saint is attested by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, which for the year 798 records that the body of Wihtburg, sister of St. Aethelthryth, was found to be uncorrupted at Dereham
Dereham
Dereham, also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, some 15 miles west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles east of King's Lynn. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of...
55 years after her death.
The Chronicle and the historian, Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, do not state the name of Holkham. It does appear as that in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, 1086, which means that it must precede Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
. The element -ham is clearly identifiable as Old English, "village, manor, home." The Holk- remains unidentified. A suggestion has been made that it comes from *hoelig, "holy", in honor of the saint, but it would not have been named that before she was one.
Later Middle Ages
Medieval manuscripts concerning Holkham have been edited by William Hassall and Jacques Beauroy.Media
- Several parts of the 1976 film 'The Eagle Has LandedThe Eagle Has LandedThe Eagle Has Landed is a book by Jack Higgins set during World War II. It first published in 1975. It was made into a film of the same name in 1976 starring Michael Caine...
', starring Michael CaineMichael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Donald SutherlandDonald SutherlandDonald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
& Robert DuvallRobert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
, were filmed on Holkham Beach and in the pinewoods. - The final scenes of Shakespeare in LoveShakespeare in LoveShakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....
(1998) were filmed on the beach. - The music video for Pure ShoresPure Shores"Pure Shores" is a song by All Saints, released as the first single from their second album, Saints & Sinners. The song was written for the film The Beach and produced by William Orbit.-Reception:...
, by All SaintsAll Saints (group)All Saints were a British/Canadian girl group. Founded in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the group consisted of founding members Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, and sisters Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton...
, for the 2000 film The BeachThe BeachThe Beach may refer to:*The Beach , a 1996 novel by Alex Garland**The Beach , a 2000 movie based on the aforementioned novel*The Beaches, a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, also commonly known as "The Beach"...
, was filmed here. - A number of beach scenes for the AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
episode 'The Town of No Return' (1965) were filmed at Holkham Gap. - Parts of the ITV1 drama 'Kingdom', featuring comedian Stephen Fry, were filmed on Wells and Holkham Beaches.
External links
- Information from Genuki Norfolk on Holkham.
- The Holkham Estate website
- DiCamillo companion guide - includes some good photos
- Holkham Camp Norfolk, roman-Britain.org
- North Norfolk History, article in the North Norfolk News.
- Place names based on a Scandinavian personal name element, Viking.no site