River Burn, Norfolk
Encyclopedia
| River Burn | |
|---|---|
| In Norfolk | |
| colspan=2 align=center| |
|
| Geography | |
| Origin: | 1 mile south of South Creake near London Lane |
| Grid reference: | |
| Terminates: | Overy Creek, Burnham Overy Staithe |
| Grid reference: | |
| Length: | 9.8 miles |
| fall: | 36 metres from source to Mouth |
| Catchment Area: | Unknown |
| Tributaries: | Unknown |
| Water Mills: | 2 |
The River Burn (also known as "Nelsons River") is a river in the northwest 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...
. From its source to its mouth on the North Coast of Norfolk it is 9.8 miles long. The river has a fall of 36 metres to the sea. The source is one mile south of the village of South Creake
South Creake
South Creake is a village and civil parish in north west Norfolk, England. The village lies south of its twin village of North Creake, and some five miles north-west of the town of Fakenham....
, in a small copse west of a bend in London Lane. From the source it runs northeast towards the village of South Creake, where at Fakenham
Fakenham
Fakenham is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north east of King's Lynn, south west of Cromer, and north west of Norwich....
road it turns northwest and run through the village. Gradually the river turns north and runs along the western side of the Burnham road heading towards North Creake
North Creake
North Creake is a village and civil parish in the north west of the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 414 in 184 households as of the 2001 census....
.
The river runs through the village of North Creake, crosses under the Burnham Road and heads north across the open countryside towards the ruins of Creake Abbey. This abbey is on the southern edge of the Burnham’s, a mile or so from Burnham Thorpe. It was built towards the end of the 14th century for an Augustinian priory which had inhabited this spot since the 1220s, becoming an abbey shortly afterwards. Creake Abbey
Creake Abbey
Creake Abbey is a ruined abbey in Norfolk, England, situated alongside the River Burn and a mile to the north of the village of North Creake. The abbey church was dedicated to Saint Mary....
is unusual, because although it survived into the 16th century, it never suffered the effects of the Reformation or the dissolution of the monasteries. In 1508, an outbreak of plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
killed virtually all the inhabitants, and it was abandoned.
The river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
runs through a small pool in what were the grounds on the west side of the abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
, and then passes under the lane and out northwards across countryside towards Burnham Thorpe
Burnham Thorpe
Burnham Thorpe is a small village and civil parish on the River Burn and near the coast of Norfolk in the United Kingdom. It is famous for being the birthplace of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, victor at the Battle of Trafalgar and one of Britain's greatest heroes...
. At Burnham Thorpe the river runs through another pool very close to the site of the Burnham Thorpe Parsonage. That parsonage was the birth place of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Burnham Thorpe was originally one of a group of seven villages all prefixed with "Burnham" taking their name from the river. It is approximately three miles from the 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:...
coast, a low, flat coastline of muted colour, of sand and salt-marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
. From the high ground above the village one can see the sea, and it is said that from there you can hear the sound of surf on the sand of the shore.
The river now curves northwest through the village towards Thorpe common. The Manor House
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
on Thorpe common has a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
all around supplied with water from the river. Further on the river passes under the route of a dismantled railway. From here the river widens a little and flows into the mill pond at Burnham Overy
Burnham Overy
Burnham Overy is a civil parish on the north coast of Norfolk, England. In modern times a distinction is often made between the two settlements of Burnham Overy Town, the original village adjacent to the parish church and now reduced to a handful of houses, and Burnham Overy Staithe, a rather...
. Burnham Overy Union mill is one of only two mills in Norfolk to use both water and wind power from the same site. The watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
section had 3 pairs of stones, and the windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
had a further 2 pairs. Both mills were built in 1737, being constructed of brick, the watermill having two storeys under a 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...
pan tiled roof, with a third storey being added later. The windmill was originally built with five floors, but a sixth was subsequently added. In 1825 the sails had copper vanes.
Just a very short distance on the river reaches a second watermill. The lower mill at Burnham Overy is the second of two watermills on the river Burn. This mill consists of a long row of buildings in four sections, three storeys high, built from local red brick with pantile roofs. The mill dates from 1795. The inlet water bridge is in between the second and third building. The A149 coast road
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:...
passes over the river at the mill site.
From here the river enters Overy marshes and Overy Creek. The river spreads out into multiple tidal creeks
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...
through the salt marshes that fringe the coast thereabouts, and finally leaves land and enters the sea between the eastern point Scolt Head Island
Scolt Head Island
Scolt Head Island is an offshore barrier island near Brancaster, north Norfolk, England, located 10 km west of Wells-next-the-Sea. It is a National Nature Reserve...
and Overy Marshes, the gap locally known as Burnham Harbour. Small boats can reach Burnham Overy Staithe through this gap and creek.
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