History of Sea Palling and Waxham

In the 18th & 19th centuries smuggling was a thriving industry along the Norfolk coast. As elsewhere cargoes of tea, tobacco and spirits were often 'washed up' on Pawling beach and were sold on the black market by smugglers. This was despite the efforts of the Customs & Excise patrol from Happisburgh and the local dragoon guards who were called in to maintain order. In 1777 a large quantity of spirits were seized near Waxham.

The Saxon townships of Waxham Magna and Waxham Parva existed before the Danish conquest of 867AD, but Waxham Parva has long since been swallowed by the sea. The Domesday Book, compiled in 1086, records a church at Waxham Magna but it is not known if it was Saxon.

In the present church, St John's, the font with its unusual brick pedestal is 14th century, the tower and south porch are 15th century and in the north wall is the 1571 tomb of Thomas Wodehouse, one of the Lords of the Manor.

What makes Waxham unique is the combination of the church, the hall whose high 15th century walls and large gate surround its seaward side and the 16th century barn, one of the largest tithe barns in the country. Almost destroyed in the great gale of 1987, it was restored in 1992 at a cost of almost half a million pounds.

St. Margaret's Church, Sea Palling, is a Saxon Church with a tower dating from AD900. The Church has many fine examples of changing architectural styles with a chancel dating from 1300, and a 15th century nave. The slated roof replaced the thatch at the turn of the 20th century. Inside the Church a 14th century font, 15th century south door and the Sea Palling Lifeboat Commemoration Boards can be viewed.

In 1995 the Environment Agency funded a beach reclamation and Sea Defence scheme involving the construction of nine reefs just off the shore. As well as successfully protecting the areas from flooding the reefs are helping the beaches to maintain sand deposits. The finest record of a great flood in the area was by John of Oxenedes, a monk from nearby Ludham who wrote that in December 1287. 'The sea agitated by the violence of the wind, burst through its accustomed limits occupying towns and fields'.

Today after many years of change we have miles of golden sand blessing our shoreline. The dunes and coastline from Sea Palling to Waxham and beyond are officially designated 'Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty' and since 2003 Sea Palling beach has been awarded blue flag status.

Village signs of Norfolk & Suffolk

Wherever you go in Norfolk & Suffolk, you will find Village Signs, usually carved and painted. many of them record a famous person or event in the life of the village.

TThe tradition of village signs started in Norfolk at the beginning of the 20th century when King Edward V11 suggested having signs to focus the identity of the villages around the Royal Sandringham Estate. The idea was slowly taken up by other villages in the region.

In the 1930's Harry Carter, an art and woodwork master at Hammonds Grammar School in Swaffham, carved a sign for his home town. Little did he know that it was a start of a lifetime hobby. When he died in 1983 there were over 200 villages and Towns in the region that boasted of a sign carved by Harry Carter.

There was a large increase in the number of signs at the time of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11 and since then other national and local occasions have been marked by the erection of signs. Many new ones have appeared to mark the Millennium.

The name Harry Carter will always be associated with village signs but one must not forget the many other craftsmen that have followed, many of whom have created very individual signs of their own.

The Sea Palling sign was carved by Henry Barnett and depicts a lifeboat with crew which is still in existence in Sea Palling. The sign was re-furbished in 2002 as part of the villages Golden Jubilee project.