Sea Palling
| Sea Palling | |
|---|---|
 Sea Palling Gap |
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 Sea Palling
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| Sea Palling shown within Norfolk | |
| Area | 11.05 km2 (4.27 sq mi) |
| Population | 655 (Including Horsey and Waxham, 2011 census) |
| • Density | 59/km2 (150/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TG420260 |
| • London | 140 miles (230 km) |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NORWICH |
| Postcode district | NR12 |
| Dialling code | 01692 |
| Police | Norfolk |
| Fire | Norfolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Sea Palling is a village and a civil parish covering 11.05 km2 (4.27 sq mi) in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 19.6 miles (31.5 km) south-east of Cromer, 19.6 miles (31.5 km) north-east of Norwich and 140 miles (230 km) north-east of London. The village lies 4 mi (6.4 km) east of the A149 between Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth. The nearest railway station is at North Walsham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich.
The Domesday Book (1086) records that Palling comprised nine villagers and fourteen smallholders. There were 20 acres (8.1 ha) of meadow, 14 wild mares, two cobs, 23 pigs and 71 sheep with a total value of £4.00. It was surrounded by areas of salt marsh.
Its story has been inextricably linked to the sea since pre-history. The town of Waxham Parva disappeared under the waves together with its church and the large estate of Gelham Hall. One of the earliest accounts was written by John of Oxendes, a monk at nearby St Benet's Abbey, in which he relates the destruction wrought by the great storm of 1287:
the sea, agitated by the violence of the wind, burst through its accustomed limits, occupying towns, fields and other places adjacent to the coast ... it suffocated or drowned men and women sleeping in their beds, with infants in their cradles ... and it tore up houses from their foundations, with all they contained and threw them into the sea with irrevocable damage.
Several more incursions occurred over the centuries and by 1604 neighbouring Eccles on Sea had lost 66 houses and more than 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land. Three years later Palling's defences were breached and Waxham was flooded in 1655 and 1741. The 18th century owner of Waxham, Sea Palling and Horsey, Sir Berney Brograve, by reviving a previous Act of Parliament, unsuccessfully tried to have the sea breaches repaired after many destructive inundations of his estate. Lack of proper maintenance of the dunes led to continuous breaches and it was not until the nineteenth century that a programme of sea defence work was started. The North Sea flood of 1953 took the lives of seven villagers – some of the 100 who perished in Norfolk alone. A memorial plaque is in St Margaret's Church. Following this tragedy the sea wall was extended in 1986 and in 1995 the Environment Agency undertook a multimillion-pound project erecting four barrier reefs then later in 1998 put up five more to make them more effective.
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Wikipedia