Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, 15 miles (24 km) to the east of the of Hunstanton, 20 miles (32 km) to the west of Cromer, and 10 miles (16 km) north of Fakenham. Norwich lies 32 miles (51 km) to the south-east. Nearby villages include Blakeney, Burnham Market, Burnham Thorpe, Holkham and Walsingham.
The towns name is Guella in the Domesday Book of 1086, half Gallicised, half Latinised from Anglian Wella, a spring. This derives from spring wells, of which Wells used to have many, rising through the chalk of the area. The town became Wells-next-the-Sea from the 14th. century to distinguish it from other places of the same name.
The town has been a seaport since before the 14th. century, when it supplied grain to London and subsequently to miners in the north east, in return for which Wells was supplied with coal. It was a significant port in the 16th. century, with 19 ships operating out of Wells in 1580.
Wells was also a fishing port. In 1337, it is recorded as having had thirteen fishing boats and nearby Holkham had nine. Its fishermen brought first herring and then cod from Iceland in quantity between the 15th. and 17th. centuries.
The town was also from early days a manufactory of malt. At its height, the town boasted up to twelve maltings which, in 1750, contributed a third of the exports of malt from the country, mostly to Holland, more than any other port save for Great Yarmouth.
Wells relies on the tides to scour the harbour because there is no river running through the town. The problem of silting had preoccupied the town for hundreds of years and no attempted solution solved the problem The growth of faster marine traffic, whose wake washes at the banks of the marshes, has widened the channel and reduced tidal flow further. The port eventually became uneconomic and the last of the small coaster trade ended in the 1990's.
The town now relies on tourism. There is a long, flat beach with abstract sand dunes backed by dense pine woods which are part of the Holkham National Nature Reserve. The woods comprise Scots pine, Maritime pine and Corsican Pine growing on sand. The pines were planted in the 19th. century to stabilise the dunes.
The sign at Wells is based around an anchor with the rope creating a circle. It depicts the pine woods on the dunes. A fishing boat and a bucket and spade represent the industries of the town past and present. Below the sign are two fish.
Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, 15 miles (24 km) to the east of the of Hunstanton, 20 miles (32 km) to the west of Cromer, and 10 miles (16 km) north of Fakenham. Norwich lies 32 miles (51 km) to the south-east. Nearby villages include Blakeney, Burnham Market, Burnham Thorpe, Holkham and Walsingham.
The towns name is Guella in the Domesday Book of 1086, half Gallicised, half Latinised from Anglian Wella, a spring. This derives from spring wells, of which Wells used to have many, rising through the chalk of the area. The town became Wells-next-the-Sea from the 14th. century to distinguish it from other places of the same name.
The town has been a seaport since before the 14th. century, when it supplied grain to London and subsequently to miners in the north east, in return for which Wells was supplied with coal. It was a significant port in the 16th. century, with 19 ships operating out of Wells in 1580.
Wells was also a fishing port. In 1337, it is recorded as having had thirteen fishing boats and nearby Holkham had nine. Its fishermen brought first herring and then cod from Iceland in quantity between the 15th. and 17th. centuries.
The town was also from early days a manufactory of malt. At its height, the town boasted up to twelve maltings which, in 1750, contributed a third of the exports of malt from the country, mostly to Holland, more than any other port save for Great Yarmouth.
Wells relies on the tides to scour the harbour because there is no river running through the town. The problem of silting had preoccupied the town for hundreds of years and no attempted solution solved the problem The growth of faster marine traffic, whose wake washes at the banks of the marshes, has widened the channel and reduced tidal flow further. The port eventually became uneconomic and the last of the small coaster trade ended in the 1990's.
The town now relies on tourism. There is a long, flat beach with abstract sand dunes backed by dense pine woods which are part of the Holkham National Nature Reserve. The woods comprise Scots pine, Maritime pine and Corsican Pine growing on sand. The pines were planted in the 19th. century to stabilise the dunes.
The sign at Wells is based around an anchor with the rope creating a circle. It depicts the pine woods on the dunes. A fishing boat and a bucket and spade represent the industries of the town past and present. Below the sign are two fish.