Heigham Holmes is a national nature reserve located within the

Norfolk Broads Norfolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and east, Cambridgeshire to the west, a ...

in the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. The reserve is, in effect, an island, being surrounded by the river channels, drainage ditches and wetland areas of the Broads. It is only accessible by an unusual floating

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

across the

River Thurne The River Thurne is a river in Norfolk, England in The Broads. Just long, it rises from the coast near Martham Broad and is navigable from West Somerton. It flows southwest and is linked by Candle Dyke and Heigham Sound to both Horsey Mere ...

from the village of

Martham Martham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. England. It is situated some north-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and north-east of the city of Norwich. History The villages ...

. The reserve is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

and is within the Broads National Park and the civil parish of

Potter Heigham Potter Heigham is a village and civil parish on the River Thurne in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated north-east of the city of Norwich on the A149 road, and within the Broads National Park. The village is known for its medieva ...

. It is only opened to the public for one day a year. It has been suggested that Heigham Holmes was used by the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

as a secret airfield between 1940 and 1944, with Lysander aircraft operating from the airfield to ferry agents to occupied Europe. However, no evidence of an airfield has been found in any records (military or local), maps or on aerial photographs, and any military-type structures that may have existed would appear to have been removed by the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, therefore any such usage cannot be confirmed. The subject of an airfield having existed in Heigham Holmes was featured erroneously in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Secret Britain television series, first broadcast in 2010.

References

External links

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National nature reserves in England Nature reserves in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub