Old Hunstanton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

. It covers an area of and had a population of 47 in 25 households at the 2001 census. The population had risen to 628 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a local government district with borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 147,451. History The district w ...

. This small settlement adjoins to the north the larger resort of

Hunstanton Hunstanton () is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash, making it one of the few places on the east coast of Great Britain where the sun sets over the sea. Hunst ...

or 'New Hunstanton'. The quiet character of Old Hunstanton remains distinct from and complements that of its busy sibling, with clifftop walks past the disused

Old Hunstanton Lighthouse Old Hunstanton Lighthouse is a former lighthouse located in Old Hunstanton in the English county of Norfolk,Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 250 - Norfolk Coast West''. . generally called Hunstanton Lighthouse (or, less formally, 'Huns ...

and the ruins of St Edmund's Chapel, built in 1272. King Edmund of

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

supposedly built the village. The River Hun runs to the coast just to the east of Old Hunstanton. The parish church of St Mary, situated in the grounds of

Hunstanton Hall Hunstanton Hall, Old Hunstanton, Norfolk, England is a country house dating originally from the 15th century. The gatehouse, now detached from the main building, is dated 1487. The wings were built in the seventeenth century and there are Victori ...

, is a Grade I listed building. It was built by Sir Hamon le Strange in about 1300 and extensively rebuilt and restored during the 19th century by architect

Frederick Preedy Frederick Preedy (2 June 1820 – 28 March 1898) was an architect and glass painter in England. Life Preedy was born in Offenham near Evesham in Worcestershire and died at his son's home in Croydon. During his early life his family moved from ...

for Henry Le Strange (1815–1862), developer of New Hunstanton. In the parish, at the

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conv ...

of Barret Ringstead (or Ringstead Parva), is the ruined Chapel of St Andrew which is Grade II*. St Mary's churchyard contains the graves of a customs officer William Green and William Webb of the 15th Light Dragoons, both of whom were fatally wounded during a skirmish on the Hunstanton coast with

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

. The clash occurred on the night of 25 September 1784, also claiming the life of another customs officer named Rennett. However, although the alleged perpetrators were tried at

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

the following year it proved impossible to secure any convictions. Both gravestones are Grade II listed; one has "Here be the mangled remains of poor William Green an Honest Officer of Government who/in the faithful discharge of his duty/was inhumanely murdered/by a gang of smugglers in this parish." The Hunstanton Lifeboat Station at Old Hunstanton is a

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

lifeboat station with a B class (Atlantic) boat and a hovercraft. Parts of the beach are backed by sand dunes and are the location for beach huts. Storms deposit items on the beach including marine life this may be strandings of cetaceans, mass strandings of starfish and shellfish or boats wrecked in storms. In December 2011 a large whale washed ashore on the beach.

History

The village of Old Hunstanton is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ‘Hunestanestada’. Later it became part of the Le Strange family (or L'Estrange) estates. Old Hunstanton Church - geograph.org.uk - 167383.jpg, St Mary's Church William Green grave, a photo taken on 25 December 2012.jpg, William Green's grave Baying Wolf by Jean Mulligan, Old Hunstanton.jpg, Wolf sculpture marking the spot overlooking where St Edmund supposedly landed in 855

References

External links

Old Postcards of Hunstanton

Hunstanton Hall entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses

Old Hunstanton Website
{{authority control Hunstanton Villages in Norfolk Populated coastal places in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk