Sidestrand is a village and a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

on the coast of 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 village is north of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, south east of

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

and north-east of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The nearest railway station is at

North Walsham North Walsham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. The town is located south of Cromer and Norwich is south. Demography The civil parish has an area of ...

for the

Bittern Line The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the Eurasian bittern, bittern, a r ...

which runs between

and Norwich. The nearest airport is

Norwich International Airport Norwich Airport is an international airport in Norfolk, England, north of the city of Norwich. In 2023, Norwich Airport was the 25th Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic, busiest airport in the UK and busiest in ...

. From the Census 2011 the population was included in the civil parish of Trimingham.

History

The name Sidestrand is thought to derive from the old English word "sid", meaning broad or spacious, and the Danish "strond", meaning shore. The area was immortalised as "Poppyland" in the writings of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

journalist

Clement Scott Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...

Coastline

The section of cliffs at Sidestrand is one of the wildest parts of the Norfolk coast due to its rapid erosion. Its beaches and dramatic cliffs are less accessible than most others along this part of the coastline. The 50m high cliffs contain glacial sediments and structures and its beach is popular with

petrologist Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks, their mineralogy, composition, texture, structure and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous an ...

s and fossil hunters.

Saint Michael's church

Sidestrand parish church, which is dedicated to Saint Michael, is one of 124 round tower churches in

. It was erected in 1881 to replace an earlier church, closer to the cliff, that was threatened by

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

. The earlier church was demolished, apart from the tower, which was left as a landmark and finally fell into the sea in 1916. The tower and graveyard had become known as the "Garden of Sleep", after Clement Scott's poem. Notable burials in Sidestrand churchyard include: * Verily Anderson (1951–2010), author *

Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood Samuel John Gurney Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood (24 February 1880 – 7 May 1959), more commonly known as Sir Samuel Hoare, was a senior British Conservative politician who served in various Cabinet posts in the Conservative and National gov ...

(1880–1959), politician * Paul Paget (1901–1985), architect

Other items of interest

Sidestrand Hall was owned by the Flaxman and Spurrell families before being sold in 1880 to Samuel Hoare (later MP for

). Now known as Sidestrand Hall School, it caters for boys and girls aged 8 to 16 years with moderate learning difficulties. The

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

in the village was blown over in a gale in 1921. was a railway station on the

Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway The Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway (NSJR) was a British joint railway company. The NSJR was owned by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) and the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (MGNJ) and consisted of two distinct sections: a line betwee ...

which briefly served the Norfolk village from 1936 to 1953. The line ran between Cromer and Mundesley. The

Sidestrand Sidestrand is a village and a civil parish on the coast of the England, English county of Norfolk. The village is north of Norwich, south east of Cromer and north-east of London. The nearest railway station is at North Walsham railway stati ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

was named after the village; being made at the

Boulton & Paul Boulton & Paul Ltd was a British general manufacturer from Norwich, England that became involved in aircraft manufacture. Jeld Wen Inc. bought Boulton & Paul (along with another joinery company John Carr) from the Rugby Group plc in 1999 to ...

aircraft factory in Norwich in the late 1920s.

Gallery

References

External links

St Michael's on the European Round Tower Churches websiteSidestrand Hall School
at Norfolk Mills
Landslides and coastal erosion at Sidestrand
British Geological Survey {{Commons category North Norfolk Populated coastal places in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk Villages in Norfolk Coastal erosion in the United Kingdom