Welcome to our village web site!
The pretty little village of Holme-next-the-Sea is located within the North Norfolk Heritage Coast and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The larger town of Hunstanton is nearby about 3 miles to the south-west.
Many of the houses in the village feature two of the local stone types - Clunch,
a hard form of white chalk and Carr stone an attractive, rust-coloured sandstone.
These materials are frequently combined with brick, flint and cobbles resulting in the variety of individual patterns featured in this part of the county.
Much of the land here is very flat and only a few metres above sea level. To the south of the village agriculture is evident everywhere with fields of cereal crops, vegetables
and sugar beet. To the north, in the relatively thin strip of land between the village and the sea, are to be found large areas of salt marsh much
used by birds for feeding and breeding. There are a number of protected nature reserves nearby - one with a bird observatory and ringing station.
This part of Norfolk is very popular with tourists and attracts visitors throughout the year. During the summer months the large beaches appeal to families,
especially those with children, and at other times, notably during the spring and autumn migration periods, bird-watchers are always present.
The village is very popular with horses - and their riders!
An added attraction in this part of Norfolk is that we often see the most wonderful sunsets. No two are ever exactly the same and one can never tire of brilliantly coloured big
skies at the end of the day.
We hope that you enjoy your visit to our web site - if you require further information please do not hesitate to contact
The Webmaster.
Seahenge
On the beach at what is now Holme-next-the-Sea in the spring of 2050 BCE, a very large oak tree was felled and its stump was half-buried with the roots uppermost. About a year later,
some smaller oaks were felled and from these 56 posts were cut. These were arranged in a circle around the upturned, central stump. This Bronze-Age monument, described by some
archaeologists as being one of the most significant ever discovered, may have formed a type of ceremonial site - possibly with astronomical overtones. An alternative suggestion is that
it may have been a site of 'excarnation' where, after death, bodies would be exposed to the elements to hasten the process of decomposition and help the spirit on its way to the
afterlife.
Eventually the sea claimed the land where the circle stood and the people who built it were long forgotten. There were no records that it ever existed until, almost 4,000 years after
it was built, the ever shifting sands off the East Anglian coast reformed and revealed the structure once again to the eyes of man. The amazing structure was soon christened
'Seahenge' and became famous as Druids and modern-day pagans objected, including sit-in protests, against the decision by English Heritage to dig up the whole structure, remove it from
the beach and preserve it.
After much debate the future of the henge was decided and in the summer of 1999, and after being precisely photographed, measured and recorded, it was finally removed to the Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre, near Peterborough. Whilst undergoing a preservation process the ancient timbers were subjected to detailed tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) and carbon-dating. Using these well-tested dating techniques a precise date was determined for the felling of the trees that make up the circle. From three possible dates obtained by the tree-ring analysis, and after taking into account the carbon dating tests, the experts were left with just the one date - 2050 BCE. The actual time of year was further narrowed down to between April and June when it was discovered from tree-ring examination that the main stump had been felled in the spring.
Following a £1.2 million redevelopment the Lynn Museum in King's Lynn is now home to about half of the original timbers which are displayed in surroundings designed to replicate the beach site where they were discovered. There is also a life size replica of the Bronze Age circle. The entire display is accompanied by a free audio guide and interactive features which provide information about the people who created the monument and the details revealed by a study of the timbers.
For a far more detailed report of the discovery, and all that followed, please visit the local commumnity web site Northcoastal.
