Hunstanton Information and a history written by local people.

Long and Short Walks from the Wash and Tope Hotel for all the Family, of Local and Historical Interest.

Turn right out of the Hotel and head over towards the Green in Front of the Pier.

If the tide is out you can walk along the beach (again going to your right) until you reach the Lighthouse where you can come off the beach and walk up towards it.

On your left are the ruins of an old Chapel built by St.Edmund for his safe landing from a storm on Christmas day 555 on his way to Alburgh to be crowned King of the Angles.

The original lighthouse guided ships along the coast to Kings Lynn and a toll was levied upon them for this service. The Lord of the Manor, the incumbent Le Strange was, and still is, The Lord High Admiral of the Wash. In the Domesday Book Hunstanton is known as Hunstantunes by Eston Broke.

Heading again to your left you will come across the Le Strange Arms Hotel.

Years ago this was a Dower House (the home of the widow of the Lord of the Manor).

The small lane on the left past the Hotel leads down to the RNLI Lifeboat house which houses a Hovercraft and an Inshore Lifeboat. Many local businesses and Hostelries raise funds for our local Lifeboat and Crew.

If you are not too tired by now you can walk up Sea Lane to the main road and again turn left down the hill, passing on your left the Neptune Inn, now a place to eat but previously a very popular local Pub much favoured by the local real ale aficionados!

A few yards past Caley Hall for once to your right, you will see a small lane.

Follow it for several hundred yards and you will find yourselves transformed back into another age, quaint old cottages, a duck pond and a Church dating back to the 12th.Century.

The Graveyard contains the graves of Excisemen and Smugglers from later years. The gates in front of you lead down to the old Ancestral home of the Le Stranges, a moated Manorhouse now turned into flats and cottages.

Your shortish walk has now covered some of our History but by no means all of it. This town goes back to the Conqueror and has so much to offer you in the way of legends, smugglers, ideals, and even back to the occupation of the area by the Romans( a Roman coffin is in the Church of St. Mary in Old Hunstanton which you may have seen when you visited it earlier.

For further exploratory features of the Area please ask for details from your Host at the Tope. There is everything from the Princess Pocohontas in Heacham, to the Lavender Mill, to the Queens private residence at Sandringham House. All can be seen at little or no cost.

Smuggling as a way of Life in Norfolk

During the 18th century the Norfolk coastline from Snettisham to Wells Gave smugglers the ideal conditions for their nefarious trade. The mud flats and creeks were ideal for the secretion of their contraband and small boats. The headlands were perfect for signalling that a landing was safe and all hands were ready. Shallow sandy beaches enabled cargoes to be landed swiftly and comparatively safely.

Smugglers met in the haven of the south porch of the 14th century Sedgeford church. It was here also that barrels of illegally imported brandy and gin were concealed. Local farmers and Squires formed stock companies to purchase their goods from Holland. The farm wagons and labourers hauled these ill gotten gains to the barns and the homes of their worthy masters. William Frary was the team man for farmer Sampson of West Hall Farm and his job was to transport the goods from the beach at Old Hunstanton to Mr Dusgate at East Hall Farm as well as to his master.c The local dignitaries received their shares and the remainder sold to the labourers.

It was the custom that the head of the first tub was knocked off and the contents consumed on the beach. The ships master would supply the labourers with short cudgels to protect the shipment on its overland journey from the Excise and Revenue men. One exciseman who interfered on a run was so severely cudgelled that he was killed. His corpse was thrown over a nearby wall where it was discovered a few days later. He was buried in St.Marys Churchyard, Old Hunstanton. A peremptory inquiry was held but no conclusions reached and so the murder faded into obscurity. Possibly because the Magistrates and Manor Lords were involved heavily in contraband receipts they were as guilty as the transgressors! Two notorious gangs of beach men were known for their violence and savagery, and were the Heacham and Snettisham "Indepedants". Known as such because the other gangs were estate workers under their Lords of Manor.

To-day, in St.Marys Churchyard, can still be seen the marked graves of smugglers and a Light Dragoon(excise man) Look for the name William Webb. It is interesting to note that no jury ever convicted anyone in Norfolk for smuggling, the penalty for such being hanging.

The siege of Kings Lynn by the Earl of Manchester under Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England. 1642

At the start of the Civil War between King and Parliament Lynn Regis found for the King and closed and guarded its Gates. The Mayor had Wardens placed at the South And East Gates, guarding them day and night. This guarding continued throughout 1640 and 1641. In 1642 the Town was further fortified by seven pieces of brass cannon from London The three Gates were then fitted with drawbridges.

In early 1642 Captain Sherwood arrived from Norwich with a troop of Light Dragoons and demanded entry to the Town. The Governor of Lynn Regis, Sir Hamon L Estrange Of Hunstanton denied him such and so started the Siege of the Town under the command of the Earl of Manchester, one of Cromwell's generals. Manchester had a formidable Force equipped with Artillery but the Town held out for three weeks beginning on the 28th August until its surrender on September 16th. Terms were agreed and Manchester entered the Town, Conditions of the surrender negotiated by Sir Hamon L Estrange were no looting, no repercussions against the Townsfolk, no financial penalties against the Landlords or Merchant Guilds. He was to remain in the Town as a Hostage against any subversive activities against the Parliamentarians. Manchester left Lynn to rejoin his master Cromwell and his Cavalry in Lincolnshire leaving a body of troops to hold the Town.

Sometime after Manchesters leaving the Town, a body of Royalists, led by the young Sir Roger L Estrange rode from Hunstanton to recapture it for the King. Two of his confederates broke their oaths and betrayed him to the Parliamentarians who siezed him before the assault. He was tried by Court Martial and condemned to die as a traitor. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London from 1644-1648 when he managed to escape and abdure the Kingdom.. His family having come over with William of Normandy in 1066 and distinguished themselves in battle, he had little trouble in finding sanctuary in France, as we know it today.

In the Autumn of 1653 he made his peace with Cromwell and was Pardoned, returning To England where he lived peacefully until his death in 1704 aged 88.

A separate history of the L Estranges, Lords and Barons,from 1135 to the present day, 29 in total so far, can be obtained on request.

Henry Walpole. The Docking Martyr

Born to Christopher and Margery Walpole Henry was a singular man of great faith and religious conviction. Queen Mary, daughter of King Henry viii, was a staunch Catholic who had married the Dauphin of France, and who set about restoring the Latin Mass banned by her father. She also restored celibacy to the priesthood and appointed new Bishops.

In the year of Our Lord 1558 Elizabeth 1st came to the throne and reversed her sisters actions by re-establishing the Church of England. Henry Walpole witnessed the execution of his friend Edmund Campion at Tyburn in 1581 for refusing to renounce his faith, and wrote thirty verses as an Epitaph to him. These verses he had published. The Government took swift action by cutting off the ears of the printer and jailing him for life.

Henry was forced to flee the country and went to Douai in Northern France where his studious nature and profound faith greatly impressed the Cardinal. He was ordained a Priest at the age of thirty and was proficient in four languages. He became a Chaplain to the Spanish Army but was captured and imprisoned, his ransom being paid by his brother Michael. His brothers: Michael, Christopher and Richard were also Jesuit Priests whilst his other brother Thomas was a Soldier of Fortune. Henry and Thomas set off for the English Mission and landed at Bridlington in Yorkshire where he was arrested on the following day and imprisoned in York Castle. He was then taken to the Tower of London where he underwent the cruellest of tortures. He was put on the rack no less than fourteen times in fifteen months. His sole aim in life was to serve Christ and convert others to his Roman Catholic faith. He was given many opportunities to renounce his faith but steadfastly refused to do so.His carvings on the wall of the Salt Tower depicting the persecution of Christ remain there to this day.

He was eventually transferred back to York, condemned as a Traitor and accused of plotting against the Queen.. Before his return to York his ears had been cut off and he had been hanged by his wrists, just short of the floor. He was hanged at Knavesmire on the fifth day of April 1595, on the outskirts of the City. His body was publicly dismemembered.

Henry Walpoleof Docking was Canonised in Rome on the 25th of October 1979 in the VaticAN. The Roman Catholic Church in Burnham Market was named in his Honour.The following prayer was said in Docking Parish Churchon the day of his Canonisation.

"Almighty God-
By whose grace and power, the Holy Martyr,
HenryWalpole, native of this Parish,
Triumphed over suffering and despised death,
Grant, we beseech Thee that waxing valiant in fight
We may with the Noble Army of Martyrs receive the Crown of
Everlasting Life, Through Jesus Crist Our Lord"

Amen.