Part 2

Cromer enjoys the advantage of a free-school, founded and endowed with ten pounds per annum by Sir Bartholomew Reed, a native of Cromer, and Lord Mayor of London, in 1502. The master, who was to be “a priest, cunning in grammar,” was enjoined to say mass once a year in the parish-church of Cromer, for the soul of the worthy founder; and to teach, with all good diligence, “Gentlemen’s sons, poor men’s sons, and other good men’s children of Cromer, and the villages around.” The former part of the duty is dispensed with, but the school still flourishes, the Goldsmith’s company, who are the trustees, having rebuilt the school-house in 1821, and augmented the master’s salary, at different times, and it now amounts to one hundred and thirty pounds per annum.

Roger Bacon, a mariner of Cromer, is said to have discovered Iceland in the reign of Henry IV. and also to have taken prisoner the Prince of Scotland, James Stewart, who was sailing to France, in order to be educated there.

A savings’-bank was established here in 1827. Petty-sessions are held every alternate Monday. The poor’s land was let, in 1786, for ten pounds a year—it now lets for fourteen guineas. This is equally divided between twenty-four widows, who do not receive relief from the parish. The market, which was held every Saturday, under letters patent of Henry IV. has been long discontinued; but the town is well supplied with provisions of all kinds, during the bathing season, persons from the country round bringing in poultry, butter, eggs, vegetables, &c. daily. Fish is not very plentiful: however, this depends upon the season. Mackerel, whitings, herrings, and cod are caught here; its lobsters have long been noted for their excellence, as are also its crabs. Great quantities of these are caught and sent immediately to London. Lobsters are reckoned out of season, from the latter end of June to that of July.

It also boasts of an annual fair which is held on Whit Monday.

Cromer was first frequented as a watering-place about the year 1785, by a few families of retired habits, whose favourable reports of the place induced others to follow their example. The accommodations, however, were long adverse to the influx of visitors, and the want of a respectable inn, in particular, was greatly felt, and was a material check, not so much to the actual prosperity of the place, but to its very existence as a place of general resort. At length, a spirited individual, the present venerable Mr. Tucker, built the New Inn, which from that time to the present he has conducted with the greatest propriety, and with every regard to the comfort of those who have used his house. The character of Cromer thenceforth became altered, and various improvements followed. Indeed, the inhabitants of Cromer owe a large debt of gratitude to him, and if universal respect, and, it is to be hoped, just success, to himself, can reward him, he receives his full recompense.

There are several machines for sea-bathing, the hour for which is regulated by the tide. The bather, Mr. Jacob, who is a very steady man, and the descendant of a line of bathers, lives in Jetty Street.

There are two bathing-houses, one on the cliff and the other by the side of it, on the beach: both of which are extremely well conducted, and kept by persons of respectability, by whom every requisite attention and civility are shown.

Cromer now contains many comfortable private lodging-houses, as well as apartments for the accommodation of its visitors, as also some respectable inns. One of the best houses in Cromer has lately been converted into a boarding-house, under the name of the Hotel de Paris. A number of houses, called the Crescent, have been built within the last ten years, and are a great acquisition. Had the same spirit of speculation in building, &c., existed here as elsewhere, or the same encouragement, at least, been given to it, it is probable that long ere this, Cromer would have risen to considerable importance as a bathing-place and fashionable resort; nature having done everything for it that might favour such a result. It has, however, been asserted, and perhaps with truth, that this spirit of improvement has been discountenanced on the ground, that the moral welfare of the place was promoted by its comparative obscurity and non-intermixture with the idle and the more corrupted servants, &c. of cities and towns. The facilities of travelling to long distances, too naturally tends to injure places which depend much on the local encouragement they receive. Persons who were once content, to visit, summer after summer, the same place, or who chose that which their own neighbourhood made most convenient, are no longer detained by motives of expense or distance from indulging a taste for variety. The rent of the houses is high, and consequently, that of lodgings is the same: the latter may be had at the rate of from one guinea and a half to three and a half: entire houses from four to six guineas a week: those of the latter price, of which there are not more than four or five, make up ten beds, and are therefore capable of accommodating a large family.

The inhabitants, almost universally speaking, are extremely civil and well-behaved, respectable in themselves, and respectful towards others; simple in their manners, and free from that spirit of extortion which is but too commonly the fault of those who have only a short season to enable them to meet many exigences, and who have only a partial interest in those they serve.

The walks, drives, &c., round Cromer are exceedingly beautiful, affording alike to the geologist, botanist, and mineralogist, abundant materials for the gratification of their respective tastes. Many valuable organic and fossil remains are to be found in different parts of the coast, a circumstance to which the active researches of the late Mr. C. S. Earle served materially to draw the attention of scientific persons. Professor Buckland and the learned Mr. Lyell have both honoured Cromer by visiting it.

Wild flowers are to be met with here in great beauty and luxuriance, some of them sufficiently rare to induce a long and health-giving walk in search of them. The sea-weeds, or _algæ_, are those which are generally found on our coasts, consisting of the great strap-wort, (_Laminaria_;) Bladder-wort, (_Fucus vesiculocus_;) Serrated Bladder-wort, (_Fucus serratus_;) the beautiful crimson _Plocamium coccineum_, the _Ulva latissina_, &c.

All these, when cast on the beach, are carefully collected in heaps, and serve as manure to the lands.

Jet and amber are found here in the winter. Jasper of all kinds, cornelian, aqui marine, and agates of every description, some of which are extremely beautiful, may be picked up on the beach. Many of the common pebbles, also, are remarkably handsome, and take a fine polish. The youthful student of mineralogy may also add to his collection specimens of micaceous schist, trapstone, porphyry, basalt, &c. &c. Shells, either fossil or recent, do not abound here, except in the upper chalk, which forms the substratum of the beach, and in isolated patches of the overlying crag, where a few rare fossil shells are found: recent shells, indeed, are scarcely ever to be met with. The common Perriwinkle, (_Turbo littoreus_;) is, however, plentiful on the rocks at low water.

We give no guide to the walks, they are all easily found, and there is a pleasure in making rambles for ourselves where every part of the country invites us to explore it. The best view of the town, however, is from a short distance on the Runton road. Varley, so well known as an artist, has a very pleasing drawing, taken from the spot to which we allude. The woods round Cromer Hall are a beautiful object from every direction. The Hall itself is a handsome mansion, built in the Gothic style, with a centre and two wings. It was commenced in 1827, by George Thomas Windham, Esq., but was burnt down, before it was finished, in 1829. It was rebuilt, and is now occupied by Henry Baring, Esq., brother of Lord Ashburton, who married Miss Cecilia Windham, another of the daughters of Admiral Windham.

The following gentlemen also possess, and occasionally inhabit handsome houses in or near the town. H. Birkbeck, Esq., Sir Jacob Astley, now Lord Hastings, Samuel Hoare, Esq., and Robert Herring, Esq. George Stanley Repton, Esq. is lord of the manor of Cromer Weylands, and of several other manors in the neighbourhood. Colne House is inhabited by Mrs. Morris.

The season for Cromer is usually reckoned from the beginning of June till the middle or end of October. The place itself is never in such beauty as in the autumn, nor is its sea or the air more invigorating at any time than in the month of October.

A mail-coach arrives daily from Norwich at half-past twelve, and returns at half-past one o’clock. Letters, however, must be received at one o’clock, at which time the post-office closes; on payment of a penny a letter will be forwarded the same day. Phaetons, sociables, and also saddle-horses may be had of Mr. Thomas Brown.

There are subscription reading-rooms, where the London and Provincial papers are taken in daily, kept by Mr. Simons; and also a circulating-library, kept by Mrs. Leak.

Carriers go once or twice a week to Norwich, Lynn, and other places in the neighbourhood.

EXCURSION TO FELBRIGG, RETURNING EITHER BY THE HOLT ROAD OR OVER BEESTON HEATH.

The drives about Cromer are far more agreeable than persons have generally been led to suppose. The appearance of the country is picturesque and diversified; the roads themselves are good, and the sea, which is never long concealed from the view, forms at all times a beautiful object, sometimes appearing in wide expanse before us, sometimes seen only through an opening in the woods or over a rich valley, and at others breaking suddenly upon the eye, yet ever harmonizing most delightfully with the general features of the landscape. We do not usually associate the idea of rich foliage with the sea, but in this respect Cromer has a great advantage over most places on the coast, certainly over those on the eastern and northern. The soil, indeed, seems well suited to the growth of trees, many of which attain a very considerable size, and may vie in luxuriance of foliage as in height with those of more inland situations. The oak, Spanish chestnut, and beech, in particular flourish here, and by their beauty afford a constant theme of admiration.

There is no drive, however, prettier than that to the village and hall of Felbrigg, the seat and property of William Howe Windham, Esq.

Felbrigg is three miles distant from Cromer, and is delightfully situated in the bosom of extensive and venerable woods. Almost as soon as you have entered the park, the tower of the church is seen on the left, rising in a most picturesque manner above the lofty trees which encircle it, and as the hall is approached, the drive continues between trees of the most striking beauty; indeed, the beech-trees are esteemed as some of the most remarkable in the kingdom, and are of an extraordinary size and circumference. The hall is a large and handsome mansion, built in the Elizabethan style, on a commanding eminence, and stands in a park comprising about two hundred acres of land. Considerable additions have been made to it at different periods, the greater part of which are in a style corresponding with the ancient south front. It contains many of the works of the most eminent painters, particularly of Rembrandt, Bergham, and Vandersvelt. Among the best paintings may be enumerated, a Usurer, and the Portrait of an Old Woman, by Rembrandt, Cows Stalled, by Sagtleven, Scheveling Market, and a small Landscape, by Paul Brill. The library comprises a large collection of valuable books and prints.

The stables, built in the same style as the Hall, were erected by the late Admiral Windham in 1825.

On the skirts of the park, on a lofty eminence, stood formerly the cottage, mistaken by some for the rectory-house: this has been lately pulled down, and the present rector lives at Metton, which is consolidated with Felbrigg,—the rectory-house. About a quarter of a mile south-east of the Hall, surrounded by trees, is the church. This is a handsome edifice, and contains several monuments to the Felbrigg and Windham families. On a large marble slab is a very fine brass, representing the figure, in complete armour, of Sir Simon de Felbrigg, who lived in the reign of Henry VI. The inspection of this alone would deserve a drive or a walk {26a} to Felbrigg, for a more perfect specimen of the kind is rarely to be seen.

On the south side of the altar is a beautiful monument, with a fine bust by Nollekins, of the late Right Honourable William Windham, whose lamented death was caused by an injury he received in his endeavours to save the library of his friend Mr. F. North, when his house in Berkeley-square was on fire. An operation had been recommended, and to this he submitted; but, as it proved, without success. This accomplished and amiable man died in the year 1810. Leaving no issue, his estates descended to his half-brother, the late Admiral Lukin, who assumed the name of Windham. {26b}

The church at Felbrigg, like most others in this neighbourhood, is shorn of some of its honours. There is no vestry, although the ruins of one remain, and the entrance through the north porch is closed up, and the porch itself serves as a shelter to the sheep, which are turned into the churchyard. We regret the circumstance, as it appears to us a desecration of a building in which God has allowed His name to be put; and when we look “on this picture and on that,”—the handsome mansion with all its comforts, and the house of God, as also the last resting-place of the former owners of that mansion—we would not, where there is so much to admire and so little to lament, have a blade of grass grow irregularly on the one nor a stone left unevenly on the other.

The manor of Felbrigg was purchased by Lord Scales, of the executors of Sir Simon Felbrigg. He afterwards sold it to John Windham, Esq., when a curious circumstance took place, which does not speak well for the gallantry of the times, or at least for that of the party most concerned in it. Mr. Windham being absent, Sir John Felbrigg, who had set up an hereditary claim to the estate, entered the Hall, from which he forcibly dragged out Mrs. Windham, himself taking possession of the mansion. However, he subsequently relinquished his claim for the payment of two hundred marks.

The park, from the unevenness of the ground, rising and falling gently into hills and vales, the richness of the woods, and the manner in which it has been laid out, is extremely beautiful. The drive lies exactly through it, passing close by the house. {28} There is also another way of approaching it, which is through the village and the new lodge-gate at the east; and this also is very beautiful.

On leaving the park, two roads present themselves, one on the right hand, which leads through a very shady lane, the extremity of which is called the Lion’s Mouth, into the Holt-road, by which you may return to Cromer direct; or if the desire be to lengthen the drive, the road may be taken across the heath, to Sherringham, Beeston, or Runton, where some of the most delightful prospects that wild scenery can afford will be successively presented to the eye. The descent to each of the former villages is most striking and romantic; and but one regret will arise, namely, that the roads are not well calculated for a carriage, being exceedingly sandy, and the ruts very deep. There is not, however, the slightest fear for those on horseback, nor indeed for those in a carriage, if attended by any one accustomed to the road, {29a} and certainly no one should leave Cromer in ignorance of the beauties which here offer themselves.

Pic-nic parties are frequently formed to a valley on the right of the road, over the heath, which can be approached only on foot, or on horseback. A spot is also shown on the top of the heath, which by some is stated to have been a Roman encampment, but it is much more probable the site of an ancient beacon.

If on leaving the park-gate the road in front be taken, (and which is most proper for a carriage,) the church of Aylmerton {29b} will be passed, when turning immediately to the right, it will lead to the Holt-road, only a little higher than the entrance from the Lion’s Mouth. The drive will consist in that case, of about six miles,—if the road across the hills be taken, of seven.

EXCURSION TO MUNDESLEY, THROUGH OVERSTRAND, SYDERSTRAND, TO TRIMMINGHAM, RETURNING BY SOUTHREPPS.

The drive from Cromer to Mundesley presents some of the finest sea-views imaginable. The road runs almost entirely along the coast, taking in its course the villages of Overstrand, Syderstrand, and Trimmingham.

About two miles E. by S. of Cromer, is the small parish of Overstrand, which extends two miles along the sea-cliffs, and is bounded inland by a lofty range of hills. On the beach is a hamlet, and fishing-station, commonly called Beck Hoy, with a curing-house, and a free-school, the latter built and supported, during her lifetime, by the late amiable and lamented Miss Buxton: it is now carried on by Miss Gurney, of Northrepp’s Cottage.

The old church, like that of Shipden, was swallowed up by the sea, which catastrophe took place in the reign of Richard II. The present, which is dedicated to St. Martyn, was then built on half an acre of ground given by John Reymes; but the chancel and part of the nave are in ruins, the remainder is walled in, and fitted for divine service. The living, which is very small, is in the gift of Lord Suffield. In the year 1250, (34 Hen. III.) a duel or combat of trial was fought on account of this lordship, on behalf of Agnes de Reymes.

Foulness, or Cromer light-house, is in this parish.

Syderstrand is a small parish, containing not more than four hundred acres of land, partly belonging to Samuel Hoare, Esq., the lord of the manor, and patron of the living, which is a rectory, alternately with the sovereign as Duchess of Lancaster. {31} The church, dedicated to St. Michael, stands on a solitary eminence, and in appearance and loneliness, reminds the traveller of the sacred edifices which salute his eye in the Isle of Man.

Not a tree or a bush casts a shade near it, the dead alone in their solitude surround it, and the deep calm is broken only by the hollow dash of the billows, or the occasional screech of the sea-mew.

Still continuing in view of the sea, you reach Trimmingham, which stands on the highest ground in Norfolk. The cliffs are here not less than three hundred feet high. It is five miles E. S. E. of Cromer, and the same distance N. by E. of North Walsham. The ocean here also gains considerably on the coast. Several years ago, two farm-houses, with their yards and outbuildings, were washed down by the sea. This accident was owing to the choking up of a spring, which occasioned such a subterraneous body of water, that several acres of land, as well as these buildings, were detached from the main land and washed into the sea.

The church stands on the highest point of the cliffs. It was formerly a favourite resort of the superstitious and ignorant; for its ancient priests pretended that they were in the possession of the hand of St. John the Baptist; an imposition which was a source of considerable wealth to them, as pilgrims from all parts visited it, making large offerings in honour of the precious relic. The living is in the gift of the crown. Part of the glebe land has been washed into the sea.

On a hill about a mile from the village are to be seen the ruins of an old beacon. This hill commands an exceedingly fine prospect both of the sea and land. In very clear weather Yarmouth is discernible, and the spire of Norwich Cathedral is seen without difficulty. This spot has gained such celebrity for the extensive view it affords, that few persons quit Cromer without having visited it. It is said that no less than from thirty to forty churches may be counted from hence.

About two miles further on, is Mundesley, which from a mere straggling village has become of sufficient importance to rank next to Cromer as a watering-place; a circumstance owing chiefly to the spirited exertions of F. Wheatly, Esq., although it is, and must continue to be, greatly inferior to that place in every respect. It is distant from Cromer seven miles. Like Cromer, it is situated on the lofty and broken cliffs of the ocean, which, however, are here divided by a deep ravine, through which a small stream discharges itself upon the beach, which at low water has a broad firm sand, and, like Cromer, it is subjected to the formidable encroachments of the sea. To remedy this, the above-named liberal individual erected, at the cost of a thousand pounds, a massive wall, forming an upper and a lower terrace, the latter of which, being ninety feet above the beach, commands a most extensive and delightful view of the ocean. In the year 1837, during the same extraordinary high tides, that ravaged Cromer, this wall was in part destroyed, and was repaired at a cost little inferior to the first. The prospect upon the beach to the southward, differs greatly in appearance from that of Cromer, by the land at Happisburgh projecting into the sea, forming a promontory. There are two good inns here, and several respectable lodging-houses, with bathing-machines, a warm bath, and other necessary accommodations for visitors.

The church, dedicated to All Saints, stands on a lofty point of the cliff above the village, and was formerly a noble edifice, but the tower is gone, and the chancel, and part of the nave are in ruins. The remaining part of the nave has been repaired, and is fitted up for divine service. The living is in the gift of the crown. The place derives interest from the circumstance of the father of Archbishop Tenison having been ejected from this living in 1640, for his loyalty to the ill-fated and amiable monarch, Charles I.

Returning by Southrepps, we are struck with its church which is one of the most beautiful in the neighbourhood, and, as usual, is built on an eminence. It is dedicated to St. James. In the year 1788, the side-aisles were taken down, and the arches filled up. The living is in the gift of the crown. The parsonage-house is situated near it.

On a hill, about a mile from the village, are the ruins of an old beacon, which commands a fine view of the sea and surrounding country. Southrepps, is five miles from Cromer and one from Thorpe. The drive consists of seventeen miles.

NORTHREPPS HALL AND COTTAGE.

A short and very pleasant drive may be made, by taking the road to Northrepps, and having passed the Hall, and Hill House, both belonging to Richard Gurney, Esq., returning by the road leading to the Cottage. This mansion, which is sometimes also called the Hermitage, is inhabited by Miss Gurney, and for its romantic situation is greatly admired. It stands in a deep valley, opening towards Overstrand and the sea. It is flinted in the Gothic style, and with the porch is thatched and fitted up with great taste and simplicity. The grounds and woods by which it is surrounded are extremely beautiful.

On an eminence called Toll’s-hill, not far from the cottage, is a very fine echo, produced by a bold and lofty range of hills, on the opposite side of the vale, and extending between it and the sea from Overstrand to Syderstrand.

EXCURSION TO THORPE AND GUNTON HALL, RETURNING BY ROUGHTON.