Heacham

History

There is evidence of settlement in the Heacham area for around the last 5,000 years, with numerous Neolithic and later Bronze Age finds throughout the parish. This is presumably because the local geology consists of primarily cretaceous sands and underlying chalk, meaning that there is very little surface water for miles in any direction. This can also be seen along the banks of the Caudle Carr located just outside Dersingham, where numerous archaeological sites have been found. Running water in conjunction with the fertile surrounding lands made Heacham an ideal settling location for early man. Evidence of habitation continues through the Iron age into the Romano-British era. But the beginnings of the present village most probably did not occur until around the 5th century, with the Anglo-Saxon invasion and the beginnings of present-day East Anglia.

The name of the village purportedly derives from a 12th-century Norman lord, Geoffrey de Hecham. Although this is possible, it is unlikely as the name 'de Hecham' literally means 'of Hecham', implying the place name was already in existence. The name Hecham was noted in the Little Domesday Book which was written around 1086 as part of the Smithdon hundred (Smetheduna). Prior to the Norman Conquest, Heacham was controlled by two Saxons, Alnoth, and Toki the king's thegn whose estates were based around his hall in Castle Acre. After the conquest the lands passed to William de Warenne and his brother-in-law Frederick de Warenne, who was later killed by Hereward the Wake.

The name Heacham is more likely to have derived from the name of the river, The Hitch, in conjunction with the Old English word ham or hamm which meant either homestead, village, manor, estate or enclosure, land hemmed by water or marsh or higher ground, land in a river bend, river meadow, promontory.

In 1085 the manor of Heacham was given by William de Warenne to a cell of Cluniac monks from the Priory of St Pancras of Lewes to pray for the soul of his late wife Gundreda. After the dissolution, around 1541, the manor passed to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk.

Church

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest surviving building in the village. It dates from 1230 and is Norman in style. In the cupola on the tower hangs a bell dating from about 1100, making it the oldest in East Anglia, and the seventh oldest in the country. The transepts have been lost as well as 12 feet (3.7 m) from the east end, and the roof has been lowered.

Pocahontas

Heacham has historic ties to Pocahontas, who married John Rolfe, a native of this village on 5 April 1614 at a church in Jamestown, Virginia. Rolfe took his wife, Rebecca (Pocahontas), and their two-year-old son, Thomas, to visit his family at Heacham Hall in 1616, but settled in Brentford. A year later, Rebecca died in Gravesend, when John was going to return her to Virginia. She was laid to rest at St George's parish churchyard. After that, John returned to Virginia with Tomocomo. Samuel Argall commanded the ship. Thomas was guarded by Lewis Stukley and later adopted by John's brother, Henry. John married Jane Pierce two years later. They soon had a daughter named Elizabeth. Perhaps John lost his life in the 1622 Native American massacre near Jamestown. The Rolfe family home, Heacham Hall, burned down in 1941.

Beaches

Heacham started to become popular as a seaside resort with the Victorians due to the opening of the railway between King's Lynn and Hunstanton in the early 1860s. This culminated in the building of the Jubilee Bridge in 1887 to replace an old wooden bridge, using unspent subscriptions from parishioners to the celebrations for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Heacham is still popular today as a seaside resort. Both the North Beach (Jubilee) Road and South Beach Road are lined with caravan parks.

The beaches at Heacham are situated on the east banks of The Wash; this means it is one of the few beaches in eastern England where the sun sets over the sea instead of over the land.

On 29 July 1929, Mercedes Gleitze became the first woman to swim The Wash, completing the crossing on her third attempt. Originally aiming for Hunstanton, she finally came ashore at Heacham after battling treacherous tides for over 13 hours. Heacham was severely affected by the North Sea flood of 1953, when nine people died after the sea broke through. In early 2013, an exhibition of the North Sea Flood was held at St Mary's Church, with contributions from Heacham infant and junior schools and from other villagers.

Norfolk lavender

Norfolk Lavender Ltd was founded in 1932. Linn Chilvers supplied the plants and the labour. Francis Dusgate of Fring Hall provided the land. The first lavender field was planted on Dusgate's land at Fring and in 1936 Dusgate acquired Caley Mill on the River Heacham and the ground around it, not for the building but for the land. Lavender has been grown there ever since. A kiosk was erected from which bunches of lavender were sold to passing pre-war traffic. By 1936 Caley Mill was already disused and no significant repairs were carried out until 1953/4 after the new road (the A149) had been put through cutting the lavender field in half. At that time a new lay-by and kiosk were constructed. Further repairs and restoration work were carried out at the mill in 1977–78 and in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s it has broadened its range to include other typical English floral fragrances. These are sold at home and abroad.

Transport

Frequent bus services are operated by Stagecoach (formerly Norfolk Green) and Lynx between the towns of King's Lynn and Hunstanton, calling at Heacham en route. The town had a railway station, which was open from 1862 to 1969.

Notable people

In birth order: