Because the town has no river running through it, Wells relies on the tides to scour the harbour. The problem of siltation had preoccupied the merchants of the town for hundreds of years and occupied the attentions of various engineers, leading eventually to disputes which came to court in the eighteenth century. Sir John Coode, who had been knighted for his work on the completion of Portland harbour was recruited to solve its siltation problems in the 1880s. No attempted solution proved permanent. The growth of faster marine traffic whose wake washes at the banks of the marshes has widened the channel and reduced tidal flow further.

The town has been a seaport since before the fourteenth century when it supplied grain to London and subsequently to the miners of the north east in return for which Wells was supplied with coal. Until the nineteenth century, it was easier to carry bulk cargoes by sea than overland. It was a significant port in the sixteenth century with 19 ships over 16 tons burden operating out of Wells in 1580, making it the major port in the area; the main trade was corn.^[6] Wells was also from early days a manufactury of malt. At its height the town boasted up to twelve maltings, having in 1750 contributed a third of the exports of malt from the country, mostly to Holland, more than any other port save Yarmouth.

Wells was also a fishing port: in 1337 it is recorded as having had thirteen fishing boats; next door Holkham had nine. Its mariners brought first herring and then cod from Iceland in quantity between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. The regulation of the harbour in order to preserve its use was by Act of Parliament in 1663; and in 1769 Harbour Commissioners were appointed with powers over vessels entering and leaving (as they still have today). The Quay was substantially rebuilt in 1845 as part of attempts to improve the town. At the same time, Improvement Commissioners were appointed with the task of making the town commodious and attractive to residents and the burgeoning tourist trade. As a small port, it built ships until the late nineteenth century; it never transferred to building motor vessels or to steel hulls. The coming of the railway in 1857 reduced the harbour trade but it revived briefly after the Second World War for the import of fertilizer and animal feed. In 1982 there were 258 ship movements into the harbour.^[7]

In the nineteenth century malting assumed an industrial character dominated by merchants rather than hands-on maltsters. Eventually, the entire estate was acquired by F. & G. Smith who had maltings in Dereham and Great Ryburgh; they latterly bought out the competition becoming one of the biggest maltsters in the country. Following the Great War demand began to fall and new methods of production were being used. After a local dispute, they closed the Wells operation down in 1929. Other agriculture-related enterprises such as the Ipswich-based Eastern Counties Farmers Cooperative were, over the following years, bought out or closed. The post-war revival of the harbour trade made of the Quay a busy place from the 1960s to the 1990s. Small coasters, mostly from across the Channel,^[8] brought in fertiliser and animal feed, latterly mostly soya beans until 1992 when changes in government regulations and the increasing size of vessels made the port uneconomic. Wind-farm support began in 2009 with the building of the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm.

Tourism, which had begun on a small scale a century before became a major draw, based as it was on the Pinewoods Caravan site much expanded post-war.

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John Savory worked the mill until his death on 27 September 1863, and the mill passed to his son, also named John. In 1869, a law was passed that all trade horses should be licensed. John Savory was convicted in 1870 and fined £5 for having one more horse than he held a licence for. He was again convicted in 1873 and fined £5 for the same offence. The mill was offered for sale by auction on 23 June 1888 at the Norfolk Hotel, Norwich. The premises comprising a steam mill powered by a 16 horsepower (12 kW) steam engine driving four pairs of millstones, the watermill driving three pairs of millstones and the windmill, also driving three pairs of millstones. As well as the mills there was a 25-coomb maltings, granaries and various other farm buildings, together with over 40 acres (16 ha) of land. The lot was unsold, and Savory worked the mill until 1900 when it was sold to Sidney Dewing. In 1910, the mill was sold to Sidney Everett, a maltster of Wells-next-the-Sea. In 1914, the mill was tailwinded. It was last worked in 1919.In 1926, the mill was sold to Hugh Hughes, an architect from Grantchester, Cambridgeshire. Hughes had the mill, which had been stripped of machinery by this time, converted to holiday accommodation.

In 1957, restoration work was carried out by Thompson’s, the Alford, Lincolnshire millwrights. A new cap with a gallery, stocks and sails were fitted and the stage was replaced. The mill was given to the National Trust in 1958. In December 1978, the National Trust published plans to restore the mill to working order. This would have involved making the cap able to turn into wind, and the provision of new internal machinery and the conversion of associated building to a shop, along with the provision of car parking facilities. There was opposition from local people, although West Norfolk District Council were in favour of the plans. They were directed by Norfolk County Council to refuse the application due to the inadequate highway in the locality which did not have the capacity to cope with large numbers of visitors. The mill was renovated internally to meet fire safety regulations in 1981. The sails and stocks were removed in 1983 for replacement.[2] Two new 62 feet (18.90 m) long stocks of Jamaican Pitch pine were fitted on 17 July 1985, and four new sails the following day. The new stocks and sails cost £26,500.

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Burnham Overy Staithe Harbour lies between the larger village of Burnham Market, less than 1-mile (1.6 km) to the west, and Holkham, some 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east. The larger town of King’s Lynn is 20 miles (32 km) to the south-west (with the closest railway station), whilst the city of Norwich is 30 miles (48 km) to the south-east.

Burnham Thorpe, the birthplace of Horatio, Admiral Lord Nelson, lies 1-mile (1.6 km) to the south-east. According to various letters and documents, Nelson learned to row and sail a dinghy at Burnham Overy Staithe, at the age of 10, two years before joining the Navy. The village’s only pub is called “The Hero” in his honour.

The civil parish has an area of 8.92 km2 and in the 2001 census had a population of 311 in 167 households, reducing to a population of 134 measured at the 2011 Census.[1] For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk.

Historically Burnham Overy was the port for the surrounding villages of the Burnhams. Both settlements lie on the River Burn, and until the end of the Middle Ages trading ships were able to reach the village (now Burnham Overy Town). With the silting of the river, commercial traffic switched to the downstream Staithe. With the coming of the railway to the Burnhams in 1866, commercial shipping declined and the last cargo is believed to have been shipped from the Staithe soon after the end of the First World War.

Between Burnham Overy Staithe and the sea, the river spreads out into multiple tidal creeks through the salt marshes that fringe this stretch of coast, and finally reaches the sea by passing through the fronting sand dunes at a gap near Gun Hill locally known as Burnham Harbour. Small boats can reach Burnham Overy Staithe through this gap and creek. Today Burnham Overy Staithe, and the associated harbour, is a recreational sailing centre. It is also the point of departure for seasonal ferries to the Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve.

To the east of the Burnham Overy creek, the former salt marshes between dry land and the sand dunes have been reclaimed to form fresh water meadows, part of the Holkham estate. A one-and-a-half-mile (2.4 km) long footpath links Burnham Overy Staithe to the sand-dunes and beach, running along the crest of the embankment which protects these water meadows from the creek.

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Heacham is also famous for being at the heart of Norfolk’s lavender growing industry and in the summer, the landscape and air is filled with the colour and aroma of lavender.

The two fine North and South beaches face West looking across a huge 20 mile bay. The water here is shallow and sheltered making the beaches ideal for children. When the sun is out, you will be treated to the memorable ‘highway to the heavens’, a reflection of the sun in a golden and silver trail across the water.

Heacham is also close to the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path and several RSPB sites. Also worth a visit is Caley Mill, Gothic revival in architectural style and unique because of its exposed waterwheel on the outside of the building. The visitor centre has a tearoom and farm shop.

This image was shown on ITV ANGLIA

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The church is constructed in the Romanesque style from carstone rubble. It is all that remains of the medieval village that once surrounded the church of which there are no extant structures. Archaeological deposits recovered from this area indicate continuous occupation of the area from the Iron Age to 16th century.

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