Hunstanton

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Hunstanton
The Hunstanton cliffs

Hunstanton is a seaside resort on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk in the administrative district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk and is in the catchment of The Wash , an estuary formed by the mouths of the rivers Welland , Nene and Great Ouse in the North Sea . The village has about 4961 inhabitants. It is a comparatively quiet seaside resort with an extensive sandy beach.

Hunstanton is particularly known for its cliffs, the rock layers of which are differently colored: red and white limestone lie on top of red-brown sandstone.

The local name is shortened to “Hunston” and the advertising speaks of Sunny Hunny because the weather in Hunstanton is said to be the best in Great Britain and the only place on the English east coast where you can see the sun set over the sea can.

Hunstanton is also known for the building of the Hunstanton Secondary Modern School (now Smithdon High School). Alison and Peter Smithson built it in 1954 in the style of what later became known as New Brutalism . It is characterized by a steel, largely glazed frame construction and exposed brickwork.

Hunstanton was also affected by the flood disaster of 1953 . The recently raised and strengthened dam in the South Beach area broke, and the water flowed unhindered more than a mile inland. A train going to King's Lynn collided with one of the floating houses and derailed. There were 31 fatalities, including 16 US Air Force soldiers stationed there.

history

From 1846 the landowner Henry Styleman Le Strange transformed the city into a seaside resort. Many buildings were built during this time. After Le Strange's death, his son took over the project. Hunstanton train station closed in 1969. The pier from the Victorian era burned down for the first time in 1939 and a second time in the 1950s. In 1978 it was almost completely destroyed by a storm.

Attractions

Smithdon High School
  • The coast guard tower, built in 1907 and used as a listening post in both world wars.
  • Memorial to the 1953 flood that killed 31 people.
  • Golden Lion Hotel, the first building in the city.
  • Ruins of St. Edmunds Chapel, built in 1272.
  • Smithdon High School, early building of the "New Brutalism " by Peter and Alison Smithson , (1949–1954)

Old Hunstanton

Old Hunstanton is a town of 47 people on the northern edge of Hunstanton. The economist Gerald Shove died in Old Hunstanton in 1947.

Web links

Commons : Hunstanton  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council, 2001. Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes ( Memento from June 21, 2009 on WebCite ) ( MS Excel ; 107 kB).
  2. ↑ https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/school-at-hunstanton-norfolk-by-alison-and-peter-smithson/8625095.article report on the building in "Architectural Review"
  3. ^ The Perfect Storm: Norfolk 1953 - Culture24. In: culture24.org.uk. January 31, 1953, accessed February 28, 2019 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 56 ′ 18 ″  N , 0 ° 29 ′ 13 ″  E