Hunstanton

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Map sources for Hunstanton at grid reference TF6740

The stratified red chalk limestone and white chalk cliffs on the beach at Old Hunstanton.

Hunstanton, often pronounced by locals as 'Hunston', and also known colloquially to locals as 'Sunny Hunny', is a seaside town (population 4961^[1]) in Norfolk, England, facing The Wash. The classification of Hunstanton as "east coast" makes the town unique in that it is the only east coast seaside resort in England where the sun can be seen to set over the sea. Hunstanton is also well known for its stratified, fossiliferous cliffs: lower reddish limestone, known as 'Red Chalk', was laid down during the Lower Cretaceous era, and is topped by a white chalk layer from the Upper Cretaceous.

The town is of prehistoric origin. In 1970, evidence of Neolithic settlement was found.

In 1846, Henry Styleman Le Strange, a local landowner, decided that he'd like to turn Hunstanton into a holiday resort. Many new buildings were built, mostly in warm Norfolk carrstone. Following the death of Henry Le Strange, the project was successfully continued by his son. Hunstanton today is home to a fairground, aquarium and seal sanctuary, leisure pool, theatre, large caravan parks with amenities (Searle's Holiday Park opened in 1936), a number of amusement arcades, and a long promenade. In good weather, boats run by Searle's carry tourists out to view grey seals which have colonised sand bars both in The Wash and to the north of Norfolk. The centrepiece of the town is a large sloping green, which runs from one end of the high street to the promenade. The town also boasted a Victorian pier, until it was blown down by a storm in 1972.

Remains of St Edmund's Chapel and Lighthouse

The original, pre-Le Strange settlement of Hunstanton is now known as Old Hunstanton, adjoining the north of the larger resort. The quiet character of Old Hunstanton remains distinct from and complements that of its busy sibling, with clifftop walks past a disused lighthouse and the ruins of St. Edmund's Chapel, built in 1272.

Although summer crowds tend to flock to Hunstanton in smaller numbers now than are evidenced in 1980s postcards of the promenade and beach, the popularity of the town as a tourist destination for day-trippers and holidaymakers has nevertheless endured, weathering the decline of the British seaside resort. Indeed, during the 1990s, businesses in villages south of Hunstanton (Dersingham, Ingoldisthorpe and Snettisham) complained of a loss in trade after being bypassed by the A149, which carries heavy Hunstanton-bound traffic; while in 2004, the Hunstanton lifeboats were the busiest in Norfolk.^[2]

The town is notable for several stately Victorian squares, perhaps most notably Boston Square, which enjoys fine views across The Wash to Boston, Lincolnshire. On a fine day, one can see Boston Stump.

Hunstanton is home to Glebe House School & Nursery, one of Norfolk's leading independent co-educational schools.

The countryside surrounding Hunstanton is hillier than most of Norfolk, and as sparsely populated, the only nearby large settlement being King's Lynn, 12 miles to the south. The catchment area of Hunstanton's day-trippers includes the remote Fenland of South-West Norfolk, South Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire, and the Midlands beyond it. Holidaymakers are attracted by nearby Sandringham House (the Queen's winter residence), Castle Rising, the Burnhams (birthplace of Lord Nelson) and the RSPB reserves at nearby Titchwell village and Snettisham.