Bure River
The River Bure rises in North Norfolk (one tributary
beginning near Felbrigg Hall) and flows in a south
easterly direction until it enters the sea at Great
Yarmouth. It is one of the main rivers of Broadland -
becoming navigable at Coltishall and then flowing on
through Wroxham and
Horning.
In its upper reaches, it flows past Oxnead Hall -
one-time home of the Paston family and also passes
through the villages of
Buxton and Lamas -
which both have close connections with Anna Sewell - the
author of Black Beauty.
One of Sir John Betjeman's favourite Norfolk Churches
was Bylaugh Church which lies literally yards from the
river. John Betjeman (1906-1984) also mentions the Bure in his
moving poem Norfolk recalling his childhood
holidays in the county:
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There after supper lit by lantern light
Warm in the cabin I could lie secure
And hear against the polished sides at night
The lap lapping of the weedy Bure,
A whispering and watery Norfolk sound
Telling of all the moonlit reeds around. |
The Bure is also the central location for
Arthur Ransome's childrens' adventure stories Coot Club
(1934) and The Big Six (1940). The staithe at
Horning provides the starting point for both of these
novels and both stories employ a plot connected with
casting boats adrift from their moorings. In Coot
Club Dick and Dorothea sail up and down the Bure
several times and visit Ranworth and South Walsham
Broads and pass St. Benet's Abbey on their way to
Potter Heigham. |
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St. Benet's Abbey
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In Coot Club Dick, Dorothea,
Tom and Mrs Barrable have to take the mast of the
Teasel down in order to get through Acle bridge.
Once they've negotiated the bridge they head for
Stokesby and Great Yarmouth.
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'Mile after mile the Teasel and the Titmouse
flew down those dreary lower reaches of the Bure.
Windmills slipped by one after another, and the rare
houses called by their distance out of Yarmouth,
"Six-Mile House," "Five-Mile House," and so on. And
still the ebb was pouring down, and the mud was widening
on either side of the channel. Were they going to reach
Yarmouth too soon?' |
Another author who found inspiration from the river was
C. P. Snow (1905-1980). His murder mystery Death
Under Sail (1932) is set on a wherry which sails
down the Bure from Wroxham. The skipper of the wherry is
shot dead at the wheel and the case is taken up by the
Norfolk investigator Aloysius Birrell.
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Links:
River Bure |
Supported
by Norfolk Tourism