Burnham Overy Staithe

Burnham Overy Staithe (Photograph by Stephen Mole )

The village is particularly associated with the poet Kevin Crossley-Holland. He was born in Buckinghamshire but visited Burnham regularly as a child - staying with his grandparents.

Kevin Crossley-Holland

The marshes and muddy creeks of the North Norfolk coast provided inspiration for much of his poetry - especially Waterslain - a sequence of 25 poems evoking characters from the village such as beachcombers, wildfowlers and local historians. ( 'Waterslain' is an old Norfolk word meaning flooded.) These poems are set against the ever changing backdrop of the coastal marshes. Here are the opening lines of Beachcomer:
 

Crossley-Holland was one of the founders of the Wells Poetry Festival - an annual event held in the nearby town.

The novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton (1901-62) lived in the village during the 1930s while working on The Siege of Pleasure. He had a close association with the North Norfolk coast and also lived at Blakeney (for a time) and at a house called Martincross in Sheringham. Hamilton died of an alcohol-related illness in 1962 and his ashes were scattered at Blakeney Flats.

There are six Burnham villages in all: Burnham Market, Burnham Thorpe, Burnham Norton, Burnham Deepdale, Burnham Overy Town and Burnham Overy Staithe. Nelson was born at Burnham Thorpe in 1758 and it is likely that he learnt to sail in Burnham Creek. Today, houses in the area are highly sought after by 'wealthy folk' from London and hence why it's often known as 'Chelsea-on-Sea' or 'Burnham Upmarket'.
 

Links:

Kevin Crossley-Holland

Listen to his Poems

Wells Poetry Festival