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Sidestrand
Sidestrand lies on the North Norfolk coast between
Overstrand and Mundesley.
When Clement Scott first visited the area he was unable
to find accommodation in Cromer and subsequently walked out
to Sidestrand where he discovered lodgings at the Mill House
- then owned by Mr Jermy the miller.
The Mill House at Sidestrand
Later in the same year the poet A.C. Swinburne - together
with his companion Theodore Watts-Dunton - came to stay at
the house and he produced a number of poems about the
location. Swinburne, who was suffering from alcoholism, used
to bathe in the sea off Sidestrand. Here is Swinburne's description of the garden of Mill
House in his typically mellifluous style:
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The Mill Garden
Stately stand the sunflowers, glowing down the
garden-side,
Ranged in royal rank arow along the warm
grey wall,
Whence their deep disks burn at rich midnoon
afire with pride,
Even as though their beams indeed were
sunbeams, and the tall
Sceptral stems bore stars whose reign
endures, not flowers that fall.
Lowlier laughs and basks the kindlier flower
of homelier fame,
Held by love the sweeter that it blooms in
Shakespeare’s name,
Fragrant yet
as though his hand had touched and made it
thrill,
Like the whole world’s heart, with warm new
life and gladdening flame.
Fair befall the fair green close that lies
below the mill!
See complete poem
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A.C.Swinburne |
Clement Scott |
Sidestrand was also the location of
Craske's Tower which stood perched on
the cliff edge for many years before
finally toppling into the North Sea in
1916. It inspired a poem by R. H.
Mottram entitled The Deserted Church
Tower on Sidestrand Cliff. The poem
is written from the church's point of
view. Here is part of the second verse:
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My bell is gone, my porch is down;
Through my void windows now is blown
By every wind the day may send
The breath no preacher now will spend.
The young and old are here in rows,
Where, flowery tall, the sweet hay
grows;
They neither fidget now nor snore,
The young men eye young maids no more; |
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Links:
Sidestrand Smockmill |
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Supported
by Norfolk Tourism