Literary Norfolk Header and Logo
 

Snettisham

Snettisham lies in the North West corner of Norfolk between Heacham and Ingoldsthorpe. For many centuries the 175ft spire of St. Mary's Church has been useful as a 'sea mark' for shipping in The Wash. The steeple was erected by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster the son of Edward III.

In The Shrimp and the Anemone L.P. Hartley fictionalised Snettisham as Frontisham. In the novel Eustace undergoes a religious experience in the church:
 

'Meanwhile the interstices, the spaces where he was not, began to fill with stained glass. Pictures of saints and angels, red, blue and yellow, pressed against and into him, bruising him, cutting him, spilling their colours over him. The pain was exquisite, but there was rapture in it too. Another twitch, a final wriggle and Eustace felt no more; he was immobilised, turned to stone. High and lifted up, he looked down from the church wall, perfect, pre-eminent, beyond criticism....to be admired and worshipped by hundreds of visitors.....Eustace of Frontisham, Saint Eustace.'

In 1991 a treasure trove of gold and silver ornaments from the 1st century BC was discovered in Snettisham. It proved to be the largest treasure ever found in the UK and now resides in the British Museum.

St.Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church

Snettisham is also the location of an RSPB Reserve. Thousands upon thousands of wading birds can be seen here during periods of high tide and in midwinter pink-footed geese are common flying inland.
 

Links:

St Mary's Church

RSPB Snettisham

Search the Site

 

 
 

 

 

Supported by Norfolk County Council logoSupported by Norfolk Tourism

 
 

About Us | Poems by Cameron Self | Advertise on Literary Norfolk

©Cameron Self 2007                                                                                                                 Hosted by UK Web.Solutions Direct