| Happisburgh | |
|---|---|
 Happisburgh village sign | |
  Happisburgh Location within Norfolk | |
| Area | 9.63 km2 (3.72 sq mi) |
| Population | 889 ONS and Norfolk CC 2011 census[1][2] |
| • Density | 92/km2 (240/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TG 39 31 |
| • London | 137 miles (220 km) |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NORWICH |
| Postcode district | NR12 |
| Dialling code | 01692 |
| Police | Norfolk |
| Fire | Norfolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Happisburgh (/ˈheɪzbʌrə, -bərə/ ) is a village civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is on the coast, to the east of a north–south road, the B1159 from Bacton on the coast to Stalham. It is a nucleated village. The nearest substantial town is North Walsham 6 miles (10 km) to the west.[3]
The place-name 'Happisburgh' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Hapesburc. The name means 'Hæp's fort or fortified place'.[4]
Happisburgh became a site of national archaeological importance in 2010 when almost 800,000 years old flint tools were unearthed.[5] This is the oldest evidence of human occupation anywhere in the UK.[6] In May 2013, a series of early human footprints were discovered on the beach at the site, providing direct evidence of early human activity at the site.[7]
Land in the area has been lost to the sea for thousands of years. The civil parish shrank by over 0.2 km2 (50 acres) in the 20th century by the erosion of its beaches and low cliffs. The rate of erosion is the same as it has been for the past 5,000 years.[8] In 1968, groynes were constructed along the shore to try to slow the erosion. In the 2001 census, before the separation of Walcott parish to the north-west, the parish (which also includes the settlements of Happisburgh Common and Whimpwell Green) had a population of 1,372 in 607 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish is in the district of North Norfolk.[9]
- ^ Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ Key Statistics: Population. Archived 11 February 2003 at the Wayback Machine (2011 census) Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Ordnance Survey (2002). OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East. ISBN 0-319-21888-0.
- ^ Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.217.
- ^ Parfitt, Simon A.; Ashton, Nick M.; Lewis, Simon G.; Abel, Richard L.; Coope, G. Russell; Field, Mike H.; Gale, Rowena; Hoare, Peter G.; Larkin, Nigel R.; Lewis, Mark D.; Karloukovski, Vassil; Maher, Barbara A.; Peglar, Sylvia M.; Preece, Richard C.; Whittaker, John E. (8 July 2010). "Early Pleistocene human occupation at the edge of the boreal zone in northwest Europe". Nature. 466 (7303): 229–233. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..229P. doi:10.1038/nature09117. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 20613840.
- ^ Miriam Frankel (7 July 2010). "Early Britons could cope with cold : Nature News". Nature. Nature.com. doi:10.1038/news.2010.338. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
bbc7feb14was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Coastal erosion at Happisburgh, Norfolk". British Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
the Norfolk cliffs have been eroding at the present rate for about the last 5000 years, when sea level rose to within a metre or two of its present position
- ^ Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Retrieved 2 December 2005.