HUNSTANTON is a parish and village, with a terminal station at New Hunstanton, on a branch from Lynn of the London and North eastern railway; it is about 1 mile from the old village, 114 miles from London, 17 north-by-east from Lynn and 10 west from burnham Market. By the Norfolk (New Hunstanton Urban District) Confirmation Order, 1928, part of this parish and part of of the parish of Heacham were transferred to form part of the Urban District and parish of New Hunstanton. The sands extend for 3 miles, and the bathing is safe and agreeable. The original church was built by Sir Hamon le Strange and completed by his son and successor in 1352, and there are distinct traces of an earlier Norman, if not Saxon, church on the present site. The existing church of St. Mary the Virgin is a noble structure of flint and freestone in the Decorated style, and consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled tower at the west end of the north aisle containing one bell: there is an ancient Norman font, round which a pavement of rich mosaic was laid by the late Henry le Strange; the stained east window, a memorial to to the late Henry le Strange (d. 1862), was erected in 1867 by his wife and childre; there is a stained window in the south aisle, and the south clerestory windows are also filled with stained glass; in 1924, a stained glass window was erected by the Freemasons of Norfolk in memory of Hamon le Strange esq. D.L., J.P. (d. 1918), P.G.D. of England and for 20 years Provincial Grand Master of the county; the east end of the north aisle contains a very fine altar tomb with brass to Sir Roger le Strange, esquire of the body to Henry VII. ob. 1506, containing his effigy in armour, habited with an heraldic tabard, the hands being uplifted with the palms outward; above his head is a helmet, with lambrequin and crest, and over all rises an elaborate triple canopy, supported by pinnacles, enriched with eight niches, containing effigies of his ancestors, all in heraldic tabards; this tomb was removed in 1929 from the centre of the chancel to its present site; there is another tombstone with an inscription to Henry le Strange, ob. 1485, and Katherine (Drury), his wife; there are also memorials to Sir Hamon le Stange bart. ob. 1654, and Dame Alice (Stubbs), his wife, ob.1656; to Sir Thomas L'Estrange bart. d. Nov. 1751. and Dame Ann (Calthorpe), his wife, d, 1742; Sir Henry L'Estrange bart. his son, d. 21 Sept. 1760, without issue, when the title became extinct; Charles L'Estrange d. 25 Aug. 1692; Ann L'Estrange, d. 1647, and Ann L'Estrange, d. 1663: there is also a brass to Edmund Grene and Agnes, his wife, c. 1490, and one of a man in armour, 1485: there are brasses in the chancel to Alice le Strange, wife of Laurence Oliphant, who died 2 Jan. 1886, and to Henry le Strange Styleman le Strange, d. 27 July 1862, and Jamesina, his wife, d. 6 July 1892: in 1894 the 15th century screen, which conyains 12 painted panels of the Apostles, was restored and replaced at the entrance of the chancel: on the north side is an Easter sepulchre, partly recessed and richly canopied: in 1921 a brass tablet in memory of the men of the parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-1918, was placed in the west end of the church: in 1928 oak choir stalls were presented by J.W. Hope esq. C.B.E. and George Bristow esq. jointly: in 1929 a lady chapel and stained window were erected in the south aisle by H.C. Barber esq. J.P., M.A. in memory of his wife: there are 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1538, but no entry occurs during the reign of Queen Mary: there is also a terrier of the time of Philip and Mary containing an inventory of church furniture. The living is a vicarage, with the rectory of Ringstead Parva annexed, joint net yearly value £320, including 6 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of Charles Alfred le Strange esq. F.Z.S. and held since 1930 by the Rev. Douglas Smith B.A. of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Gibson's charity, consisting of an income of about £22, is appropriated equally between the poor and the church.
Hunstanton cliff. which rises to a height of about 60 feet above the beach, is commonly called "St. Edmund's Point," from a tradition that St. Edmund the Martyr landed here when he came from Germany to be crowned King of East Anglia: this cliff exhibits one of the most attractive geological sections on the coast; at the base is carr stone of dark brown tint and yellow above; on this rests a band of bright red chalk, above which, forming the top of the cliff, is white chalk. Near the highest point of the cliff are the remains of the lighthouse, and in a field adjoining are the ruins of St. Edmund's chapel. The sea washes against the cliff with great force. but at low water persons may walk along the sands for a distance of nearly a mile to a place called the "Oyster Sea," where skate, haddocks, codfish, codlings, soles, turbot, plaice, oysters, lobsters, crabs and shrimps, mussels and periwinkles are taken. The coast on each side of the cliff is scoured against incursions of the sea by sand heaps, called "meals."
