CROMER, a parish (formerly a market-town) in
the northern division of the hundred of ERPINGHAM,
county of NORFOLK, 21 miles (N.) from Norwich, and
130 (N.N.B.) from London, containing 1023 inhabitants.
This place, originally of much greater extent, included
the town of Shipden, which, with its church and a
considerable number of houses forming another parish,
was destroyed by an inundation of the sea. It is situated
on a high cliff, on the north-eastern coast of the North
sea, commanding a fine view of Cromer bay, which,
from its dangerous navigation, is by seamen called the
" Devil's Throat.'' The town was formerly inhabited only
by a few fishermen, but, from the excellence of its beach,
the salubrity of its air, and the.beauty of its scenery,it has
become a bathing-place of some celebrity: there are
still some remains of the walls with which it was anciently
surrounded; and a fort and two half-moon batteries
were, during the last war, erected upon a commanding
eminence for its defence: the houses are in
general badly built and of mean appearance, but those
near the sea are commodious and pleasantly situated,
and there are several respectable inns for the accommodation
of visitors; the inhabitants are amply supplied
with water from springs. There are a circulating
library and a subscription news-room; and a regatta
is annually celebrated. The coast between this place
and Yarmouth being extremely dangerous, it has been
found necessary to erect within that short distance not
less than four lighthouses, of which that at Cromer,
three quarters of a mile to the east of the town, is built
of brick coated with Roman cement; it is three stories
high, and has a revolving lantern, twenty-four feet in
circumference, lighted by twenty-one patent lamps with
highly polished metallic reflectors, presenting every
other minute a brilliant light, which may be distinctly
seen from all points: a life-boat, constructed on Greathead's
principle, and Captain Manby's apparatus for
preserving the lives of shipwrecked mariners, are in constant
readiness, and have often been used with success.
Several vessels discharge their cargoes of coal and timber
on the beach: lobsters and crabs of superior fla-
Y,our are. taken in great numbers, and sent to the different
markets. Many attempts have been made to con-'
struct a pier, but the works have invariably been
washed away by the sea. The market/ formerly held
on Saturday, has been discontinued; but a fair, chiefly
for toys, is held on Whit-Monday. The county magistrate's
hold a meeting here every fortnight.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Norfolk, and diocese of Norwich, rated in the king's
books at £9. 4., endowed with £400 royal bounty, and
£ 800 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the
Bishop of Ely. The church, dedicated to St. Peter and
St. Paul, was built in the reign of Henry IV. j it is a
handsome "structure of freestone and flint, in the later
style of English architecture, with a lofty square embattled
tower crowned with pinnacles: the western entrance,
the north porch, and the chancel, though much
dilapidated, are fine specimens of the later style.
There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.
A National school for an unlimited number of children
of both sexes is supported by subscription.