Holiday Accommodation and Attractions in Wiveton

   Pictorial Guide   Picture Gallery  Historic Pictures  Town / Village Sign
Tide times: Tables   Daylight times: Sunrise Sunset  

A visitors guide to the village of Wiveton located one and half miles inland from the North Norfolk Coast. The grooves on the church wall at Wiveton are said to have been made during the 16th and 17th centuries when Wiveton actually lay next to the sea and great ships lay at anchor in Wivetons harbour and would throw their ropes over into the churchyard for extra anchorage. At this time Wiveton the tidal estuary flowed inland all the way up to Glandford.  Wiveton was a flourishing port with its own shipbuilding industry, however, silting up of this channel has left todays Wiveton over a mile from the coast.  

Further evidence of Wivetons relationship with the sea lies Inside the church behind the Rector’s reading desk, whereon the stones skilfully scribed are carvings of ships dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, drawn perhaps by eager boys, after witnessing these heavily laden ships at anchor just outside the door of the church.

Today the narrow lanes of this small village wind and twist to no particular plan, coaxing the visitor round each bend just to see what will happen next. Houses and cottages of all shapes and sizes flank these lanes, in a happy haphazard mish mash of differing styles. On the village green in front of the 15th century church is a half-buried cannon, said to date from the Napoleonic wars also a reminder of times long gone, its history and origin long lost in the mists of time.

For long walks try Wiveton Downs with its fine coastal views or just down the road is the equally small village of Glandford with its interesting Shell Museum. Glandford was a model village built by the Jodrells, and has well designed cottages with Flemish gables.

Here you will find beautiful views in both direction from the churchyard up and down the Glaven valley. The church itself was lovingly repaired by Sir Alfred Jodrell in 1900 and has a carved hammerbeam roof. The little museum of shells and fossils were collected by the fisherman artist John Craske between 1881 and 1943 from all over the world.

At Wiveton you will find no shops, though the village does boast a village inn The Wiveton Bell, which sits as is tradition on the village green close to the church serving good food.  Provisions can be obtained from nearby Cley-next-the-sea - ten minutes walk away, or for a larger range of shops go inland to the Georgian town of Holt located just four miles distant.

Cley Reserve managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, has boardwalk and hides, which provide access for everyone.  Here you will find an environmentally friendly visitor centre with an observation area. Four hides (with excellent wheelchair access) provide bird watching within metres of the pools where the birds congregate. The centre has a cafe and sales area..