The Norfolk Burnhams are a group of adjacent villages on the north coast of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England. The villages are located near a large natural bay named Brancaster Bay and the

Scolt Head Island Scolt Head Island is an offshore barrier island between Brancaster and Wells-next-the-Sea in north Norfolk. It is in the parish of Burnham Norton and is accessed by a seasonal ferry from the village of Burnham Overy, Overy Staithe. The shingle be ...

National Nature Reserve. A medieval verse speaks of "

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

and the Seven Burnhams by the sea". The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 also mentions some of the Burnhams (see external links). At one time there were indeed seven Burnham villages, all within a radius of two miles. These were: *

Burnham Deepdale Burnham Deepdale is a village on the north coast of the England, English county of Norfolk. Burnham Deepdale is in the civil parish of Brancaster, along with Brancaster Staithe. The three villages form a more or less linear settlement, continuou ...

* Burnham Norton *

Burnham Overy Burnham Overy is a civil parish on the north coast of Norfolk, England. In modern times a distinction is often made between the two settlements of Burnham Overy Town, the original village adjacent to the medieval parish church and now reduced ...

* Burnham Sutton *

Burnham Thorpe Burnham Thorpe is a small village and civil parish on the River Burn and near the coast of Norfolk, England. It is famous for being the birthplace of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, victor at the Battle of Trafalgar and one of Britain's greatest he ...

* Burnham Ulph * Burnham Westgate Hence the

mnemonic A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and imag ...

for the seven Burnhams: ''Nelson Of Thorpe Died Well Under Sail''. It is thought that

Burnham Market Burnham Market is an English village and civil parish near the north coast of Norfolk. It is one of the Burnhams, a group of three adjacent villages that were merged: Burnham Sutton, Burnham Ulph and Burnham Westgate. In 2022, Burnham Market ...

is one of the original seven Burnhams, but this is incorrect. Burnham Market is a modern merging of three Burnhams: Burnham Sutton, Burnham Westgate and Burnham Ulph. Over the years those three central villages have merged to form the larger village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

, which forms the principal centre for the Burnhams and several other nearby villages. The most westerly of the villages, Burnham Deepdale, has more or less merged with the neighbouring village of Brancaster Staithe, and both are now part of the civil parish of

Brancaster Brancaster is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale. The three villages form a more or l ...

. Burnham Norton and

still exist as separate villages and civil parishes, much as they always have.

is still a single civil parish, but in modern times a distinction is often made between the two settlements of ''Burnham Overy Town'' (actually a small settlement adjacent to the parish church) and ''Burnham Overy Staithe'' (a rather larger settlement about a mile away and next to the creek-side harbour). The Burnhams are all located either on the River Burn, or adjacent to its mouth, and the name Burnham may derive from this.

Burnhamthorpe Road Burnhamthorpe Road is a major arterial road in the cities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario; beginning at Dundas Street (from which it initially angles away from before running parallel with), near Islington Avenue, running west and becomin ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

was named after Burnham Thorpe.Burnhamthorpe, Dixie, Summerville
/ref>

References

External links

lists Burnham, Burnham Deepdale, Burham Overy and Burnham Thorpe
Webcam at Burnham Overy StaitheBurnham Deepdale website
King's Lynn and West Norfolk Villages in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub