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A visitors guide to the seaside village of Snettisham
located on the West Coast of Norfolk. Surrounded by
fenland and bird sanctuaries, the village of Snettisham
is made up of two halves, with the common land coast and
beach cut off from the village by a bypass. The beach
side has a large community of holiday chalets and
caravans supported by seasonal shops. The village
has all the local shops and amenities such as general
stores, post office, butchers, inns and
restaurants. Regular bus services run to
Hunstanton and Kings Lynn.
There are miles of public footpaths including the
ancient Peddars Way, which runs nearby. There is also a
RSPB bird sanctuary close to the beach and at high tide
during the winter season you will see one of Norfolks
greatest bird spectacles, when up to forty thousand
pink-footed geese roost on the reserve. When they
take to the skies it is truly an amazing sight.
The village itself is a traditional Norfolk village with
a non commercial atmosphere. Many of the houses are
built from the local iron-rich carrstone. These golden
brown buildings are known as gingerbread houses by the
locals.
The village centre is dominated by a
lovely 17th century Elizabethan Hall, which used to be
the home of the Strickland family but is now a Sue Ryder
home. The wonderful soaring spire of St. Mary’s
church stands at 175 ft high and is visible form afar
and makes a wonderful back drop to the village
green especially when cricket is being played.
The church of St. Mary’s also has the
most exquisitely decorated tracery flowers on the west
window and it is certainly worth looking inside.
Check out our myth
and legend pages for the local ghost story
attached to this church.
For golfers there are courses at Old Hunstanton and Brancaster, both of which
are a short drive away.
The Royal Estate of Sandringham
is nearby as well as Norfolk Lavender and for the
children Snettisham Park as of course for everyone the
local beach.
For Holiday Accommodation in Snettisham - Self Catering
- Holiday Cottages etc - check out our Snettisham
Holiday Accommodation Pages.
 At
high tide you will see the sand
banks with their ancient and evocative names - Thief,
Pandora, Seal, Old Toft, Friskney Flat, Blackguard and
The Gat.
 In 1976 after a
devastating storm with very high seas, the foundations
of a house were found on Snetisham beach. It turned out
that these foundations belonged to a small bungalow
which had been owned by Queen Alexandra and which she
used on summer days, accompanied by servants and
sometimes friends. Imagine that happening today with our
current Queen.
Birds that can be found around here
include curlews, spotted flycatchers, kingfishers and
short-eared owls. There are also many different species
of butterfly and moth including gatekeeper, burnet and
large hawk.
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