Wells-next-the-Sea

Wells-next-the-Sea is nestled between Holkham beach and the unique bird sanctuary of Blakeney Point. Wells has a quay with wonderful views, a charming town with leafy Georgian Square and on Staithe Street you'll find a mix of traditional and contemporary shops as well as eateries. 

Wells is a base for the Sheringham Shoal offshore windfarm, with an outer harbour and the port also retains a vibrant fishing fleet, as well as RNLI station – home to historic lifeboats – and angling charter vessels. Berthed at the quay is the historic vessel Albatross, used for charters, cruises and entertaining venue.

Keep an eye out for the Lifeboat Horse, a sculpture made from steel bars and whisky barrels. It was created by artist Rachael Long as a tribute to the horses that once pulled the town’s lifeboat more than two miles from the quay to Holkham Gap.

The harbour was once one of the great ports of eastern England in Tudor times; today it is still used by sailing and crabbing boats and is overlooked by an imposing granary dating from 1904. Sheltered by salt marshes, the harbour is now an ideal for sailing and other water-based leisure activities, including crabbing, with a thriving sailing club and a water ski club in the town (please note that jetski-type craft and hovercraft are not permitted). 

On the outskirts, is Wells & Walsingham Light Railway, a charming four-mile train ride to Walsingham on the world’s smallest public railway. It's a real journey back in time traveling past a hill-fort and a real ghost platform.

Not too far from the town is Wells-next-the-Sea beach, which forms part of the Holkham Estate. You can catch a lift to the beach from the football club car park in Wells town, all the way to the roundabout at the end of Beach Road. The bus service includes a fully electric bus and a 1951 Leyland Tiger and it runs daily throughout the summer until October.

Take a walk through the shady pinewoods to the sandy beach, and you'll be greeted with a row of colourful beach stilted huts and seals basking on the sand banks. The beach continues eastward but can be cut off by the tide which comes in very quickly (you can check tide times here). A siren can be heard when the tide is coming in.  

Set in north Norfolk’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Wells is part of the largest coastal nature reserve in England and Wales and is a magnet for bird watchers. Its marshes provide the perfect habitat for wading birds, bitterns, avocets, marsh harriers and winter geese.