Norfolk Coast AONB

Blakeney Point (designated as Blakeney National Nature Reserve) is a national nature reserve situated near to the villages of Blakeney, Morston and Cley next the Sea on the north coast of Norfolk, England. Its main feature is a 6.4 km (4 mi) spit of shingle and sand dunes, but the reserve also includes salt marshes, tidal mudflats and reclaimed farmland. It has been managed by the National Trust since 1912, and lies within the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Ramsar listings. The reserve is part of both an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and a World Biosphere Reserve. The Point has been studied for more than a century, following pioneering ecological studies by botanist Francis Wall Oliver and a bird ringing programme initiated by ornithologist Emma Turner. The area has a long history of human occupation; ruins of a medieval monastery and "Blakeney Chapel" (probably a domestic dwelling) are buried in the marshes. The towns sheltered by the shingle spit were once important harbours, but land reclamation schemes starting in the 17th century resulted in the silting up of the river channels. The reserve is important for breeding birds, especially terns, and its location makes it a major site for migrating birds in autumn. Up to 500 seals may gather at the end of the spit, and its sand and shingle hold a number of specialised invertebrates and plants, including the edible samphire, or "sea asparagus". The many visitors who come to birdwatch, sail or for other outdoor recreations are important to the local economy, but the land-based activities jeopardize nesting birds and fragile habitats, especially the dunes. Some access restrictions on humans and dogs help to reduce the adverse effects, and trips to see the seals are usually undertaken by boat. The spit is a dynamic structure, gradually moving towards the coast and extending to the west. Land is lost to the sea as the spit rolls forward. The River Glaven can become blocked by the advancing shingle and cause flooding of Cley village, Cley Marshes nature reserve, and the environmentally important reclaimed grazing pastures, so the river has to be realigned every few decades.

Morston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 8.68 km2 (3.35 sq mi) and had a population of 86 in 42 households at the 2001 census. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 Census and was included in the civil parish of Blakeney. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk. The place-name 'Morston' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Merstona. The name means 'marsh town or settlement'.Like its neighbour Blakeney, Morston, used to be a major port 400 years ago, but is now only used by a small number of fishing boats, leisure craft and the regular seal watching trips which leave for Blakeney Point. Morston Hall restaurant owned by Galton Blackiston is located in the parish.

The River Stiffkey is a chalk stream running through an area of north Norfolk, England from its source near Swanton Novers to flow out into the North Sea on the north Norfolk coast near the village of Stiffkey. The river has been dredged historically, presumably for agricultural purposes, and has a self-sustaining population of brown trout.

Morston Cliff is a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. It is part of Blakeney National Nature Reserve, which is managed by the National Trust, and of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This key Pleistocene site has the only interglacial deposit of a raised beach in East Anglia. It is believed to be Ipswichian, dating to around 125,000 years ago, and is overlain by glacial deposits of the late Devensian Hunstanton Till.The Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path go through the site.

The River Glaven in the eastern English county of Norfolk is 10.5 mi (16.9 km) long and flows through picturesque North Norfolk countryside to the North Sea. Rising from a tiny headwater in Bodham the river starts 2+1⁄2 miles before Selbrigg Pond where three small streams combine. The scenic value of the Glaven valley is important to the tourist industry in North Norfolk. The river is one of over 200 chalk rivers in the world and one of 160 in the UK.

The North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is an area of European importance for wildlife in Norfolk, England. It comprises 7,700 ha (19,027 acres) of the county's north coast from just west of Holme-next-the-Sea to Kelling, and is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA) listings; it is also part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The North Norfolk Coast is also designated as a wetland of international importance on the Ramsar list and most of it is a Biosphere Reserve. Habitats within the SSSI include reed beds, salt marshes, freshwater lagoons and sand or shingle beaches. The wetlands are important for wildlife, including some scarce breeding birds such as pied avocets, western marsh harriers, Eurasian bitterns and bearded reedlings. The location also attracts migrating birds including vagrant rarities. Ducks and geese winter along this coast in considerable numbers, and several nature reserves provide suitable conditions for water voles, natterjack toads and several scarce plants and invertebrates. The area is archaeologically significant, with artefacts dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. The mound of an Iron Age fort is visible at Holkham, and the site of a 23 ha (57 acres) Roman naval port with a fort built on the castrum pattern is just outside Brancaster. The site of the medieval "chapel" (probably a domestic dwelling) at Blakeney is no longer accessible. Remains of military use from both world wars include an armoured fighting vehicle gunnery range, a hospital and bombing ranges, as well as passive defences such as pillboxes, barbed wire and tank traps. The SSSI is economically important to the area because of the tourists it attracts for birdwatching and other outdoor activities, although sensitive wildlife sites are managed to avoid damage from the large numbers of visitors. Another threat is the encroachment of the sea on this soft coast. The Environment Agency considers that managed retreat is likely to be the long-term solution, and is working with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust to create new reserves inland to compensate for the loss of scarce habitats at the coast.

Stiffkey Valley is a 44.4-hectare (110-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This valley has a range of wetland habitats in the floodplain of the River Stiffkey. It has many species of breeding birds, including nationally important populations of avocets. Wintering wetland birds include bitterns, brent geese and garganeys, while marsh harriers and barn owls hunt throughout the year.There is no public access to the site.

Cockthorpe Common, Stiffkey is a 7.1-hectare (18-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This common in the valley of the River Stiffkey has a varied chalk grassland flora on steep slopes. Herbs are abundant, including salad burnet, dropwort, common rock-rose, large thyme and cowslip.A public footpath goes through the site.

Royal Air Force Langham or more simply RAF Langham is a former Royal Air Force station, located at Langham, 27.2 miles (43.8 km) northwest of Norwich in the English county of Norfolk. It operated between 1940 and 1961. The airfield was the most northerly of the wartime RAF airfields in Norfolk and its position, just 3.3 miles (5.3 km) from the North Sea at Blakeney, made it a suitable site for RAF Coastal Command aircraft.The airfield was built during the first few months of the Second World War as a dispersal and satellite station to RAF Bircham Newton. It became operational in the summer of 1940.

Langham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 14.7 miles (23.7 km) west of Cromer, 27.2 miles (43.8 km) northwest of Norwich and 126 miles (203 km) miles northeast of London. The village lies 5.2 miles (8.4 km) northwest of the town of Holt and around 2 miles (3.2 km) inland from the North Sea coast at Blakeney. The village is on the B1156 road between Blakeney and Sharrington. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham on the Bittern Line running to Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. About 60% of the parish lies within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Blakeney Guildhall is a building in the coastal village of Blakeney in the north of the county of Norfolk. The property is in the care of English Heritage but is managed by the local parish council. Blakeney is just off the A149 coast road and is nine miles west of Sheringham. The property can be found in an alley just off the quay. It is a scheduled monument.

Wiveton Downs is a 28.9-hectare (71-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Wiveton, west of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and an area of 6.5-hectare (16-acre) is a Local Nature Reserve. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.The site is a classic example of an esker, a glacial crevasse which has been filled in until it forms a narrow winding ridge. It is considered very important for teaching, research and demonstration.