Cley next the Sea
Cley Windmill
Cley next the Sea Location withinNorfolk
Area	8.38 km2 (3.24 sq mi)
Population	401 (2021 census)
• Density	48/km2 (120/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TG045436
• London	129 mi (208 km)
Civil parish	Cley next the Sea[1]
District	North Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HOLT
Postcode district	NR25
Dialling code	01263
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	North Norfolk
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°57′09″N01°02′35″E / 52.95250°N 1.04306°E /52.95250; 1.04306

Cley next the Sea (/ˈkleɪ/,/ˈklaɪ/) is a village andcivil parish on theRiver Glaven in theEnglish county ofNorfolk.

Cley next the Sea is located 4.1 miles (6.6 km) north-west ofHolt and 25 miles (40 km) north-west ofNorfolk.

The village's name is ofAnglo-Saxon origin and derives from theOld English for 'clay'.^[2]

In theDomesday Book, Cley is recorded as a settlement of 38 households located in thehundred ofHolt. In 1086, the village formed parts of theEast Anglian estates ofKing William I.^[3]

A ruined building on the marshes is known asBlakeney Chapel; despite its name, it is in Cley parish, and probably never had a religious purpose. It is aGrade II listed building andscheduled monument which was likely an old iron smeltery.^[4]

Cley was once one of the busiest ports in England, where grain,malt, fish, spices, coal, cloth, barley and oats were exported or imported. The manyFlemish gables in the town are a reminder of trade with theLow Countries. But despite its name, Cley has not been "next the sea" since the 17th century, due toland reclamation.

Some of the buildings that once lined thequay remain, notably the 18th-centuryCley Windmill. The windmill, a five-storeytower mill, was owned by the family of singerJames Blunt for many decades^[5] and operated as abed and breakfast. The mill was sold in 2006, but continues to operate as a bed and breakfast on a non-profit making basis. It was used as a backdrop of the 1949 filmConspirator withElizabeth Taylor. Cley Mill has often been depicted by local artists and was the subject of a painting by the 20th-century English landscape artist,Rowland Hilder.^[6]

After a devastating fire in 1612 destroyed 117 buildings, much of Cley was rebuilt in the prevailing architectural styles of the time.^[7]

Cley Hall is dated to 1770 and is a red-brick country house. The hall has been Grade II listed since 1952.^[8]

After the silting up of the port, Cley had to find another industry; in the late 19th century, it became a holiday resort. The poetRupert Brooke was staying in Cley with classics professorFrancis Macdonald Cornford and his wife, the poetFrances Cornford, early in August 1914 when news came that Britain had entered what was to become theFirst World War. Brooke had dreamt about the war and woke to find it a reality. He did not speak to his hosts all day until Frances Cornford said, "But Rupert,you won't have to fight?" to which Brooke replied, "We shallall have to fight".^[9]

During theSecond World War, significant defences (includingmortar pits,slit trenches andbunkers) were built in Cley to defend against a possibleGerman invasion.^[7] There was also aprisoner-of-war camp in Cley during the conflict.^[10]

According to the2021 census, Cley next the Sea has a population of 401 people which shows a decrease from the 437 people recorded in the2011 census.^[11]

TheA149, betweenKing's Lynn andGreat Yarmouth, runs through the centre of the village, causing congestion in the summer months due to the tight, narrow streets.^{[citation needed]}

Cley next the Sea's parish church is dedicated toSaint Margaret of Antioch and is located on Cley Green. St Margaret's dates from the 14th century and has been Grade I listed since 1960.^[12]

St Margaret's was built at the expense of the mercantilede Vaux family and was built by the mason,William de Ramsey, though the construction was halted during theBlack Death. The church boasts several carved roundels, an elaborate Medievalfont as well as a damaged set of royal arms from the reign ofQueen Anne.^[13]

The marshes around Cley are internationally important for their populations of rare breeding and visiting birds. Cley Marshes bird reserve has been in the care of theNorfolk Wildlife Trust since 1926, making it the oldest county Wildlife Trust reserve in Britain.^[14] Among resident breeding birds areavocet,bearded tit,bittern,marsh harrier andspoonbill. Winter visitors includebrent goose,Eurasian wigeon,pintail and many species ofwading birds. Cley, like neighbouringSalthouse is ideally situated at the apex of the North Norfolk coast as a staging ground for passage migrants, vagrants and rarities of all kinds. A new eco-friendly visitor centre opened in 2007 containing a café, shop, viewing areas (including viewing from a camera on the reserve), exhibition area, interpretation and toilets. The view from the visitor centre across the marsh to the sea is breathtaking. Cley Marshes is the home of the Bird Information Service, publishers ofBirding World.The shingle bank holds large numbers ofyellow horned poppy.

Thesalt andfresh water marshes used to be very well protected. However the cost of replenishing the shingle spit grew too much for the village to sustain. Once the repairing stopped, it became easier for waves to get through; in 1953 a large storm, measured at 5.12 m (16.8 ft) above ordnance datum (seeNorth Sea flood of 1953) hit theNorth Norfolk coast and the shingle ridge was mostly destroyed. A further storm surge in 1978 measured 4.19 m (13.7 ft) above ordnance datum and the protection measures confined flooding to the marshes and A149 coast road. The North Norfolk Shoreline Management Plan introduced by theEnvironment Agency has proposed a number of strategies in the light of continual erosion and predictedrising sea levels caused byglobal warming: these includeAdvance the line,Hold the line,Managed retreat andDo nothing. Even after extensive public consultation there is widespread local concern that the marshes will be lost to the North Sea.

• William Jones was a merchant here in the 18th century. His daughter,Charlotte Jones, became a noted Royalminiature portrait painter.^[15]
• Singer and songwriterJames Blunt spent time, in his early years, at his grandfather's and later his father'swindmill in the village.^[5]
• Cley Old Hall was used as a location in the 1982 filmThe Ploughman's Lunch. During July 1997 the BBC filmed one of itsBBC Oneballoon idents, which ran from 1997 to 2002, in the village.

Cley next the Sea is part of theelectoral ward of Coastal for local elections and is part of thedistrict ofNorth Norfolk.

The village's national constituency isNorth Norfolk, which has been represented by theLiberal DemocratSteff Aquarone MP since 2024.

Cley next the Sea's war memorials are two stone tablets inside St.Margaret's Church. They list the following names for theFirst World War:^[16][17]

And, the following for theSecond World War:

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCley next the Sea.

• Cley next the Sea
• Villages in Norfolk
• Populated coastal places in Norfolk
• Civil parishes in Norfolk
• Beaches of Norfolk
• North Norfolk
• Coastal erosion in the United Kingdom

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