Facts about Sheringham
General Info
Sheringham is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom. The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District Council, is Mare Ditat Pinusque Decorat, Latin for “The sea enriches and the pine adorns”. Sheringham town centre is centred on a traditional high street with a wide range of privately owned shops. On Saturdays, throughout the year there is a popular market in the car park next to the railway station which attracts large crowds even out of the holiday season.
History
Historically, the parish of Sheringham comprised the two villages of Upper Sheringham, a farming community, and Lower Sheringham, which combined farming with fishing. The fishing industry was at its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the coming of the railways made it possible for fish to be transported more efficiently to market. Through the 1900s the focus of the fishing, as all along the north Norfolk coast, began to be on crabs, lobsters and whelks.
The local fishermen were major suppliers of crabs and lobsters to the London fish markets. Longlining for cod and the catching of herring began to become less important in the second half of the century, as did whelking. Today, from a peak of maybe 200 boats, Sheringham has eight boats operated single-handed. Most of Sheringham’s range of buildings and shops come from this period and the early 20th century. It has a particularly interesting range of buildings using flint, not normally in the traditional Norfolk style but in a variety of techniques.
