Cromer - A Brief History

Expansive sandy beaches, salt marshes, beautiful countryside, charming small market towns and ancient fishing villages make North Norfolk a very popular holiday destination. Cromer - nestling in a natural fold in the landscape and dominated by the tower of the parish church - is regarded by many as the holiday centre for the area. This status can only be regarded as well deserved when the fascinating story of the development of this seaside town is known.

In the August sunshine of 1883 a man called Clement Scott made his way along the cliff top path from Cromer in Norfolk towards the adjacent village of Overstrand. He was seeking lodgings for the night having arrived in Cromer by train from London. Scott was the drama critic for the Daily Telegraph, in addition to which he occasionally wrote travel articles for the newspaper. As he walked he became aware of the tower of a church perched on the cliff edge. When he arrived at the site he found that the constant erosion of the cliffs by the North Sea had claimed the main structure of the church. All that remained was the tower and the ancient graveyard. Surrounding the gravestones were hundreds of crimson poppy flowers. Scott being of a romantic nature was enamoured with the place. He found lodgings nearby at the Mill House where the miller’s daughter Louie Jermy greeted him. This association was to last some fifteen years with Scott being a regular guest at the house.

On the 30th August 1883, an article by Scott appeared in the Telegraph. This brought to the attention of the readership the area of Norfolk that he had now christened, ‘Poppyland’. Because of his occupation Scott had many friends in the world of theatre and literature. The Mill House at Overstrand became the fashionable place to stay and Louie Jermy found that she was playing host to poets, actors and sundry intellectuals. The area became the place to be seen for the rich, and the not so rich, literati’.

This publicity and the ease of access from London provided by the arrival of the railway a few years earlier, led to ever increasing demands for accommodation to cater for the visitors. By 1887 Cromer boasted two railway stations. In 1897 an express, with only one stop, was running between Liverpool Street and Cromer. Hotels and guesthouses proliferated in Cromer and the area thronged with visitors during the busy summer months.

Local entrepreneurs were quick to realise the business potential created by the demand for high quality accommodation. A consortium of businessmen provided the funding for the first of Cromer’s great hotels. The Grand was opened on the west cliff in July 1891. It was a grand building indeed. Of red brick with fine decoration it was an imposing sight on the cliff top. The Grand set the standard for the other hotels that were to follow in rapid succession.

The Hotel De Paris, which is still trading today, was opened in 1894. Topped with a copper covered dome it stands directly above the esplanade and opposite the pier. The windows in the lower rooms have painted panels depicting local scenes, one of which is the tower of Sidestrand church. The most famous guest to grace the hotel was the Empress of Austria.

Perhaps the least pleasing of the hotels from an architectural point of view but certainly the most imposing was The Royal Links. Built on two levels the large structure dominated the surrounding landscape and could be seen on the skyline from miles around. It featured a long covered balcony allowed access to the upper rooms. This was built to provide accommodation for the keen golfers that were using the links course off the Overstrand road. Opened in 1887 the course became very popular. Its success led directly to the investment into the hotel. This imposing building was built on two levels with a long covered balcony allowing access to the upper rooms. Edward VII was a regular visitor when he was Prince of Wales and was patron of the golf club. Many other famous people of the day were guests at the hotel. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle is said to have been staying there when he formed the idea for the story of The Hound of the Baskervilles’. A week’s stay at the hotel in 1899 would have cost 105 shillings. (£5. 25) A good dinner would have

cost you 5 shillings. These prices, although amusing to us now, would have put the hotel well out of the reach of ordinary working people and ensured its exclusivity.

A pavilion was built in the grounds of the hotel for entertainment of various kinds. Sir Henry Irving the great Shakespearian actor and Sir John Hare the fine character actor performed there. The pavilion outlived the hotel, which was tragically destroyed by fire in 1949. In 1978 the pavilion was to suffer a similar fate when it too burnt down.