SNIP-IT 2 -History Lost

"The Nornen"

When I moved to Somerset back in 1965,I moved to a little village called Berrow, twix Burnham on Sea and Brean.

Our house overlooked the golf course and that in turn overlooked the beach. It is an estuary really but it is known as the beach.

On this beach directly opposite my house was a ship wreck "The Nornen" but this can only be seen at low tide. The sands on this beach are notorious for sucking you under (quicksand) but if you know what to look for you are ok, and can stand inside the wreck. Once inside you get an awesome feeling of how vunerable those old sailors were, being tossed around on the open sea. After standing there for over 100 years at the mercy of the lashing waves, all that is left is the arms (ribs) reaching up as if crying for help.

There had been a terrific storm and this tiny ship with a crew of 10 and one dog after dropping off their in coming cargo, were anchored in Bridgwater Bay waiting for a cargo to return home with. The crew were tossed around until finally the anchor was ripped away and the crew had no hope of saving the ship.

The crew and dog were succesfully saved and given shelter in a tiny cottage (one up and one down) that was next door to me. My house was not there then. In this cottage they ate and dried out and the ships figurehead was given to the cottage owners in thanks for their kindness. This figurehead stood outside on the bank for years and the cottage became known as "Figurehead Cottage".

In the year 2000 a builder bought the land the cottage was on and dispite my pleas the cottage was demolished and two 5 bed houses now stand there. What happened to the figurehead, no-one seems to know.

To me this is history lost.