Editing Cley next the Sea (section)

==History==
The village's name is of [[Anglo-Saxon]] origin and derives from the [[Old English]] for 'clay'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Cley%20next%20to%20the%20Sea |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref>

In the [[Domesday Book]], Cley is recorded as a settlement of 38 households located in the [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of [[Holt, Norfolk|Holt]]. In 1086, the village formed parts of the [[East Anglia]]n estates of [[William the Conqueror|King William I]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cley [next the Sea] {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TG0443/cley-next-the-sea/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=opendomesday.org}}</ref>

A ruined building on the marshes is known as [[Blakeney Chapel]]; despite its name, it is in Cley parish, and probably never had a religious purpose. It is a [[listed building|Grade II listed building]] and [[scheduled monument]] which was likely an old iron smeltery.<ref>{{NHLE |desc=REMAINS OF BLAKENEY CHAPEL AT TG 043 452, Cley Next the Sea |num=1172376 |access-date=2024-12-12 }}</ref>

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 many [[Flemish gable]]s in the town are a reminder of trade with the [[Low Countries]]. But despite its name, Cley has not been "next the sea" since the 17th century, due to [[land reclamation]].

Some of the buildings that once lined the [[quay]] remain, notably the 18th-century [[Cley Windmill]]. The windmill, a five-storey [[tower mill]], was owned by the family of singer [[James Blunt]] for many decades<ref name="blunt">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2005/05/18/music_feature_james_blunt_interview_200505_feature.shtml |title=Norfolk – Entertainment – James Blunt interview |publisher=BBC |date=18 May 2005 |access-date=26 March 2013}}</ref> and operated as a [[bed 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 film ''[[Conspirator (1949 film)|Conspirator]]'' with [[Elizabeth 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]].<ref>{{NHLE |desc=CLEY MILL, Cley Next the Sea |num=1049823 |access-date=2024-12-12 }}</ref>

After a devastating fire in 1612 destroyed 117 buildings, much of Cley was rebuilt in the prevailing architectural styles of the time.<ref name="heritage.norfolk.gov.uk">{{Cite web |title=Parish-Summary-Cley-next-the-Sea-(Parish-Summary) - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?TNF267-Parish-Summary-Cley-next-the-Sea-(Parish-Summary) |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}</ref>

Cley Hall is dated to 1770 and is a red-brick country house. The hall has been Grade II listed since 1952.<ref>{{NHLE |desc=CLEY HALL, Cley Next the Sea |num=1373453 |access-date=2024-12-12 }}</ref>

After the silting up of the port, Cley had to find another industry; in the late 19th century, it became a holiday resort. The poet [[Rupert Brooke]] was staying in Cley with classics professor [[Francis Macdonald Cornford]] and his wife, the poet [[Frances Cornford]], early in August 1914 when news came that Britain had entered what was to become the [[First 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 shall '''all''' have to fight".<ref>Hollis, Matthew: [[Now All Roads Lead to France]] – The Last Years of Edward Thomas, Faber & Faber, London, 2011</ref>

During the [[Second World War]], significant defences (including [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] pits, [[Defensive fighting position|slit trenches]] and [[bunker]]s) were built in Cley to defend against a possible [[Nazi Germany|German]] invasion.<ref name="heritage.norfolk.gov.uk"/> There was also a [[prisoner-of-war camp]] in Cley during the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MNF46290 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF46290 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}</ref>