Editing Berney Arms

{{Short description|Settlement in Norfolk, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| coordinates =
| os_grid_reference = 
| official_name = Berney Arms
| population = 
| area_total_km2 =
| static_image_name = Berney Arms public house, 2007.jpg
| static_image_caption = The Berney Arms public house, which closed in late 2015
| shire_district = [[Broadland]]
| shire_county = [[Norfolk]]
| region = East of England
| civil_parish = [[Reedham, Norfolk|Reedham]]
| constituency_westminster = [[Broadland (UK Parliament constituency)|Broadland]]
| postcode_district = NR30
| postcode_area = NR
| post_town = GREAT YARMOUTH
| dial_code = 01493
| london_distance = 
}}

'''Berney Arms''' is a settlement on the north bank of the [[River Yare]], close to [[Breydon Water]] in the [[England|English]] county of [[Norfolk]]. It is part of the civil parish of [[Reedham, Norfolk|Reedham]], in the [[Non-metropolitan district|district]] of [[Broadland]], and lies within [[The Broads]]. It comprises [[Berney Arms railway station|a railway station]], [[Berney Arms Windmill|a windmill]], a farmhouse<ref name=roughguide>{{cite book |last1=Dunford |first1=M. |last2=Lee |first2=P. |date=2012 |title=The Rough Guide to Norfolk and Suffolk |publisher=Rough Guides UK |pages=107–109 |isbn=978-0241238592}}</ref> and a [[pub]] which closed in late 2015 (though permission for conversion to a dwelling was refused; campaigners are seeking to reopen it as a pub).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berneyarms.co.uk/ |title=Home page |publisher=Berney Arms Web |date= |accessdate=9 November 2018 |quote=The current situation with the pub is that it remains closed until further notice, but local efforts to purchase, restore to a working pub are slowly being looked at. The planning authority (The Broads Authority) have refused an application for it to be converted to a dwelling.}}</ref> In 2020, an adjacent property opened as a bistro.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Berney Arms Bistro|url=https://www.facebook.com/berneyarmsbistro/|access-date=8 December 2020|website=www.facebook.com|language=en}}</ref> The area is not accessible by public road.

==History==
[[File:Berney Arms Reach - geograph.org.uk - 808677.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Berney Arms windmill]]
[[File:Berney Arms Mill.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Berney Arms Mill]]
Berney Arms takes its name from the Berney Arms public house, which is by the [[Wharf|staithe]] on the north bank of the River Yare and which served walkers and boaters passing through the area.<ref name=bbc19apr13>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22226021 |title='Remote' Berney Arms pub set for new business |publisher=BBC Look East |date=13 April 2013 |access-date=19 February 2014}}</ref> It was closed in 2015 and the owner proposed to turn the pub into a private house, but planning permission was refused.<ref name="BA/2015/0176/FUL">{{cite web |url=https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/213534/BA20150176FUL-Berney-Arms-Inn-The-Marshes-Reedham-NR30-1SB-Reedham.pdf |title=Application for Determination |publisher=Broads Authority Planning Committee |date=11 September 2015 |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref> 

The public house was named after the landowner Thomas Trench Berney who owned the Reedham Cement Works centred on the [[Berney Arms Windmill]].  The mill was built in 1865 and is the tallest [[windmill]] in Norfolk at {{convert|21.5|m|ft}} tall. It was used to grind [[Clinker (cement)|cement clinker]] and was later converted into a drainage mill. It closed in 1948 and is now a [[Scheduled Monument]] in the care of [[English Heritage]].<ref name=pastscape>{{PastScape|mnumber=133775 |mname=Berney Arms Windmill|accessdate= 19 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="NHLE">{{NHLE |num=1003957 |desc=Berney Arms windmill |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref> At one point the mill supported a small settlement of 11 domestic dwellings and a chapel.<ref name=lca>{{cite web |url=http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/broads/live/planning/landscape-character-assessment/Area_19_-_Halvergate_Marshes.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223140508/http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/broads/live/planning/landscape-character-assessment/Area_19_-_Halvergate_Marshes.pdf |archive-date=23 February 2014 |title=Local character area 19 – Halvergate marshes (excluding Bure loop and the west of Tunstall dyke) |work=Broads Landscape Character Assessment |publisher=[[Broads Authority]]|date=2006 |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref> Berney sold the land on which the railway was built, on the condition that a stopping place was built to serve the settlement in perpetuity.<ref name=roughguide /><ref name=guardian>{{cite news |last=McKie |first=David |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/11/the-strangest-of-railway-stations |title=The rail to nowhere |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 July 2010 |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=slow>{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Laurence |date=2010 |title=Slow Norfolk and Suffolk |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |pages=130–131 |asin=B009XQA69C}}</ref>

==Geography==
Berney Arms is in an area of marshland, much of which is at or below sea level. It lies on the River Yare just to the west of [[Breydon Water]]. The area is part of [[Berney Marshes RSPB reserve]]<ref name=rspb>{{cite web |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/berneybreydon/about.aspx |title=About Berney Marshes and Breydon Water |publisher=RSPB |access-date=19 February 2014}}</ref> and within the [[Halvergate Marshes]] [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]]. These provide important habitats for a range of plant and invertebrate species as well as providing important wintering grounds for bird species such as [[Bewick's swan]].<ref name=sssicite>{{cite web |url={{sssi link|1000112}} |title=Halvergate Marshes |type=SSSI citation |date=25 February 2014 |publisher=Natural England |access-date=20 February 2014}}</ref> 

The area is also a [[Ramsar Site]] and part of the Broadland [[Special Protection Area]]. Ashtree Farm is used by the [[RSPB]] as a series of dwellings and as its base for the marshes.<ref name=lca />

==Transport==
Berney Arms can be reached only by train, by boat or on foot; it has no public road access, with only a private track running to it. 

[[Berney Arms railway station]] is a [[request stop]] on the [[Wherry Lines]] between {{rws|Norwich}} and {{rws|Great Yarmouth}}, via {{rws|Reedham|Norfolk}}. [[Greater Anglia]] operate a limited number of services each day, with more frequent trains on Sundays.<ref>{{Cite web |work=Greater Anglia |title=Timetables |date=10 December 2023 |access-date=11 May 2024 |url= https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/timetables |quote=}}</ref> In 2019, it was the least-used station in Britain.<ref name="Lawrence-Jones">{{Cite web|last=Lawrence-Jones|first=Charlie|date=2021-08-27|title=Eerie train station 2.5 hours from London that only 42 people used last year|url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/eerie-train-station-25-hours-21410959|access-date=2021-08-29|website=MyLondon}}</ref> 

The settlement is on both the [[Weavers' Way]] and [[Wherryman's Way]] footpaths.

==In popular culture==
Berney Arms was mentioned in [[Arthur Ransome]]'s children's book ''[[Coot Club]]'', which is in the [[Swallows and Amazons series|''Swallows and Amazon'' series]].

In 1960, [[BBC]] reporter [[Fyfe Robertson]] made a short black and white documentary covering Berney Arms station and interviewed two residents.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23640869.life-rural-norfolk-hamlet-berney-arms-1950s/ |title=Life in the rural Norfolk hamlet of Berney Arms in the 1950s |publisher=Eastern Daily Press |first=Derek |last=James |date=n.d. |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{oscoor gbx|TG467052}}
*[http://www.berneyarms.co.uk/ Berney Arms History Website]

{{coord|52.588535|N|1.641424|E|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TG467052)|display=title}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->

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[[Category:Pubs in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Villages in Norfolk]]