A Brief History of Morston © J.J.R.Wingfield, 2003 36 acres of tidal water and 418 acres of foreshore People & Livelihoods

Morston was an agricultural community (even farming on the marsh: see  the 1586 picture on this board) until this century, made up of families who arrived here and often within 1-3 generations moved on, the exceptions being the families of Powditch, Buck/Turner, Butter/Wrench, Starman, Wood and Temple.   Morston's Hearth Tax of 1664 showed 40 hearths or families (say 100 souls perhaps), the largest household, that of the parson, William Armistead, gent - being six souls.  By 1851 and 1891 there were only 22 houses with a population of 100-110 in the village, the 1664 figure not being reached again until around 1908 -  when the population was 108.  The population now is about 100.

In assessing Morston's economic role it is useful to look at its history in the context of that of Blakeney, Cley, Stiffkey and Wiveton.  In the early to mid-1800's the populations of Blakeney and Cley was each around 1000, and Stiffkey and Wiveton each had 200.  Winter 1830-31 saw farm  labourers' wages at an all time low - literally at starvation level, especially in east central Norfolk - and there were food riots, storming of corn mills and breaking of farm machinery, and poor house riots took place to the east and south of Morston. The economy of Morston at that time appears to have been modest and not typical of a small coastal village community, since most of the inhabitants were employed on three tenant- farms (the biggest being that of George Wood - grandfather of the famous sprinter -  in 1851 being of 1,500 acres and employing 25 agricultural labourers).  And there were 6-8 Coastguards stationed in the village at any time (it was long the biggest  Coastguard Station on the north Norfolk coast, reporting initially to Cley and later to Cromer District).   By 1851 Lieutenant Thomas's Coastguards were the second biggest employer in Morston (but not of locals). The coastguards here then numbered 7, plus their 26 dependants.  There were then too Edward Woodenham and James Roman, the publicans running the Townshend Arms and the Anchor Inn and Mr. Osborne running a general stores opposite, and a schoolmistress - with her school - and three fishermen and two paupers.  (The Beerhouse Act of 1830 had been passed to encourage beer-drinking in order to reduce gin consumption - and naturally resulted in a general increase in pubs).

By 1861 Morston had added a baker, a carrier, 3 dressmakers, a shipwright, a shepherd, a straw-bonnet maker, a surveyor and a vermin destroyer.  By 1891 George Thomas, Jr. was a gamekeeper and Master Mariner Robert Temple and his wife Sarah were running the Townshend Arms with a coachman available and a blacksmith's shop (run by Robert's brother Henry with two staff); and the village also had a brickyard with 3 bricklayers, a carpenter, a fisherman, a mariner, a seaman, and Harriot the shepherd; and, apparently, for a short while, a smock mill south of the church. By 1908 Morston's baker, William Russell, had added on a grocery business, there was a village cobbler and Henry Temple - as well as the smithy - was running the Anchor Inn, but our school had gone and children now went to school in Langham.  The village post office, opposite the two pubs, had two collections a day. (It sadly closed in 2000).  Morston's acreage in that year was shown as 1,694 acres "exclusive of a tract of low marshes", with the vicar's "glebe" (land) being 56 acres.    Although by the 1930's populations in North Norfolk had generally started to decline, Morston remained static.  From the beginning of the twentieth century the gradual contraction of the marine coastal economy could be seen clearly.  Today the age profile in these villages is higher than the average, since they are popular locations for retirement homes.

From 1898 to 1935 a Lifeboat Service operated from the Point, the old Lifeboat House now being a National Trust Information Centre.  After 1945 Morston's tourist industry involved ferryboats to and from the Point (where 260 species of bird - especially migrants - have been recorded) and the ferrying of individual anglers to the Pit or offshore.

1950 saw the expansion of Morston's commercial fishing industry  - from the use of fishing boats for the harvesting of crabs, cockles, dabs, eels, flounders, mussels, oysters, and the occasional sea trout, in the creek and Pit, to the dogfish, ling, lobster, mackerel, roker (thornback skate), tope, whitebait, etc found within 30 miles of the shore.

In 1950 the National Trust started to take over administration of sites of  national importance, and by 1965 had started its great conservation project of areas containing plants, animals, birds and coastal remains.  Many of these areas can now never be sold.  Blakeney Point became the  NT's first National Nature Reserve (of 31).  By the time it started this project, "The Neptune Coastline Campaign", the NT was protecting 600 miles of coastline, of which 42 miles of north Norfolk - including Morston Cliff [?Downs] - were and are SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest). This conservation drive gave a boost to Morston's Tourist Trade  -  birdwatchers in particular flocking to see the birds (see pages 23-24), likewise for hikers - just to walk on the magnificent wildlife breeding and feeding haven called Morston Marsh.

In 1952 Major Andrew Athill started a Sailing School here. In 1969 Charles Ward began sailing-boat hire and boatbuilding       (including Norfolk Urchins and John Leather's Norfolk Oysters). In 1970 the Conservation of Seals Act declared the common seal a protected species in its June to August pupping season (except when endangering fishing gear - in which case they could be shot - if the fisherman possessed a licence). In 1980 John Bean and Jim Temple started ferryboat trips for visitors to see and photograph the seals resting on sandbanks  near the Point. In 1987 Morston Hall (part 17th century, army-occupied in World War II) opened as a 6-bedroom hotel; and in 1992 it was re-opened by Galton & Tracy Blackiston and Justin Fraser. It is well-known for its high quality food, the prizes it has won and its excellent cooking courses. In 1988 when the seals (both common alias harbour seals and grey alias Atlantic seals) were attacked by phocine distemper, an Act was passed declaring all types of seal protected species (the grey seals' pupping season being October to December).

Today the only viable access to Blakeney Harbour and to the sea for any large craft is from Morston.  Whilst fishing remains part of the economy, it is principally from pleasure craft that the economy derives its main stimulus, particularly so, given the free harbour status that currently exists at Morston-cum-Blakeney.  From this it can be seen that Morston, uniquely, has expanded its tourist- based commercial character throughout the twentieth century in a way that its neighbours have not. Given the likely increasing pressure on the village as a result of its role as the focal point for access to the sea and seals, it seems likely that there will be further pressures from support industries of fishing and pleasure-boats for affordable housing for the people who work in those industries - although though it is accepted that such accommodation does not have to be in the village.  It is practical for the village to continue its economic involvement in marine activities adjusted for today's focus on tourism, but it should restrict the scale to that in which it has been involved in the 1990s.