River Stiffkey

Ford of the Stiffkey near Great Walsingham

The River Stiffkey is a chalk stream 18 miles long running through northern Norfolk, from a source near Swanton Novers to flow out into the North Sea through the mud and salt marshes of the county's north coast near the village of Stiffkey.

The river has been dredged historically and has a self-sustaining population of brown trout.

Course

The river's source is a small wooded lake just north of the village of Swanton Novers, after which the river passes close to Fulmodeston, then north to pass through the village of Great Snoring, which is noted in the Domesday Book as having a watermill. From Great Snoring it runs south past Thorpland Hall, then north-west through East Barsham, North Barsham and Houghton St Giles to the town of Little Walsingham.

The Priory in Little Walsingham was built with stone from Northamptonshire which had been towed up the River Stiffkey in flat-bottomed barges. The priory had a watermill on the river but this was demolished early in the 20th century.

From here it flows north past Great Walsingham, then through Wighton and Warham before passing through the village of Stiffkey and out to its estuary on Stiffkey Salt Marshes. The area from Great Walsingham to Stiffkey is prone to flooding and was the subject of a severe flood warning in October 2004.

History

The river is probably named after the village of Stiffkey, whose name means "Island with tree-stumps".

Pictures

• 
  The River Stiffkey at Warham
• 
  The river at Wighton
• 
  The river as it flows through the village of Stiffkey
• 
  Stiffkey Salt Marsh and the mouth of the river

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about River Stiffkey)