Before the arrival of seaside tourists, Great Yarmouth owed its prosperity to its connections with the sea.

Silver Darlings
The town of Yarmouth began as a herring fishing settlement in the 10th Century. The herring fishing industry developed rapidly after the Norman Conquest and soon became a favourite food for both rich and poor. A free Herring Fair was held every year, attracting merchants from all parts of Europe.

The size of the fishing fleets grew over the centuries and so did the catches. The average in the early years of the 20th Century was about 530 million fish! It is said that at times there were so many fishing boats in the harbour it was possible to cross from one side of the river to the other, across their decks.

Naval Glory
The East Anglia coast has always been vulnerable to attack in times of conflict. Great Yarmouth has played an important role in defending this part of the country since medieval times.

In the 14th Century, the town supplied ships to fight the Battle of Sluys, the first great English triumph at sea, and provided a large number of both ships and seamen for the Battle of Calais. Great Yarmouth was rewarded for this support by having its coat of arms halved with the Royal coat of arms. The town was an important naval base throughout the Napoleonic Wars, and Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson landed at Great Yarmouth on three occasions prior to his death in 1805.

Many military buildings have been built in Great Yarmouth over the years. One of the most striking is the Royal Naval Hospital, which was originally built for sailors wounded in the Napoleonic Wars. It then became a barracks, but was converted back to a hospital forty years later and was used to accommodate sailors who were mentally ill. Hence the navy slang to describe those sailors who are showing signs of mental wear and tear as “going to Yarmouth”.

Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson
Lord Nelson, who was born at Burnham Thorpe in north-west Norfolk in 1758, has become closely associated with Great Yarmouth. The town was a major naval base for Nelson and he often set sail from Great Yarmouth in search of glory (he didn’t).

When he landed at Great Yarmouth after the Battle of the Nile in 1798, he was given a hero’s welcome and carried to the Wrestler’s Inn on Church Plain. There he was presented with the Freedom of the Borough, and legend has it that when the town clerk was administering the oath he noticed that Nelson’s left hand was placed on the Bible and exclaimed “Your right hand, my Lord”. “That” replied Nelson curtly “is at Tenerife”. Another story goes that the landlady of the Wrestler’s Inn asked Nelson if she could rename he pub “The Nelson Arms” in his honour. Nelson replied “That would be ridiculous, seeing as I have but one”.

Following Nelson’s death at Trafalgar in 1805, an appeal was launched to raise funds for a worthy monument. In 1819, a column was erected in the South Denes area of the town in memory of this great admiral – 30 years before the column in Trafalgar Square. At 144 feet, it is only slightly shorter than its counterpart in London.

Visit the Norfolk Nelson museum to learn about the life and times of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. The museum, which is housed in a 17th Century building on the quayside that Nelson would have known, commemorates his illustrious career and Norfolk connections.


Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival
The town’s rich maritime heritage is celebrated every year with the Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival, a spectacular weekend featuring tall ships and other visiting vessels, live shanty music, lifeboat demonstrations, craft marquees, heritage quarter and much, much more. Click here for further information on this year’s Maritime Festival.



Historic Images courtesy of Great Yarmouth Museums