Page 15 - April - 2018

Tel: 01485 540620 email: editor@townandaround.net Town & Around April 2018 15
happened in 1975, which is why the Department of the Environment
Once upon a winter time had to be asked for Listed Building Consent before the pier head could
be demolished in September 1978.
John Maiden It was an even bigger surprise to see Smithdon High School go one
better, some years later, when it was designated a Grade II* Listed
Building!
Winter certainly had a sting in its tail, but it was nothing compared
with the big freeze 55 years ago.

Looking at photographs taken between January and March 1963 it
struck me that this was the beginning of the end for Hunstanton's most
precious assets. It had nothing to do with the weather. It was simply a
case of those in authority failing to appreciate the town's original
character and appearance.
The inspired vision of Henry le Strange, which was made a reality
by his son Hamon, was abandoned in the 1960's, with the result that
many fine buildings and gardens were demolished to be replaced by
characterless utilitarian structures.
The future of all that is left a site, which prior to 1963 was the
Westgate Gardens, now hangs in the balance. It is most unlikely that
the bus station and library will make way for a return of the trees and
shrubs that once graced this part of town. There is more chance of the
land adjacent to Alexandra Road, originally intended for an extension
to the cemetery, being retained as a green space instead of being
developed for yet more housing.
Some of the most dramatic pictures of the big freeze featured the
pier, which in 1957 had already suffered the indignity of being
extended in width from 16 feet to 76 feet where it overflew the new
promenade. The curved asbestos roof covering this single-story
extension was not supposed to detract from the Victorian appearance
of the pier by being higher than the original entrance buildings.

Any attempt to comply with the 999-year lease for the pier was
abandoned at the beginning of 1963. It was as if the bitterly cold
weather had numbed the brains of the planning Inspectorate, because
it was at this time that the Victorian pier entrance buildings were
demolished and replaced with a two-storey structure, looking for all
the world like a scaled-down version of Hunstanton Secondary Modern
School; better known nowadays as Smithon High.
It used to surprise me that a Victorian Pier with such an incongruous
entrance could be considered for Grade II Listing, but this is what