Kessingland

infobox UK place
country = England
static_

static_image_caption =
latitude = 52.419
longitude = 1.723
official_name = Kessingland
population =
shire_district= Waveney
shire_county = Suffolk
region = East of England
constituency_westminster = Waveney
post_town = LOWESTOFT
postcode_district = NR33
postcode_area = NR
dial_code = 01502
os_grid_reference = TM533867

Kessingland is a large village in the Waveney District in Suffolk, about 7 km south of Lowestoft. It is of interest to archaeologists as palaeolithic and neolithic implements have been found here; the remains of an ancient forest lie buried on the seabed.

There has been a settlement here since Palaeolithic times. Between the Hundred River and Latmer Dam was once a large estuary which was used by the Vikings and Romans. The sea provided the village with its main livelihood, and at one time the village paid a rent of 22,000 herrings to their Lords, which then made it more important than nearby Lowestoft.

The village comprised two separate communities: the 'beach' and the 'street' and it was not until the 1960s that more housing united the village into a single community. The population is little over 4,000 - though this can double due to the holiday-makers in the many chalets and holiday villages in the area.

The Suffolk Coast and Heaths area was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1970, and the Suffolk Coasts and Heath Project runs many conservation projects.

The church - St Edmund's - is one of the finest in the region, with an imposing convert|300|ft|m|sing=on tower than can be used as a beacon by the ships at sea.

Famous residents

Sir H. Rider Haggard, novelist, was born in Bradenham, and later in his life spent his summers at Kessingland in a cliff-top house called The Grange (now demolished). He was visited here by his friend Rudyard Kipling. To counter the force of the North Sea and the winds off it, he sloped the cliff on the edge of his property and experimented with growing Marram Grass upon it. The experiment proved a success, and the slope increased in height rather than decreased. He spent the rest of the year at Ditchingham some convert|16|mi|km to the west. In 1928 Kessingland Grange was sold to a Mr Catchpole who established a holiday camp in the grounds, and subsequently demolished the Grange. The current Kessingland Cottages development was begun in 1979.

The horror writer Joseph Freeman (early works published as Joe Rattigan) has lived in Kessingland since 2000. His story 'The Cursed Tree' from his collection "Ghosts Far From Subtle" was based around his home here, and several more stories have made use of the nearby Suffolk coast (including the award-winning ghost story 'Seen But Not Heard', set just off the A12 road). Much of his landscape photography is taken in and around Kessingland.

External links

* [http://www.thelocalchannel.co.uk/kessingland Kessingland Parish Council]
* [http://www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Suffolk Coast and Heaths Project]
* [http://www.kessinglandlocal.co.uk Kessingland Local]
* [http://www.weatherforlowestoft.co.uk Realtime weather information for Kessingland]
* [http://www.josephfreeman.co.uk Website for writer and artist Joseph Freeman]