Burnham-on-Sea
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Burnham-on-Sea is a town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett and Bridgwater Bay. It suffered a major flood in 1607, and remained a small village until the late eighteenth century. It forms part of the parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge. According to the 2001 census the total population for the whole built-up area was 21,476, up 9.6% from the 1991 figure of 19,558.
The town is notable for its collection of lighthouses, including the Round Tower lighthouse of 1829, the Pillar Lighthouse and the Lighthouse on legs. Burnham is now a popular seaside resort, and is home to the shortest pier in Britain.
A number of marble carvings designed by Sir Christopher Wren, for the private chapel in the Palace of Westminster can be now seen in the parish church of Saint Andrew. They were moved to Burnham in 1820 after having originally been taken to Westminster Abbey in 1706. These sculptures formed part of an altar commissioned by James II in 1685 and were sculpted by Grinling Gibbons and his assistant Arnold Quellin, a Belgian artist of Antwerp. What one sees at Burnham is only part of the whole design, the main panels are behind the altar with the remainder of the fragments displayed at various places in the main body of the church. They first occupied the whole of the east wall behind the altar.
Burnham is part of the West Country Carnival circuit.
See also
- Bristol Channel floods, 1607 (possible tsunami)
References
- The proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaelogical and Natural History Society - Vol. LXXXI (1935. pp. 127-132 by AW Vivian-Neal M.C., F.S.A. gives an account of the history behind this statuary.
External links
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