Editing Cromer (section)

==History==

[[File:From E. Cliff, I, Cromer, England-LCCN2002696630.jpg|thumb|245px|A late 19th-century postcard of the view from the East Cliff]]
[[File:Cromer View from East Cliff.jpg|thumb|245px|East Cliff, Cromer (2021)]]
The town has given its name to the ''[[Cromerian Stage]]'' or ''Cromerian Complex'', also called the ''Cromerian'', a stage in the [[Pleistocene]] glacial history of north-western Europe.

Cromer is not mentioned in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' of 1086. The place-name 'Cromer' is first found in a will of 1262<ref name=Cromerhistory /> and could mean 'Crows' [[Mere (lake)|mere]] or lake'.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Eilert|last=Ekwall|author-link=Eilert Ekwall|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names|journal=The Geographical Journal |date=1937 |volume=90 |issue=3 |page=131|doi=10.2307/1787617 |jstor=1787617 |bibcode=1937GeogJ..90..266W }}</ref> There are other contenders for the derivation, a north-country word 'cromer' meaning 'a gap in the cliffs' or less likely a direct transfer from a Danish placename.

It is reasonable to assume that the present site of Cromer, around the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul, is what was in 1337 called Shipden-juxta-Felbrigg, and by the end of the 14th century known as Cromer.<ref name=Cromerhistory>{{cite web |title= Cromer medieval history |access-date=14 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091024064202/http://geocities.com/cromerhistory/medieval.html |archive-date=24 October 2009 |url=http://www.geocities.com/cromerhistory/medieval.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> A reference to a place called Crowemere Shipden can be seen in a legal record, dated 1422, (1 Henry VI), the home of John Gees.<ref name="uh">{{cite web|url=http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no647/aCP40no647fronts/IMG_0135.htm|publisher=aalt.law.uh.edu|title=Plea Roll of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; 4th complete entry, containing "Norff" in the margin. |access-date=29 December 2016}}</ref> The other Shipden is now about a quarter of a mile to the north east of the end of Cromer Pier, under the sea. Its site is marked by Church Rock, now no longer visible, even at a low spring tide. In 1888 a small pleasure steamer called ''Victoria'' struck the remains of the church tower, and the rock was subsequently blown up for safety. In the present day, members of [[Great Yarmouth]] sub-aqua club dived at the site, and salvaged artefacts from both the medieval church and the wreck of ''Victoria.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/20830639.weird-norfolk-lost-village-shipden/|title=Weird Norfolk: The lost village of Shipden|date=18 August 2017|website=Eastern Daily Press}}</ref>

Cromer became a resort in the early 19th century, with some of the rich Norwich banking families making it their summer home. Visitors included the future King [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]], who played golf here. The resort's facilities included the late-[[Victorian era|Victorian]] Cromer Pier, which is home to the Pavilion Theatre. In 1883 the London journalist [[Clement Scott]] went to Cromer and began to write about the area. He named the stretch of coastline, particularly the [[Overstrand]] and [[Sidestrand]] area, "Poppyland",<ref>''Poppyland - Strands of Norfolk History'', Stibbons and Cleveland, Pub: Poppyland Publishing, Fourth ed. 2001, {{ISBN|0-946148-56-2}}</ref> and the combination of the railway and his writing in the national press brought many visitors. The name "Poppyland" referred to the numerous poppies which grew (and still grow) at the roadside and in meadows.

Cromer suffered several bombing raids during the [[Second World War]]. Shortly after one raid, Cromer featured as the location for an episode of ''An American In England'', written by [[Norman Corwin]] with the narrator staying in the ''Red Lion Hotel''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolkc/cromer/cromrlh.htm|title=The Red Lion Hotel|access-date=3 April 2010}}</ref> and retelling several local accounts of life in the town at wartime. The radio play first aired in the United States on 1 December 1942 on the CBS/Columbia Workshop programme starring Joe Julian. The account mentions some of the effects of the war on local people and businesses and the fact that the town adopted a {{sclass|Bangor|minesweeper}}, {{HMS|Cromer|J128|6}}.<ref name="tennesseebillsotr">{{cite web|url=http://tennesseebillsotr.com/otr/American%20In%20England/An%20American%20in%20England%20421201%2007%2029m43s%20Cromer.mp3|publisher=tennesseebillsotr.com|title= An American In England: Cromer |access-date=29 December 2016}}</ref>

On 5 December 2013 the town was affected by a [[North Sea flood of 2013|storm surge]] which caused significant damage to the town's pier and seafront.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/photo_gallery_update_look_at_the_gaping_holes_in_cromer_pier_theatre_bar_and_decking_festive_show_in_doubt_1_3084730|title=Look at the gaping holes in Cromer pier theatre bar and decking. Festive show in doubt.|access-date=9 December 2013|publisher=Eastern Daily Press}}</ref>

In 2016, the [[Cromer shoal chalk beds]], thought to be Europe's largest chalk [[reef]], were officially designated as a [[Marine Conservation Zone]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/cromer_s_chalk_reef_thought_to_be_europe_s_largest_is_now_a_protected_area_1_4382112|access-date=19 January 2016|date=17 January 2016|title=Cromer's chalk reef, thought to be Europe's largest, is now a protected area|publisher=Eastern Daily Press}}</ref>