Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort.
Burnham-on-Sea forms part of the parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge and shares a town council with the neighbouring small market town of Highbridge, with which it has become a contiguous built-up area. At the 2021 census, the population of Burnham-on-Sea (which the Office for National Statistics defines as that part of the built-up area west of Pepperall Road and Newtown Lake) was 16,320.
Burnham-on-Sea is famous for its low lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1832 and is a grade II listed building with a red and white striped facade.
The position of the town on the edge of the Somerset Levels and moors where they meet the Bristol Channel, has resulted in a history dominated by land reclamation and sea defences since Roman times. Burnham was seriously affected by the Bristol Channel floods of 1607, with the present curved concrete wall being completed in 1988. There have been many shipwrecks on the Gore Sands, which lie just offshore and can be exposed at low tides. Lighthouses are hence prominent landmarks in the town, with the original lighthouse known as the Round Tower built to replace the light on the top of the 14th-century tower of St Andrew's Church. The pillar or High Lighthouse and the low wooden pile lighthouse or lighthouse on legs on the beach were built to replace it. The town's first lifeboat was provided in 1836 by the Corporation of Bridgwater.
History The name Burnham is derived from Burnhamm, as it was called in the will of King Alfred, made up from the Old English words meaning stream and for enclosure. On-Sea was added later as there are several other towns of the same name in England.
The history of Burnham-on-Sea is the history of the reclamation of the Somerset Levels from the River Severn and the Bristol Channel. The Romans were the first peoples to try to reclaim the Somerset levels, and it was their people who were probably the first settlers in the high sand dunes behind the River Parrett. This could have been in part to maintain navigational systems, to aid ships entering the River Parrett and what is now Highbridge. When the Romans left, the system of drainage they installed was not maintained, and the areas reverted to become a tidal salt flat during the Anglo Saxon period.
It is likely that at the time of the Norman Domesday book, settlements existed at Burnham and Huntspill, their common boundary running along what is now the Westhill Rhyne. The church at Burnham and its lands were given to Gloucester Abbey in the 12th century, later transferred to Wells Cathedral along with up to 50 houses surrounding the church.
One of the earliest recorded incidents to affect the town was the Bristol Channel floods of 1607, since when various flood defences have been installed. In 1911 a concrete wall was built. After the Second World War, further additions to the defences against the sea were added by bringing part of the remains of a Mulberry harbour used for the Normandy Landings, and burying them in the sand. Today the town is defended from flooding by a large curved concrete wall, completed in 1988 following serious flooding in 1981. The wall runs along the Esplanade, and serves as the canvas for a wide variety of graffiti and street art.
was a in the United States Navy built in 1918 to 1919. In 1940 she was transferred to the British under the agreement with the United Kingdom exchanging American destroyers for bases in the Atlantic. She transferred to the Royal Navy where she served as HMS Burnham (H82) during the Second World War. In 1942, Burnham was formally adopted by Burnham-on-Sea. In 1944, she was used on aircraft training duties in the Western Approaches Command, which allowed a contingent from the ship to visit the town and march through its streets. Burnham was reduced to reserve at Milford Haven, Wales, in November 1944. She was ultimately scrapped at Pembroke Dock, in December 1948.
Geography
Burnham-on-Sea is notable for its beach and mudflats, the danger they pose to individuals and shipping, and the efforts to which locals have gone in defending their town and preventing loss of life. Burnham is close to the estuary of the River Parrett where it flows into the Bristol Channel, which has the second highest tidal range in the world. At , it is second only to the Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada. Burnham's extensive mud flats are characteristic of Bridgwater Bay and the rest of the Bristol Channel, where the tide can recede for over . Bridgwater Bay consists of large areas of mudflats, saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1989, and is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.
Apex Leisure and Wildlife Park, in the south-west corner of Burnham-on-Sea, north of the River Brue, occupies an area of more than . The park was created from excavated clay pits, which were flooded, and the lakes are now home to many types of wildlife and leisure activities.
Hinkley Point is a headland extending into Bridgwater Bay west of Burnham-on-Sea, one the opposite side the mouth of the River Parrett. The landscape of Hinkley Point is dominated by two closed nuclear power stations: Hinkley Point A and Hinkley Point B, and Hinkley Point C, which is under construction.
Climate Along with the rest of South West England, Burnham has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately . Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately . In winter, mean minimum temperatures of are common. In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around . About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.
Sea defences Burnham was seriously affected by the Bristol Channel floods of 1607, and various flood defences have been installed since then. In 1911, a concrete sea wall was built, and after World War II further additions to the defences were made using the remains of a Mulberry harbour.
On 13 December 1981, a large storm hit the North Somerset coast. Meteorological conditions resulted in a very intense secondary low-pressure area moving rapidly at into the Bristol Channel, with pressure dropping from between 00:00 and 18:00. This caused a large rising surge in sea level, with the maximum surge at Hinkley Point measured at above the tidal level Ordnance Datum (OD) at 20:25, and measured at Avonmouth. The wind was measured at from the west. Over topping of the sea defences along a stretch of the Somerset coast at 22 locations from Clevedon to Porlock began after 19:30, and continued until about 21:30 when the wind speed had reached from the west. Although there was no loss of life, the resultant flooding covered of land, affecting 1,072 houses and commercial properties, with £150,000 worth of livestock killed and £50,000 of feed and grain destroyed. Wessex Water Authority estimated the total cost of the damage caused at £6million. This resulted in a three-year programme of sea defence assessment, repair and improvement.
Burnham, being the largest occupied town within the 1981 surge affected area, also bore the brunt of the resultant damage. 400 properties were affected, with pavements, stone and concrete from the sea wall ripped up and the Esplande destroyed; total damage within the parish was estimated at £1.5million. Although emergency repairs were undertaken, Wessex Water Authority began planning new sea defences for the town. Construction work started in 1983 on a £7million scheme, creating what was then Britain's biggest wave return wall. The scheme raised the level of the sea wall and the promenade by , by creating a long and high sea wall, and a new wider Esplanade. Taking five years to complete and coming into operation in 1988, beach access is now via a series of raised steps for visitors, with three vehicle access points which can be closed during storms using sealed gates.
Lifeboats and BARB There have been many shipwrecks on the Gore Sands. The first lifeboat was sent to Burnham by Bridgwater Corporation in 1836, and a replacement boat in 1847.
The first Royal National Lifeboat was funded by the town of Cheltenham, and arrived in 1866. The lifeboat was removed in 1930 because of the difficulty in getting a full crew, and because the launching arrangements were not suitable for a powered boat. The current Burnham-on-Sea Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations. The present station was opened in 2003. It operates two inshore lifeboats (ILBs), a B Class rigid-hulled boat and an inflatable D Class.
The Burnham-on-Sea Area Rescue Boat now known as BARB Search & Rescue was set up in 1992 to fund and operate rescue craft in the Bridgwater Bay area. BARB's boat house on the sea front was built in 1994 by the Challenge Anneka TV show. In 2002, Lelaina Hall, a five-year-old girl from Worcester, died on the mud flats before help could reach her. The outcry over her death prompted a Western Daily Press campaign to fund an inshore hovercraft. BARB currently operates the Spirit of Lelaina alongside her sister hovercraft the Light of Elizabeth, which is named after Lelaina's sister.
Governance There are two tiers of local government covering Burnham-on-Sea, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge Town Council and Somerset Council. The town council is based at the Old Courthouse on Jaycroft Road in Burnham-on-Sea.
For national elections, Burnham-on-Sea forms part of the Bridgwater constituency.
Administrative history Burnham was an ancient parish in the Bempstone hundred of Somerset. As well as Burnham itself, the parish included the parts of Highbridge north of the River Brue and rural areas to the east of Burnham, including the hamlet of Edithmead.
A local board district covering the western part of Burnham parish around Burnham itself was established in 1850, administered by an elected local board. Under the Local Government Act 1894, such districts were reconstituted as urban districts, and civil parishes were no longer allowed to straddle district boundaries. The part of the old Burnham parish outside the urban district therefore became a separate parish, which was named Highbridge. The Highbridge parish was short-lived; in 1896 a new Highbridge Urban District was created covering the built-up area of Highbridge, and the more rural part of the Highbridge parish became a separate parish called Burnham Without, having been part of Burnham parish prior to 1894.