Villages by the Sea - Cley next the Sea

Original version

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BBC History Channel

Villages by the Sea

Documentaries

Factual: History

Series looking at coastal villages that have often been on the front line of history.

Series 3

BBC Two

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England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

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Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East HD

BBC One East

Ben Robinson

Pam Cavannagh

Dympna Jackson

Purple Productions

Villages by the Sea: Series 3: Cley next the Sea

Cley next the Sea

BBC One - Villages by the Sea, Series 3, Cley next the Sea

Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers how Dutch settlers transformed the village of Cley.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers how Dutch settlers in the 1500s transformed the Norfolk village of Cley next the Sea.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits the Norfolk village of Cley next the Sea and discovers that due to Dutch settlers in the Elizabethan era, it's not as ‘next the sea’ as it once was. Ben finds a village green that was once a thriving port with big ships and surrounded by a thriving village. He visits the church and meets Matt Champion, an expert in medieval graffiti who has found some incredible links to past villagers. 

A fire in the 1600s destroyed most of the original village, and Ben uses some detective work to try and date a house believed to be one of the only survivors. An exploration of the village reveals architecture that shows the influence of Flemish immigrants, but it's not only the buildings that were influenced by the so-called ‘Elizabethan strangers’.

Ben talks to historian Onyeka Nubia, who reveals that the village was part of a cosmopolitan community that introduced Britain to the canary and even the beer we drink today. But possibly the biggest influence these strangers brought to the village were their skills in land reclamation. Local historian Jonathan Hooton takes Ben to the site of the embankments that turned the waterways into farmland, and later, Ben meets the one of the villagers who are fighting to reverse the effects and reclaim Cley’s waterways.

Villages by the Sea: Series 3

BBC One

How the past has shaped some of our best-loved
coastal village communities.

Series looking at how the past has shaped some of our best-loved coastal village communities.

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Villages by the Sea

Series 3

Cley next the Sea

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BBC History Channel