Old Hunstanton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 47 in 25 households at the 2001 census. The population had risen to 628 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk. This small settlement adjoins to the north of the larger resort of Hunstanton or New Hunstanton. The quiet character of Old Hunstanton remains distinct from and complements that of its busy sibling, with clifftop walks past the disused Old Hunstanton Lighthouse and the ruins of St Edmund's Chapel, built in 1272. King Edmund supposedly built the village. The River Hun runs to the coast just to the east of old Hunstanton. The parish church of St Mary, situated in the grounds of Hunstanton Hall, is a Grade I listed building. It was built by Sir Hamon le Strange in about 1300 and extensively rebuilt and restored during the 19th century by architect Frederick Preedy for Henry Le Strange, developer of New Hunstanton. St Mary's churchyard contains the graves of a customs officer and a soldier, both of whom were fatally wounded during a skirmish on the Hunstanton coast with smugglers. The clash occurred on the night of 25 September 1784, also claiming the life of another customs officer named Rennett. However, although the alleged perpetrators were tried at Thetford the following year it proved impossible to secure any convictions. At Old Hunstanton is a RNLILifeboat station with a B class boat and a Hovercraft. Parts of the beach are backed by sand dunes and are the location for beach huts. Storms deposit items on the beach including marine life this may be strandings of cetaceans, mass strandings of starfish and shellfish or boats wrecked in storms. In December 2011 a large whale washed ashore on the beach. At low tide there is a small Lagoon named after a local kitersurfer born and bred in Hunstanton - Poo's Lagoon.
History
The village of Old Hunstanton is recorded in the Domesday Book as ‘Hunestanestada’. Later it became part of the Le Strange family estates.
