River Stiffkey
The
River Stiffkey is a chalkstream running through an area of north
Norfolk,
England from its source near
Swanton Novers to flow out into the
North Sea on the north Norfolk coast near the town of
Stiffkey. The river has been dredged historically, presumably for agricultural purposes, and has a self-sustaining population of
brown trout.
The river's source is a small wooded lake just north of the village of Swanton Novers, after which the river passes close to
Fulmodeston, then north to pass through the village of
Great Snoring, which is noted in the
Domesday book as having a
watermill. From Great Snoring it runs south past Thorpland Hall, then north-west through
East Barsham,
North Barsham and
Houghton St Giles to the town of
Little Walsingham.
The
Priory in Little Walsingham was built with stone from
Northamptonshire which had been towed up the River Stiffkey in flat-bottomed barges. The priory had a watermill on the river but this was demolished early in the 20th century.
From here it flows north past
Great Walsingham, then through
Wighton and
Warham before passing through the village of
Stiffkey and out to its estuary on Stiffkey Salt Marshes. The area from Great Walsingham to Stiffkey is prone to flooding and was the subject of a severe flood warning in October 2004.
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