Holme-next-the-Sea's name is of
Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the
Old English for the island next to the sea. In the
Domesday Book, Holme-next-the-Sea is recorded as a settlement of 8 households in the
hundred of Smethdon. In 1086, the village was divided between the
East Anglian estates of
King William I and
William d'Ecouis.
Seahenge, a
prehistoric timber-circle, is located close to the village. The site was excavated in 1998 and the pieces were removed to the
British Museum. There are numerous post-medieval shipwrecks on the beaches near Holme, including the
Vicuna which sank on 7 March 1883 whilst carrying a cargo of ice to
King's Lynn Docks and the
Carrington, a
collier which sank in the Nineteenth Century. During the
Second World War, several defences were built in the parish to defend against a possible
German invasion. These defences included anti-tank ditches, barbed wire and mine fields. == Geography ==