You’re in Devil’s Country. A lawless, desolate place, tormented by storms and plague, forsaken by all by smugglers and thieves. But…that was then. Today Horsey is known for grey seals, picnics on nearby Waxham Sands, a traditional pub and tearoom and Horsey Windpump. Built in 1912 by Dan England of Ludham, the master craftsman showed great ingenuity, constructing a mill in this isolated place. Many parts of the old Black Mill were recycled when the current pump replaced it, with most heavy loads brought in by wherry boat.

This is now a quintessentially East Norfolk landscape of picturesque panoramas and pleasure boats. Yet it wasn’t always so. Horsey means ‘island of horses’, a remote outpost where horses grazed and trouble brewed, surrounded by treacherous marsh. The seven houses and a farm were often cut off from the ‘mainland’, connected by only one road, which flooded for much of the winter. Insect-borne Fen Plague (Marsh Malaria) was rife, life was hard and short.

The Enclosures Act led to marsh drainage, marking the end of this wild landscape. Farming improved, yet a way of life was lost, both for people who made their living from the marsh and for wildlife. Birds like cranes and bitterns vanished, although after an absence of centuries, they have now returned. Horsey Windpump is a place to reflect on past and future. The sea has always threatened to reclaim its own, and the Devil’s Country could drown this land again if climate chaos takes hold.