The next town along the coast from us is Burnham-on Sea, the ham part of the name is from an Old English word meaning enclosure which gradually came to mean a tiny village; the front part, Burn, means stream… and I wonder if there is a connection with the Scottish word meaning the same thing? As with many town which have the -on-sea bit added, such as Leigh-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, and nearby Weston which had a Latin version, -super-Mare, it is to distinguish it from other towns of a similar name, and maybe to enhance it as a tourist attraction!
Burnham-on-Sea, like many towns in south Somerset, was reclaimed… in this case, reclaimed from the sea rather than the marshes and low wetlands of the county. This probably dated back to the Romans, the peoples who lived here before them would accommodate the waters, living on the higher ground when there were floods, and coming down onto the marshlands to hunt and fish in the milder seasons.
As the sea level fell and the landscape became more consistently dry, people settled, and the town, as with so many along the coast, became a popular holiday resort. We love visiting Burnham, and always find something new and of interest to see… and to photograph!
Lois Elsden 