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Burnham-on-Sea is a town in Somerset loctaedat the mouth of the River Parrett and Bridgwater Bay. It was a small village until the late 18th century, when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort.
Burnham on Sea is on the edge of the Somerset Levels, where they meet the Bristol Channel, this has resulted in a history dominated by land reclamation and sea defences since Roman times.
Lighthouses are prominent landmarks in the Burnham on Sea with the original lighthouse known as the Round Tower built to replace the light on the top of the 14th century tower of St Andrews Church. The 110 feet (34 m) pillar or High Lighthouse and the low wooden pile lighthouse or Lighthouse on legs on the beach were built to replace it. The town’s first lifeboat was provided in 1836 by the Corporation of Bridgwater.
A stone pier was built in 1858 by the Somerset Central Railway. Soon afterwards, in 1860, a steamer service to Wales was inaugurated, but it was never a commercial success, and ended in 1888. Burnham-on-Sea railway station was the terminus of the Burnham branch of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. It opened in 1858, closed to scheduled passenger traffic in 1951, and stopped being used for excursions in 1962. The former Great Western Railway station is now known as Highbridge and Burnham. A second pier, built of concrete between 1911 and 1914, is claimed to be the shortest pier in Britain.
Oct03