page_title: Cley next the Sea
section_title: Cley Marshes
hierarchical_section_title: Cley next the Sea / Cley Marshes
context_page_description: Cley next the Sea, Anglo-Saxon Clæg "clay", is a village and civil parish on the River Glaven in Norfolk, England, 4 mi north-west of Holt and east of Blakeney. The main A149 coast road runs through the centre of the village, causing congestion in the summer months due to the tight, narrow streets. It lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB and the North Norfolk Heritage Coast. In 2011 its population was 437.
context_section_description: The marshes around Cley are internationally important for their populations of rare breeding and visiting birds. Cley Marshes bird reserve has been in the care of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust since 1926, making it the oldest county Wildlife Trust reserve in Britain. Among resident breeding birds are avocet, bearded tit, bittern, marsh harrier and spoonbill. Winter visitors include brent goose, Eurasian wigeon, pintail and many species of wading birds. Cley, like neighbouring Salthouse is ideally situated at the apex of the North Norfolk coast as a staging ground for passage migrants, vagrants and rarities of all kinds. A new eco-friendly visitor centre opened in 2007 containing a café, shop, viewing areas (including viewing from a camera on the reserve), exhibition area, interpretation and toilets. The view from the visitor centre across the marsh to the sea is breathtaking. Cley Marshes is the home of the Bird Information Service, publishers of Birding World.
  The shingle bank holds large numbers of yellow horned poppy.
caption: Cley Towermill stands at the edge of the village, next to the coastal marshes and a network of drainage channels
exif: {}