My name is Larry Lamprey and I have had the pleasure of living my life in North Devon, England.
With a natural lifetime passion for North Devon then since 1999 I have published (as a hobby) the very popular North Devon UK website which is a collection of free website links relevant to North Devon and Torridge.
At the time of writing this (November 2022) I am 80 years of age. I was born (1942) the son of a highly respected Braunton small farmer and worked on the farm until 30 years of age. We grazed cattle and sheep on marshes at Horsey Island and Braunton Marshes while our small farm was Sanfield Farm at Lobb which overlooks Saunton, Braunton Burrows, Braunton Marshes and Braunton Great Field. At 30 years of age (1972) I left the farm and worked in construction and so did not see as much of Braunton Marshes nor Horsey Island.

In 2017 the Horsey Island sea wall was breached at the culvert allowing sea water in. Since then, this breach has grown considerably and Horsey Island is now flooded twice per day by each incoming tide. As a result the whole Horsey Island grassland has been replaced by mudflats. The remaining sea wall bank is rapidly being destroyed to the point that little will be left of it ... which will leave the inner defense bank very vulnerable to the same erosion by the sea then a vaste area south of Braunton will flood including Braunton Marshes and Great Field.

In November 2019 Horsey Island became Devon Wildlife Trust's 57th nature reserve.
Devon Wildlife Trust has determined that repairs to the outer defense bank are not worth the colossal expense.

Until very recently I had not personally seen Horsey Island for many years.
However, recently I visited Horsey Island again and was very emotional at the sight of the total devastation. I only saw the banks and marshes at the White House area because this was where we farmed in Horsey Island. It is only common sense to see that it is only a question of a short time before the inner bank is also breached by the sea and then vaste areas south of Braunton will be flooded by sea water. I remember how Horsey Island used to be a paradise for wildlife with wild birds (large and small) visiting in droves. On my recent visit then I did not see even one SMALL wild bird.

I decided to try to collect information and record (for future generations to learn) how Braunton Marshes and Braunton Great Field had been created and then how Horsey Island had all been reclaimed by the sea and so that people will know how beautiful this area was previously and the community here at the time.

I have added many videos & photo galleries and I have digitised several local small books to read online with turning pages. I hope that you enjoy them.

Only items relevant to Braunton Marshes and Braunton Great Field are on this website because much of that area will soon be history as farmland.
But A Peerless Gentleman. The Story of Samuel Ellacott is included because this remarkable man was responsible for recording so accurately and diligently local history and setting up Braunton Museum where his writings can be viewed and purchased. I remember him researching his booklet Braunton Farms and Farmers and visiting our farm many times.

Braunton and Area Museum has wonderful vaste collections of everything about Braunton to see and buy (see Braunton Museum Information ).