You Got That English Suntan <i> Where?</i> : California, a resort village on the North Sea, was also founded during a gold rush of sorts.

A tiny, unknown and sparsely populated place on England’s east coast characterized, not by blue skies, but by windy, arctic weather--a place that has yet to become a Mecca for millions, although its attractions include Roman ruins, a medieval castle, fishing villages and historic towns--is reminiscent of the grand and glorious state of California in a single attribute: its name.

Even the British are generally unaware of the existence of California in their own country. So carefully tucked away is it that when the unlikely name jumped out at me from the wriggle of map lines surrounding the scenic but rarely explored area around Great Yarmouth, I was hooked. The name demanded further investigation.

On England’s dramatic Norfolk coast in East Anglia, some 127 miles northeast of London and facing the winds of the North Sea, is a stretch of sandy beach and crumbling cliffs where erosion has caubsed whole towns to topple into the water. The coastal belt north of Great Yarmouth is nevertheless exquisite for its unspoiled and rugged landscape, punctuated by gale-twisted trees and cliffs overlooking pounding surf. The area is a bird-watcher’s paradise and a haven for nature lovers.

The small coastal settlement of California, north of Yarmouth, diverged from historical procedure by choosing its surprising name. It reversed the traditional practice of bequeathing British names to New World communities by naming itself after the famous American state where gold was found in 1849.

To compound the improbable, two Californias actually exist in Britain. In addition to the small English village of about 500, another is in Scotland about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Scottish mining village was officially named in 1882. Iron pits and coal mining, together with slag heaps, inspired the locals with the idea that the landscape resembled the California gold-rush scene, and they applied a ready-made name to the newly found village. While the community has managed to survive, even though mining is no longer an industry there, the English California is the livelier tourist attraction.

Indeed, gold was also the reason that the English village existed. Settled in 1849, it too was named for a gold rush. Erosion of the cliffs released some 16th-Century gold coins of to-this-day-unknown origin at the base of the nearby Scratby cliffs, at the site where migrating fishermen had set up a colony. Since the year was 1849, a parallel with the U.S. gold rush of the same year was drawn. Would not the American California supply a suitable name for the new colony? The local men, who moved up and down the coast making their living by salvaging ships, were themselves, after all, in search of a golden opportunity.

The salvage groups, known as beach companies, had migrated to this site to be nearer the source of their livelihood, the fishery at Yarmouth. But they also had a more lucrative motive--to salvage vessels from the sandbanks around Yarmouth where, in the 18th and 19th centuries, sailing ships were regularly beached and/or wrecked by bad weather. Groups of these men would join together all along this treacherous part of the coast, organizing informal companies to extricate the cargoes and the people on the beached ships for a fee.

In addition to the sense of humor evinced in the name they selected, the California company showed a sense of practicality by choosing a cliff location overlooking the beach. With a better view of the sea, they gained a distinct advantage over rival companies that were organizing at that time. But success for all of the companies was ensured, at least until changing times brought safer ships.

It was a brief heyday. Some 50 years after its founding, the village of California nearly ceased to exist when, in addition to better ships, erosion began a destructive course. First, an 1897 gale washed away 10 yards of cliff. Then, during World War I, a series of buildings, including cottages and the California Tavern, were demolished by local authorities for fear that the crumbling coastline would tumble them into the sea.

But the colony was resurrected by another gold rush in the 1960s--this time in the form of golden sands, unusual in England where many beaches are stone. Tourists began flocking to California for seaside holidays, renewing its prosperity. The California Tavern was rebuilt and given a second life.

These days, California is relatively quiet during the winter but awakens from a dormant cold-weather sleep to become a summer spectacle of tents, trailers, holiday bungalows, a miniature golf course, ice cream trucks and fish and chips stands. It also boasts a weeklong festival of country music attracting large numbers of English vacationers. This year the Seventh Country and Western Festival will be held July 17-24.

Instead of men scrutinizing the sea and its spoils from their cliff-top surveillance site, a tenting community overlooks a wide beach dotted with warning signs, “Caution: Beware Cliff Falls”--a reminder of the reason for the former settlement’s demise. And even on a rare hot summer day, sun bathers plant colorful plastic screens on the beach as protection against the cold North Sea wind.

Those in search of greater antiquity may glory in the grandeur that was Rome, for the Romans understood the strategic importance of the California area and settled there about AD 250. The contiguous community of Caister-on-Sea is where they rooted their city. Excavated remains of the site at the edge of town reveal a defensive wall, gateway and buildings. By curious contrast, a neglected World War II bunker sits on California Road as if to confirm the area’s continuing importance.

Other treasures await exploration. A mile inland are the ruins of the 15th-Century moated Caister Castle built by Sir John Fastolf after heroic fighting in the Battle of Agincourt. Shakespeare gave Sir John literary immortality by using his name for the fictional Falstaff, the witty, drinking braggart.

Great Yarmouth, the town on my itinerary when I serendipitously discovered California last July, is barely three miles south. The town--which derived its prosperity from North Sea herring fleets--displays its fishing and coastal history in the downtown Maritime Museum on Marine Parade. Although Yarmouth has exchanged herring for North Sea oil and gas as its primary form of commerce, it remains a town with great appeal. Worth visiting are the Parish Church of St. Nicholas (reputed to be the largest parish church in England), the 14th-Century Tollhouse Museum (containing local history exhibits), the Elizabethan House Museum of 1596 (with exhibitions on Victorian domestic life), the Rows (a series of narrow alleyways on South Quay running at right angles from the sea) and the Merchant’s House Museum (which contains two rooms restored to their original condition).

It all serves as a final reminder of the place in the center of that special stretch of East Anglian coast named for the gold-rush state of California. Relatively unknown to tourists, California offers golden opportunities for exploration and discovery.

GUIDEBOOK

California, Here We Come!

Getting there: From London or Heathrow Airport, it’s about a three-hour drive to California. Take the M4 Motorway west from London to M25. Go north on M25 about 35 miles (circling around London) to M11. Take M11 north about 30 miles to Exit 9. Go northeast on A11 to Norwich. Some 20 miles past Norwich near the North Sea, go east on A47 to Great Yarmouth. To get to California, head north on A149, taking the right fork onto B1159 for about a 15-minute drive to California.

BritRail has direct service from London’s Liverpool Street Station to Norwich and to Great Yarmouth. Car rentals are available in both towns, but it is a good idea to book in advance before leaving London.