Cockley Cley

Cockley Cley
All Saints' Church
Cockley Cley Location within Norfolk
Area	25.52 km2 (9.85 sq mi)
Population	239 (2021)
•  Density	9/km2 (23/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TF792042
Civil parish	Cockley Cley
District	Breckland
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SWAFFHAM
Postcode district	PE37
Dialling code	01760
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	South West Norfolk
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°36′24″N0°38′44″E / 52.60673°N 0.64554°E / 52.60673; 0.64554

Cockley Cley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

Cockley Cley is located 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south-west of Swaffham and 27 miles (43 km) west of Norwich.

History

The village's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a "clay hill shrouded in trees". ^[1]

In the Domesday Book, Cockley Cley is recorded as a settlement of 32 households located in the hundred of South Greenhoe. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of King William I and William de Warenne. ^[2]

Cockley Cley is the site of significant defensive infrastructure built during the Second World War, including a rare example of an "Allan Williams Turret" designed to mount a Lewis gun in an anti-aircraft role. ^[3]

In August 1974, a decapitated corpse of a woman was discovered near the village. As of 2023, the woman has not been identified.^{[ citation needed ]}

Between 1975 and 2004, Cockley Cley was home to a mock Iceni village visitor attraction. The site reopened briefly in 2014 as the Iceni Centre but was subsequently forced to close due to dwindling customer numbers. ^[4]

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Cockley Cley has a population of 239 people which shows a slight increase from the 232 people recorded in the 2011 census. ^[5]

The River Gadder rises close to Cockley Cley.

All Saints' Church

Cockley Cley's parish church is one of Norfolk's 124 existing Anglo-Saxon round-tower churches, and thus dates from the Thirteen Century. All Saints' is located on Swaffham Road and has been Grade II listed since 1960. ^[6]

The churchtower collapsed on 29 August 1991 and has not been re-built with much of the remaining building dating from a restoration and rebuilding in the Victorian era under the architect, Richard Phipson. ^[7]

Governance

Cockley Cley is part of the electoral ward of Bedingfield for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.

The village's national constituency is South West Norfolk which has been represented by Labour's Terry Jermy since 2024.

War Memorial

Cockley Cley's war memorial is a marble plaque located inside All Saints' Church which lists the following names for the First World War: ^[8]

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial
Cpl.	William B. Root	8th Bn., Norfolk Regiment	21 Jul. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Cpl.	Frederick Atter	9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	19 May 1917	Barlin Cemetery
LCpl.	Frederick C. Barker	1st Bn., Essex Regiment	1 Nov. 1915	Alexandria War Cemetery
LCpl.	Wallace G. DeRungary	1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment	1 Sep. 1918	Achiet-le-Grand Cemetery
Pte.	Edward C. Pedgrift	8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	4 Jun. 1915	St. Lawrence's Churchyard
Pte.	Charles R. Wilding	8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	5 Dec. 1915	Norfolk Cemetery

And, Frederick Diaper and Henry W. T. Norman as well as the following for the Second World War:

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial
Mne.	Sydney A. Holman	H.M. Landing Craft (Flak) L14	24 May 1944	Chatham Naval Memorial
Pte.	Russell K. Pigg	2nd Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment	26 May 1940	Mont-Bernanchon Cemetery

Gallery

• 
  Cockley Cley village sign, showing the church still with its tower
• 
  Rare Allan Williams Turret fortifications of World War II in Cockley Cley
• 
  Entrance to the reconstruction of an Iceni village, now closed

References

1. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
2. "[Cockley] Cley | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
3. "World-War-Two-Allan-Williams-Turret - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
4. "Iceni Centre, formerly the Iceni Village, closes despite attempted revival". Eastern Daily Press. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
5. "Cockley Cley (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
6. "CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, Cockley Cley - 1077261 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
7. "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
8. "Geograph:: Caister to Croxton :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2024.

External links

• All Saints of the European Round Tower Churches Website