East Bilney

East Bilney
East Bilney Location within Norfolk
Civil parish	Beetley
District	Breckland
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DEREHAM
Postcode district	NR20
Dialling code	01362
UK Parliament	Mid Norfolk
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°44′25″N0°53′03″E / 52.740183°N 0.88422507°E / 52.740183; 0.88422507

East Bilney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Beetley, in the Breckland district of the English county of Norfolk.

East Bilney is located 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi) north-west of Dereham and 30 kilometres (19 mi) north-west of Norwich.

History

The Fen Causeway, a Roman road between Denver and Durobrivae, passed through the village and there is further evidence of a Roman settlement. ^[1]

East Bilney's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the eastern portion of Billa's island. ^[2]

East Bilney has no listing in the Domesday Book but the land that forms the village today was part of the East Anglian estates of William de Warenne.^{[ citation needed ]}

Geography

In 1931, the parish had a population of 117 ^[3] this was the last time separate population statistics were recorded for East Bilney as on 1 April 1935, the parish was abolished and merged with Beetley. ^[4]

East Bilney is bisected by the B1146, between Fakenham and Dereham.

St. Mary's Church

East Bilney's former parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and was built in the early Nineteenth Century to replace a ramshackle Medieval church on the same site. St. Mary's is located on Fludges Lane and has been Grade II listed since 1960. ^[5]

which was incidentally drawn by John Berney Ladbrooke in the 1820s. St. Mary's has good examples of stained glass depicting Saint Michael and Saint Alban installed by James Powell and Sons and a depiction of the Sixteenth Century martyr Thomas Bilney installed by Shrigley and Hunt. ^[6] In addition, there is evidence to suggest that the tower and chancel of St. Mary's were destroyed during Kett's Rebellion of 1549. ^[7]

Notable residents

• Dr. Andrew Perne (ca. 1519 – 1589), Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University and Dean of Ely ^[8]

Governance

East Bilney is part of the electoral ward of Lincoln for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.

The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.

War memorial

East Bilney War Memorial is a stone obelisk in St. Mary's Churchyard which lists the following names for the First World War: ^[9]

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial
Lt.	Douglas F. Hervey	1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regiment	17 May 1917	Cairo War Cemetery
Cpl.	William Isbell	1st Bn., Norfolk Regt.	25 Nov. 1917	St. Mary's Churchyard
Pte.	Victor B. King	2nd Bn., Canterbury Infantry Regiment, NZEF [10]	15 Sep. 1916	Caterpillar Valley Cemetery
Pte.	Arthur L. Barnard	1/8th Bn., Royal Scots	9 Apr. 1918	Mont-Bernanchon Cemetery

References

1. "mnf2796 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
2. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
3. "Population statistics East Bilney AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain . Retrieved 14 September 2020.
4. "Relationships and changes East Bilney AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
5. "CHURCH OF ST MARY, Beetley - 1342554 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
6. "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
7. "mnf2828 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
8. Pollard, Albert Frederick (1911). "Perne, Andrew"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 21 (11th ed.). pp. 178–179.
9. "Geograph:: Earlham to Erpingham :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
10. Ferguson, C. (1921). The History of the Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F. 1914–1919. Auckland: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited. p. 340. OCLC   904059618.