East Walton

East Walton
St. Mary's Church, East Walton
East Walton Location within Norfolk
Area	4.17 sq mi (10.8 km2)
OS grid reference	TF744157
•  London	88 miles (142 km)
Civil parish	East Walton
District	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KING'S LYNN
Postcode district	PE32
Dialling code	01760
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	South West Norfolk
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°42′41″N0°34′53″E / 52.71125°N 0.58133°E / 52.71125; 0.58133

East Walton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

East Walton is located 7.8 miles (12.6 km) south-east of King's Lynn and 31 miles (50 km) north-west of Norwich.

History

East Walton's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the eastern wall farm settlement. ^[1]

East Walton has seen numerous archaeological digs which have discovered the site of a possible Bronze Age burial barrow and three separate Roman settlements. ^[2]

In the Domesday Book, East Walton is listed as a settlement of 37 households in the hundred of Freebridge. In 1086, the village was divided between the East Anglian estates of Alan of Brittany, Roger Bigod and Ralph de Tosny. ^[3]

The ruins of St. Andrew's Chapel still stand in the village which was likely abandoned in the Sixteenth Century. ^[4]

East Walton was the site of significant Second World War defences in preparation for a German invasion, defences including a pillbox and searchlight were installed in the east of the village with a further tank trap built on the bridge over the River Nar. ^[5] In August 1942, a Dornier 217 shot down by a Bristol Beaufighter flown by Ft-Off. Hugh Wyrill crashed in nearby Walton Wood. ^{[6] [7]}

Geography

According to the 2001 Census, East Walton has a population of 94 residents living in 40 households with the parish having a total area of 10.81 km² (4.17 sq mi). ^[8]

The B1153, between Narborough and Brancaster, runs through the parish as does the River Nar.

St. Mary's Church

East Walton's church is dedicated to Saint Mary and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining Anglo-Saxon round tower churches. St. Mary's is located on Church Lane within the village and has been Grade I listed since 1960. ^[9]

St. Mary's Churchtower pre-dates the Norman Conquest, the rest of the church building dates from the Fourteenth Century, with the interior being significantly remodelled in the early-Eighteenth Century. ^[10]

Governance

East Walton is part of the electoral ward of Gayton & Grimston for local elections and is part of the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk

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

War Memorial

East Walton's war memorial is a brass plaque inside St. Mary's Church. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War: ^[11]

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial
LCpl.	William T. Cropley	10th Bn., Essex Regiment	15 Jun. 1917	Arras Memorial
Pte.	Abraham Skeet	3rd Bn., Norfolk Regiment	21 Jul. 1916	St. Mary's Churchyard

Footnotes

1. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
2. "MNF50521 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
3. "[East] Walton | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
4. "mnf3757 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
5. "East-Walton-(Parish-Summary) - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
6. "mnf15542 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
7. "mnf13430 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
8. Office for National Statistics. (2001). Retrieved June 20, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20170211032229/https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes
9. "CHURCH OF ST MARY, East Walton - 1077667 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
10. "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
11. "Geograph:: Earlham to Erpingham :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.

External links

Media related to East Walton at Wikimedia Commons

• Village website
• St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches Website
• The web site for St Mary's Church, East Walton