East Winch

East Winch
All Saints' Church
East Winch Location within Norfolk
Area	7.70 sq mi (19.9 km2)
Population	853 (2021 census)
•  Density	111/sq mi (43/km2)
OS grid reference	TF694163
•  London	87 miles (140 km)
Civil parish	East Winch
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	01553
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	North West Norfolk
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°43′05″N0°30′27″E / 52.71792°N 0.50738°E / 52.71792; 0.50738

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

The village is located 4.9 miles (7.9 km) south-east of King's Lynn and 34 miles (55 km) west of Norwich.

History

East Winch's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the eastern pasture farmstead. ^[1]

In the Domesday Book, East Winch is listed as a settlement of 51 households in the hundred of Freebridge. In 1086, the village formed part of the East Anglian estates of King William I, Roger Bigod, Ralph de Tosny, Hermer de Ferrers and a freeman by the name of Rainer. ^[2]

Crancourt Manor was a medieval residence of the Howard family, built as a fortified manor house. By the mid-nineteenth century, the manor was ruined apart from a single chimney stack, which remains the case today. ^[3]

In May 1944, a de Havilland Mosquito of No. 23 Squadron RAF crashed within the parish after technical difficulties on a test flight from RAF Little Snoring. Both crew members (FO Charles J. Preece and FO Frederick H. Ruffle DFC) were killed. ^[4]

Geography

According to the 2021 census, East Winch has a population of 853 people which shows an increase from the 779 people listed in the 2011 census. ^[5]

East Winch is bisected by the A47, between Birmingham and Lowestoft.

All Saints' Church

East Winch's parish church was built in the Perpendicular style in the late-Fourteenth Century under the leadership of the Howard family, by the Eighteenth Century the church had largely fallen into disrepair until it was repaired under the oversight of George Gilbert Scott. All Saints' is located within the village on Church Lane and has been Grade II listed since 1960. ^[6]

All Saints' features good examples of Nineteenth Century stained glass installed by Clayton and Bell depicting Christ as a shepherd and the Parable of the Good Samaritan, with a further depiction of the Resurrection by Ward and Hughes. ^[7]

Amenities

East Winch airfield was founded in 1986 by Colin and Peter Burman, initially for crop dusting. After this was banned in 2009 the airfield was repurposed for leisure use.

Transport

East Winch railway station opened in 1846 as a stop on the Lynn and Dereham Railway between King's Lynn and Dereham. The station closed in 1968.

Notable residents

• Sir William Howard (1225–1308)- English lawyer and justice
• Sir John Howard (c. 1366 – 1437)- English landowner, soldier and courtier
• Sir Osbert Lancaster (1908–1986)- English cartoonist, historian and author

Governance

East Winch 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 North West Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's James Wild MP since 2010.

War Memorial

East Winch's war memorial is a marble plaque in All Saints' Church which lists the following names for the First World War: ^[8]

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial/Commemoration
St1C	Robert B. Weston	HMS Queen Mary	31 May 1916	Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Pte.	Albert E. Reeve	7th Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment	25 Oct. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Pte.	Albert Berry	1st Bn., Essex Regiment	13 Aug. 1915	Helles Memorial
Pte.	Bertie T. Edwards	1st Bn., Essex Regt.	31 May 1917	Villers-Faucon Cemetery
Pte.	James Reeve	8th Bn., Norfolk Regiment	1 Jul. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Pte.	William J. Brown	9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	21 Mar. 1918	Arras Memorial

And, the following for the Second World War:

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial/Commemoration
FSgt.	Sidney A. Berry	No. 10 Squadron RAF	20 Dec. 1943	Rheinberg War Cemetery
Pte.	Frederick E. J. Craske	2nd Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment	25 May 1940	Dunkirk Memorial

References

1. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
2. East Winch, Open Domesday. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
3. "mnf1062 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
4. Ranter, Harro. "Accident de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito NF Mk II DD736, Thursday 23 November 1944". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
5. "East Winch (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
6. "CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, East Winch - 1342382 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
7. "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
8. "Geograph:: Earlham to Erpingham :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.

External links

Media related to East Winch at Wikimedia Commons