Great Bircham

Great Bircham
Signpost in Great Bircham
Great Bircham Location within Norfolk
OS grid reference	TF768325
Civil parish	Bircham
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	PE31
Dialling code	01485
UK Parliament	North West Norfolk
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°51′39″N0°37′29″E / 52.86095°N 0.62476°E / 52.86095; 0.62476

Great Bircham is a village, part of the civil parish of Bircham, in the English county of Norfolk.

Great Bircham is located 12 miles north-east of the town of King's Lynn, and 38 miles north-west of the city of Norwich.

History

Bircham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the large settlement near to the newly broken land. ^[1]

Bircham is listed in the Domesday Book as a settlement of 21 households in the hundred of Docking. In 1086, Bircham Newton was part of the estates of Ralph de Beaufour and William d'Ecouis. ^[2]

Great Bircham Windmill was built in 1846 by George Humphrey and was restored in 1977. The mill remains open to visitors today. ^{[3] [4]}

During the First World War, a Great Bircham resident, Sergeant Robert J. England, was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry in France. On 24 October 1918, Sgt. England led his men in flanking a group of German machine-gun nests and succeeded in capturing them. ^[5]

On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished to form Bircham. ^[6]

Geography

In 1931 the parish had a population of 327. ^[7] This was the last time separate population statistics were collected for Great Bircham as in 1935 the parish was merged to form Bircham.

Great Bircham sits along the B1153, between Narborough and Brancaster.

St. Mary's Church

Main article: St Mary the Virgin's Church, Great Bircham

Great Bircham's church is dedicated to Saint Mary and dates from the Fourteenth Century with earlier features. St. Mary's is located within the village on Stanhoe Road and has been Grade I listed since 1953. ^[8] The church holds Sunday services three times a month. ^[9]

Governance

Great Bircham is part of the electoral ward of Bircham with Ruddhams 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 since 2010.

War Memorial

Great Bircham War Memorial is shared with Bircham Newton and is a stone cross atop a marble plaque. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War: ^{[10] [11]}

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial/Commemoration
2Lt.	Sidney A. Wharton	8th Bn., Norfolk Regiment	1 Jul. 1917	Dive Copse Cemetery
A/Bdr	Albert T. Wacey	113th Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery	4 Mar. 1915	Merville Cemetery
Cpl.	George England	2nd Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment	1 Jan. 1917	Guards' Cemetery
M1C	Bertie A. Taylor	No. 57 Squadron RAF	30 Jul. 1918	Huby-Saint-Leu Cemetery
St1C	Edward R. Chaplin	HMS Aboukir	22 Sep. 1914	Chatham Naval Memorial
Dvr.	John D. Beeston	665 HT Coy., Army Service Corps	2 Jul. 1918	St. Mary's Churchyard
Pte.	Frank A. Hammond	2nd Bn., Coldstream Guards	28 Aug. 1918	Ligny Cemetery
Pte.	Jacob Osborne	2/4th Bn., Wellington's Regt.	24 May 1918	Bienvillers Cemetery
Pte.	Thomas H. Wharton	9th Bn., Essex Regiment	3 Jul. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Pte.	John M. Osborne	24th Bn., Royal Fusiliers	15 Sep. 1918	St. Sever Cemetery
Pte.	Arthur A. Hammond	1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment	8 Jun. 1915	Menin Gate
Pte.	Robert Miles	1st Bn., Norfolk Regt.	4 Sep. 1916	Flatiron Copse Cemetery
Pte.	Frederick Hubbard	7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	10 Nov. 1918	Brebières Cemetery
Pte.	Robert J. Easter	6th Bn., Northamptonshire Regiment	4 Nov. 1918	Preux-au-Bois Cemetery
Rfn.	James E. King	18th (Irish) Bn., London Regiment	25 Oct. 1918	Belgrade Cemetery

The following names were added after the Second World War:

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial/Commemoration
Sgt.	Rhoddna A. Osborne	2nd Bn., Grenadier Guards	10 Apr. 1945	Reichswald Cemetery
LSmn.	Eric V. Briston	HMS Verdun	22 Mar. 1946	St. Mary's Churchyard

References

1. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
2. "[Great] Bircham | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
3. "Norfolk Mills - Gt Bircham tower windmill". www.norfolkmills.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
4. "mnf1720 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
5. "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Great Bircham". roll-of-honour.com. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
6. "Relationships and changes Great Bircham AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
7. "Population statistics Great Bircham AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 2 October 2022.
8. "CHURCH OF ST MARY, Bircham - 1077807 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
9. "Great Bircham: St Mary the Virgin". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
10. "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Great Bircham". roll-of-honour.com. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
11. "Geograph:: Garboldisham to Gunton :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2025.