Wereham | |
---|---|
Location within Norfolk | |
Area | 8.59 km2 (3.32 sq mi) |
Population | 660 (2011 census) [1] |
• Density | 77/km2 (200/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | TF680016 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | KING'S LYNN |
Postcode district | PE33 |
Dialling code | 01366 |
Police | Norfolk |
Fire | Norfolk |
Ambulance | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
Wereham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Wereham lies in the Wissey valley and is on the main A134 road; it is some five miles to the east of the town of Downham Market and thirteen miles from King's Lynn. Neighbouring villages include Boughton, Fincham, Crimplesham, West Dereham, Wretton and Stoke Ferry.
The villages name means 'Homestead/village on the River Wigor' or 'hemmed-in land by the River Wigor'. Wigor may be an older name for the River Wissey. [2]
The former Benedictine alien priory of St Winwaloe is now Winnold House. It lies a mile north of the village. [3] A large fair was held on St Winnold's Day (3 March); the fair moved to Downham Market in 1798. [4]
In the centre of the village is the pond - known locally as the pit. Nearby on the village green, the village sign depicts 'Billy the Seal', one of Wereham's most famous residents from the 1920s.
Wereham once had four pubs: the George and Dragon, The Crown, The Nags Head and The Chequers; however, only the George and Dragon remains. The village also had a school which closed in the 1980s.
The Parish Church, dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch, is in the centre of the village.
2018 will see the completion of the 1st UK Passivhaus village hall www.werehamvillagehall.co.uk Passivhaus buildings provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling. [5]
The River Wissey is a river in Norfolk, eastern England. It rises near Bradenham, and flows for nearly 31 miles (50 km) to join the River Great Ouse at Fordham. The lower 11.2 miles (18.0 km) are navigable. The upper reaches are notable for a number of buildings of historic interest, which are close to the banks. The river passes through the parkland of the Arts and Crafts Pickenham Hall, and further downstream, flows through the Army's Stanford Training Area (STANTA), which was created in 1942 by evacuating six villages. The water provided power for at least two mills, at Hilborough and Northwold. At Whittington, the river becomes navigable, and is surrounded by fenland. A number of pumping stations pump water from drainage ditches into the higher river channel.
Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and 30 miles north of Cambridge.
West Dereham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 13.51 km2 (5.22 sq mi) and had a population of 440 in 176 households as of the 2001 census, the population increasing to 450 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
South West Norfolk is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Liz Truss, a Conservative, who was prime minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022.
Northwold is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 19.72 km2 (7.61 sq mi) and had a population of 1,070 in 448 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,085 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. The civil parish also includes the hamlets of Whittington and Little London.
Barton Bendish is a civil parish and small ancient village in the English county of Norfolk located 10 miles (16 km) south of King's Lynn and 90 miles (140 km) North East of London. It has two medieval parish churches, and once had three. The parish includes the old hamlet of Eastmoor, and covers 3,936 acres (1,593 ha). The village has been settled since Neolithic times and was expanded during the Saxon period. Today the village has a population of 210 as recorded at the 2010 census and contains eight listed buildings, with the two medieval parishes churches being Grade I.
Binham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 29.3 miles (47.2 km) north west of Norwich, 16.9 miles (27.2 km) west of Cromer and 124 miles (200 km) north north east of London. The village lies 4.9 miles (7.9 km) east south east of the town of Wells-next-the-Sea.
Wretton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 4.7 km2 (1.8 sq mi) and had a population of 392 in 155 households at the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
Castle Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated on the River Nar some 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the town of Swaffham. It is 15 miles (24 km) east of the town of King's Lynn, 33 miles (53 km) west of the city of Norwich, and 103 miles (166 km) from London.
Brandon is a town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. Brandon is located in the Breckland area of Suffolk, close to the adjoining county of Norfolk. It lies between the towns of Bury St Edmunds, Thetford, Mildenhall, Downham Market and the city of Ely. It lies next to Thetford Forest Park.
Stoke Ferry is a closed railway station in Norfolk. It was the terminus of a 7¼ mile branch line from Denver which opened on 1 August 1882 and finally closed to all traffic in 1965.
Wissington in Norfolk is the site of British Sugar's largest refinery in the UK; it is also the largest in Europe. There has been a sugar factory there since 1925; however none of the rest of the village remains, other than the name. British Sugar has opened the UK's first bioethanol plant here.
North Pickenham is a village in the Breckland district of mid-Norfolk, East Anglia, England. It lies three miles from the Georgian market town of Swaffham.
Stoke-by-Clare is a small village and civil parish in Suffolk located in the valley of the River Stour, about two miles west of Clare.
Hilgay is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) from Downham Market. It covers an area of 33.38 km2 (12.89 sq mi) and had a population of 1,341 at the 2011 Census. For local government purposes, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
Fordham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 2.2 miles (3.5 km) north of Downham Market and 39 miles (63 km) west of Norwich, located along the A10 between London and King's Lynn and close to the confluence of the River Wissey and River Great Ouse.
Stoke Ferry is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, 6.5 miles south-east of Downham Market. The village lies on the River Wissey, previously known as the River Stoke. It covers an area of 9.15 km2 (3.53 sq mi) and had a population of 896 in 358 households as of the 2001 UK Census, the population increasing to 1,020 at the 2011 UK Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
The River Gadder is 10.4 km (6.5 mi) long tributary of the River Wissey. It rises from a tiny headwater in the north-east of the parish of Cockley Cley in the English county of Norfolk. The river rises in a watermeadow 0.6 miles (0.97 km) north east of Home Farm.
Winnold House, formerly the Benedictine Priory of St Winwaloe, is a country house in the parish of Wereham in Norfolk, England. The house is constructed from the remaining fragments of a former Benedictine priory. The priory was founded in 1199 and was dissolved in 1321. It was demolished in 1539, and the surviving fragments were incorporated into a house sometime in the 17th century; it was rebuilt in the mid-19th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.