North Elmham

North Elmham
Remains on the site of a Saxon cathedral
North Elmham Location within Norfolk
Area	19.20 km2 (7.41 sq mi)
Population	1,433 (2011)
• Density	75/km2 (190/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TF985208
Civil parish	North Elmham
District	Breckland
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DEREHAM
Postcode district	NR20
Dialling code	01362
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Mid Norfolk

North Elmham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 7.41 sq mi (19.2 km²) and is located about 5 mi (8.0 km) north of East Dereham, on the west bank of the River Wensum. Including Gateley, the civil parish had a population of 1,428 in 624 households at the 2001 census; this increased slightly to 1,433 at the 2011 census.

North Elmham was the site of a pre-Norman cathedral, seat of the Bishop of Elmham until 1075. For the purposes of local government, it lies within the Elmham and Mattishall division of Norfolk County Council and the Upper Wensum ward of Breckland District Council. The village is located along the B1145, a route which runs between King's Lynn and Mundesley.

History

St Mary's church, North Elmham

The name North Elmham comes from the Old English, meaning "village where elms grow" and is first mentioned in 1035. Only ruins now survive of a Norman chapel which is now looked after by English Heritage. The chapel is on the site of an earlier Anglo Saxon timber cathedral which housed the episcopal throne of the bishops of Elmham from around 672 until the episcopal see was moved to Thetford in 1071. A mid 9th-century copper-alloy hanging censer was discovered at North Elmham in 1786. The earthworks and ruins at North Elmham stewarded by English Heritage are thought to be the remains of Bishop Herbert de Losinga's late 11th-century episcopal church and the late 14th-century double-moated castle built on this by Henry le Despenser, Bishop of Norwich. Henry came from a powerful family who had strong links with the House of Plantagenet and the notorious 'favourites' of King Edward II.

To the south lies Spong Hill, the home of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, excavated in the late twentieth century, by Dr Catherine Hills.

To the north of the village was the Norfolk County School which, on closing in the 1890s, was taken over for the Watts Naval School; the fine buildings have now been demolished. This was the birthplace of the actor John Mills.

County School railway station served the school and today is preserved by the Mid-Norfolk Railway as a small visitor centre. North Elmham railway station once served the village on the line from Wymondham to Fakenham East. The building still exists but is now a residential home, although the railway line remains and is under restoration to use. A section of the line, between North Elmham and County School station, includes a permissive footpath.

North Elmham Mill, known locally as Grint Mill, had two breastshot waterwheels until the early 20th century when they were replaced by two turbines. By the 1970s the milling machinery was driven by mains electricity while the turbines were used to drive a sack hoist and two mixing machines. The mill continued to produce animal feed into the late 20th century.

Notable residents

• John Mills, actor, was born in the village.

See also

Anglo-Saxon cinerary urn with swastika motifs from North Elmham, 5th or 6th century, British Museum

• South Elmham in Suffolk
• Spong Hill archaeological site

Further reading

• Bede, Ecclesiastical History of England
• Rainbird Clarke, R. East Anglia (London, 1960)
• White, William. History, Gazetteer, & Directory of Norfolk, (1845)
• Whitelock, Dorothy. 'The pre-Viking Church in East Anglia', Anglo-Saxon England, 1 (1972), doi:10.1017/S0263675100000053

External links

Media related to North Elmham at Wikimedia Commons

• History of North Elmham Chapel: English Heritage