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Cockley Cley

Cockley Cley
All Saints' Church
Cockley Cley is located in Norfolk
Cockley Cley
Cockley Cley
Location within Norfolk
Area25.52 km2 (9.85 sq mi)
Population239 (2021)
• Density9/km2 (23/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTF792042
Civil parish
  • Cockley Cley
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSWAFFHAM
Postcode districtPE37
Dialling code01760
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Norfolk
52°36′24″N 0°38′44″E / 52.60673°N 0.64554°E / 52.60673; 0.64554

Cockley Cley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

Cockley Cley is located 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south-west of Swaffham and 27 miles (43 km) west of Norwich.

History

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The village's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a "clay hill shrouded in trees".[1]

In the Domesday Book, Cockley Cley is recorded as a settlement of 32 households located in the hundred of South Greenhoe. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of King William I and William de Warenne.[2]

Cockley Cley is the site of significant defensive infrastructure built during the Second World War, including a rare example of an "Allan Williams Turret" designed to mount a Lewis gun in an anti-aircraft role.[3]

In August 1974, a decapitated corpse of a woman was discovered near the village. As of 2023, the woman has not been identified.[citation needed]

Between 1975 and 2004, Cockley Cley was home to a mock Iceni village visitor attraction. The site reopened briefly in 2014 as the Iceni Centre but was subsequently forced to close due to dwindling customer numbers.[4]

Geography

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According to the 2021 census, Cockley Cley has a population of 239 people which shows a slight increase from the 232 people recorded in the 2011 census.[5]

The River Gadder rises close to Cockley Cley.

All Saints' Church

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Cockley Cley's parish church is one of Norfolk's 124 existing Anglo-Saxon round-tower churches, and thus dates from the Thirteen Century. All Saints' is located on Swaffham Road and has been Grade II listed since 1960.[6]

The churchtower collapsed on 29 August 1991 and has not been re-built with much of the remaining building dating from a restoration and rebuilding in the Victorian era under the architect, Richard Phipson.[7]

Governance

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Cockley Cley is part of the electoral ward of Bedingfield for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.

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

War Memorial

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Cockley Cley's war memorial is a marble plaque located inside All Saints' Church which lists the following names for the First World War:[8]

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Burial
Cpl. William B. Root 8th Bn., Norfolk Regiment 21 Jul. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Cpl. Frederick Atter 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 19 May 1917 Barlin Cemetery
LCpl. Frederick C. Barker 1st Bn., Essex Regiment 1 Nov. 1915 Alexandria War Cemetery
LCpl. Wallace G. DeRungary 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment 1 Sep. 1918 Achiet-le-Grand Cemetery
Pte. Edward C. Pedgrift 8th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 4 Jun. 1915 St. Lawrence's Churchyard
Pte. Charles R. Wilding 8th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 5 Dec. 1915 Norfolk Cemetery

And, Frederick Diaper and Henry W. T. Norman as well as the following for the Second World War:

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Burial
Mne. Sydney A. Holman H.M. Landing Craft (Flak) L14 24 May 1944 Chatham Naval Memorial
Pte. Russell K. Pigg 2nd Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment 26 May 1940 Mont-Bernanchon Cemetery
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References

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  1. ^ "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  2. ^ "[Cockley] Cley | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  3. ^ "World-War-Two-Allan-Williams-Turret - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Iceni Centre, formerly the Iceni Village, closes despite attempted revival". Eastern Daily Press. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Cockley Cley (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  6. ^ "CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, Cockley Cley - 1077261 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Geograph:: Caister to Croxton :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
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