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Feltwell

Feltwell
Feltwell is located in Norfolk
Feltwell
Feltwell
Location within Norfolk
Area20.14 sq mi (52.2 km2)
Population3,112 (2021 census)
• Density155/sq mi (60/km2)
OS grid referenceTL711905
Civil parish
  • Feltwell
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townThetford
Postcode districtIP26
Dialling code01842
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Norfolk
52°29′11″N 0°31′10″E / 52.486413°N 0.519365°E / 52.486413; 0.519365

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

Feltwell is located 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Thetford and 34 miles (55 km) south-west of Norwich.

History

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Feltwell's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a spring or stream with an abundance of mullein.[1]

Feltwell has good archaeological evidence for Roman settlement, including two unidentified buildings, two villas and two bathhouses which prove the wealth of Feltwell during the Roman era.[2][3]

In the Domesday Book, Feltwell is listed as a settlement of 124 residents in the hundred of Grimshoe. In 1086, the village was divided between the East Anglian estates of King William I, William de Warenne and the Abbey of St Etheldreda, Ely.[4]

In August 1382 the poet John Gower purchased the manors of Feltwell in Norfolk and Moulton in Suffolk. They were then granted to Thomas Blakelake, parson of St Nicholas's, Feltwell, and others, at a rent of £40 annually for his life.[5]

In 1944, an Avro Lancaster of No. 15 Squadron RAF crashed in the parish after a training flight from RAF Mildenhall, the crash site was excavated by the Anglian Aeronautical Preservation Society in 1982.[6]

Geography

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According to the 2021 census, Feltwell has a population of 3,112 people which shows an increase from the 2,825 people listed in the 2011 census.[7]

Feltwell sits along the B1112 between Stoke Ferry and Icklingham and the River Little Ouse.

St. Nicholas' Church

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Main article: St Nicholas Church, Feltwell

St. Nicholas Church is a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. St. Nicholas' is located within the village on Hythe Road.[8] The church was largely rebuilt in the nineteenth century, after the collapse of the tower in 1898, under the direction of Frederick Preedy and was used for Catholic Mass during the Second World War for prisoners of war.[9]

St Mary's Church

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The Church of St Mary, Feltwell

Feltwell's active Church of England parish church, St Mary's, is also a Grade I listed building.[10] It largely dates from the fifteenth century and was built after the site of earlier worship was severely damaged by fire. St Mary's displays East Anglia's finest examples of French stained-glass installed by the Parisian workshops of Édouard Didron and Eugene Oudinot, installed in the nineteenth century. The church was extended in the late-nineteenth century under the oversight, as with St Nicholas, of Frederick Preedy.

Among the memorials in the church is one to Lt-Col. Edward G. Hibbert of the Grenadier Guards, a veteran of the Crimean War and the Battles of Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol.[11]

RAF Feltwell

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Main article: RAF Feltwell

RAF Feltwell opened in 1937 for use by the Royal Air Force and, during the Second World War, hosted the Vickers Wellingtons of No. 37, No. 57 and No. 75 Squadrons RAF on strategic bombing missions of Continental Europe. After the war, Feltwell hosted Thor ballistic missiles for the RAF and was later leased to the United States Air Force. Today, RAF Feltwell is used as an accommodation estate for American servicepeople based at RAF Mildenhall. The base is notable for its three radomes, resembling giant golf balls, that dominate the local countryside.[citation needed]

Amenities

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Feltwell Primary School is named after Sir Edmund de Moundeford, a seventeenth-century Feltwell resident and politician. In 2022, the school was rated as 'Good' by Ofsted.[12]

Feltwell's only remaining public house is called The Wellington, named after the Vickers Wellingtons that flew from RAF Feltwell during the Second World War, which dates from the eighteenth century and has in its history been used as a shop, an off-licence, a restaurant and, most recently, a wine-bar known as 'The Lodge.' The pub opened as The Wellington in 2014.[13] The Chequers closed in 2017 having stood on its current site since the eighteenth century with significant renovation in 1930.[14]

The village is also home to: a General Practice surgery & pharmacy; a veterinarian practice: a car garage and service station; two convenience stores; a hairdressers; a Chinese takeaway; a Fish and Chips takeaway and; a small amount of miscellaneous businesses close to the old snooker hall.[citation needed]

Notable residents

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Governance

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Feltwell is an electoral ward for local elections and is part of the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk

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

War memorial

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Feltwell's war memorial takes the form of a marble Celtic cross above a plinth, located inside St Mary's Churchyard. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:[15][16]

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Burial/Commemoration
Sgt. Edward Ellingford 12th (Rangers) Bn., London Regiment 9 Sep. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Cpl. Arthur Southgate 9th Bn., Norfolk Regiment 18 Oct. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Cpl. Albert J. Spencer 2/5th Bn., Sherwood Foresters 5 Apr. 1918 Braine-le-Comte Cem.
LCpl. Percy Wing 2nd Bn., Loyal Regiment 27 Jun. 1918 Souvenir Cemetery
LCpl. Albert E. Willett[a] 7th Bn., Norfolk Regiment 17 Apr. 1917 Hollybrook Memorial
Dvr. Thomas S. Norbury ASC att. 1/4th Field Ambulance RAMC 15 Nov. 1918 Lille Southern Cemetery
Dvr. Thomas Smith 34th Reserve Park, ASC 9 Aug. 1918 St. Nicholas' Churchyard
Gnr. Percy W. Wright 14th Bde., Royal Field Artillery 25 Sep. 1918 Brie British Cemetery
Gnr. Fred Cooper 61st (Trench Mortar) Bty., RGA 2 Mar. 1916 Menin Gate
Pte. Alfred Wilson 1st Cavalry Div. Ambulance, RAMC 8 Aug. 1918 Vis-en-Artois Memorial
Pte. Ernest E. Laws 11th Bn., Border Regiment 2 Dec. 1917 Tyne Cot
Pte. William Peak 2nd Bn., Coldstream Guards 21 Oct. 1914 Menin Gate
Pte. Archibald Southgate 1st Bn., Essex Regiment 18 Jan. 1917 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. Thomas W. Willett 1st Bn., Essex Regt. 13 Aug. 1915 Helles Memorial
Pte. James W. Whistler 13th Bn., Royal Fusiliers 1 Oct. 1917 Tyne Cot
Pte. Sydney Payne 1st Bn., Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 20 Nov. 1917 Cambrai Memorial
Pte. Frederick J. Wilkin 1st Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers 4 Jun. 1915 Helles Memorial
Pte. Frederick W. Brown 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment 4 Jun. 1916 Faubourg Cemetery
Pte. Bertie Coleman 1st Bn., Norfolk Regt. 14 Sep. 1914 Jouarre Memorial
Pte. Percy Vale 1st Bn., Norfolk Regt. 27 Jul. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. Adrian Bartlett 3rd Bn., Norfolk Regt. 21 Feb. 1917 St. Nicholas' Churchyard
Pte. Walter A. C. Wilkin 3rd Bn., Norfolk Regt. 4 Apr. 1919 St. Nicholas' Churchyard
Pte. Charles W. Pearson 8th Bn., Norfolk Regt. Unknown Unknown
Pte. Harry E. Curtis 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 26 Sep. 1915 Loos Memorial
Pte. Thomas W. Gent 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 16 Sep. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. Walter H. Bullen 1st Bn., Queen's Royal Regiment 25 Sep. 1915 Loos Memorial
Pte. Frederick W. Upcraft 2nd Bn., Queen's Royal Regt. 4 Sep. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. Edwin G. Cracknell 11th Bn., Suffolk Regiment 17 Oct. 1917 Tyne Cot
Pte. George A. Baxter 2/7th Bn., Worcestershire Regiment 25 Aug. 1917 Lijssenthoek Cemetery
Pte. Percy Banham 5th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment 27 May 1918 Soissons Memorial
Pte. Charles W. Vincent 9th Bn., Yorkshire Regt. 16 Oct. 1916 Tyne Cot
Rfn. John T. Rolfe 2nd Bn., King's Royal Rifle Corps 12 Nov. 1917 Tyne Cot
Smth. John E. Emmerson 13th Bde., Royal Horse Artillery 18 Jul. 1917 North Gate Cemetery

The following names were added after the Second World War:

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Burial/Commemoration
Sgt. G. Roy White No. 103 Squadron RAF 4 Jul. 1943 Runnymede Memorial
AS Henry G. Cordy HMS Hostile 23 Aug. 1940 Chatham Naval Memorial
LCpl. Edmund W. Lambert Pioneer Corps 10 Sep. 1944 St. Nicholas' Churchyard
Pte. Dorothy B. Lemon ATS att. 151 Heavy Regt., RA 1 Aug. 1942 St. Nicholas' Churchyard
Pte. Frederick W. Reeve 1/6th Bn., Queen's Royal Regiment 3 Aug. 1944 Bayeux War Cemetery
Pte. Peter T. Lawrence Royal Norfolk Regiment 23 Jul. 1945 St. Nicholas' Churchyard
Pte. Francis A. Manning 6th Bn., Royal Norfolks. 14 Jul. 1941 St. Nicholas' Churchyard
Tel. Raymond B. Walden HMS Salmon 14 Jul. 1940 Chatham Naval Memorial

Footnotes

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References

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  1. ^ "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  2. ^ "mnf5205 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  3. ^ "mnf21137 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  4. ^ "Feltwell | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  5. ^ G.C. Macaulay (ed.). "Introduction, Life of Gower". The Complete Works of John Gower, Vol 4 The Latin Works (PDF). p. vii-xxx.
  6. ^ "mnf18622 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  7. ^ "Feltwell (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  8. ^ Historic England, "Church of St Nicholas, Feltwell (1342364)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 9 April 2015
  9. ^ "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  10. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade I) (1077715)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  12. ^ enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk, Ofsted Communications Team (8 October 2020). "Find an inspection report and registered childcare". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  13. ^ "WELLINGTON - FELTWELL". www.norfolkpubs.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  14. ^ "CHEQUERS - FELTWELL". www.norfolkpubs.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Feltwell". www.roll-of-honour.com. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  16. ^ "Geograph:: Fakenham to Fundenhall :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2025.

Notes

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  1. ^ LCpl. Willett was killed during the sinking of HMT Donegal which was torpedoed whilst returning to Southampton from northern France.
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Media related to Feltwell at Wikimedia Commons