Little Cressingham lies south east by road from

Great Cressingham Great Cressingham is a Norfolk village which lies about of Watton, south of Swaffham and only off the A1065 arterial road just north of Hilborough Hilborough is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is ...

, west of Watton and south of

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

in the

Breckland District Breckland is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Dereham. The district had a population of 130,491 at the 2011 Census. The district derives its name from the Breckland landscape region, a gorse-covered sandy ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. It covers an area of and had a population of 157 in 70 households at the 2001 census It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

. The village is located on the edge of the Stanford Battle Area. The villages name origin is uncertain but probably means 'Homestead/village of Cressa's people', or perhaps, 'cress homestead/village'. The village is dispersed, with the main centre focused on a crossroads around the church and the mill. The village church is dedicated to St Andrew and is partially ruined.St Andrew, Little Cressingham
Norfolk Churches. Retrieved 2011-05-02. The building is medieval and designated as a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

.Church of St Andrew, Little Cressingham
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-05-02. The village is in the Benefice of Cockley Cley. The

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fu ...

Church of All Saints at Threxton lies to the east of the village.Church of All Saints, Little Cressingham
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-05-02. The village pub, The White Horse, closed in 2004. Next to the church is the old Free School founded and endowed by William Farrer in 1809 and built at a cost of £144. It is now the village hall. The mill at Little Cressingham, a Grade II* listed building, is both a water and wind mill, one of only two in Norfolk.Wind and Water Mill, Little Cressingham
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-05-02. It was built in about 1820 on the Clermont Estate and is now disused. Little Cressingham Wind - Watermill - geograph

Little Cressingham Wind - Watermill - geograph

Clermont estate

The Clermont Estate in Threxton, hamlet near Little Cressingham, was created by the Irish peer William Henry Fortescue (1722–1806), Earl of Clermont, friend of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. He built Clermont Lodge as a shooting box and it was extended for his nephew and heir William Charles Fortescue (1764–1829), Viscount Clermont to designs by the architect William Pilkington. Pilkington was a pupil and assistant to

Sir Robert Taylor Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788) was an English architect and sculptor who worked in London and the south of England. Early life Born at Woodford, Essex, Taylor followed in his father's footsteps and started working as a stonemason and sculptor ...

(architect of the Bank of England). Following Viscount Clermont's death without issue Clermont Estate was sold to Sir Francis Lyttleton Holyoake Goodricke in 1844 and in 1858 it was purchased by the 2nd Duke of Wellington. In 1863 he conveyed the Hilborough and Clermont Estates to John Remington Mills.John Remington Mills was one of two sons of Samuel Mills (d 1847) of Russell Square. Both sons bought country estates. Thomas Mills, barrister and MP, bought Tolmers in Hertfordshire (which his brother inherited) and John Remington Mills bought the Hilborough and Clermont Estates at Little Cressingham, retaining property and business interests in London and elsewhere. In 1869 Mills bought the Watton estate and an outlying farm at Tottenhill in Norfolk. His son Joseph Trueman Mills added the South Pickenham estate, Norfolk. Clermont Hall exterior 5

The last owner of Clermont Hall was Sir Richard Prince-SmithRichard Prince-Smith died in June 2007 at his home in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and locate ...

''Yorkshire Post'': Obituary
/ref> who acquired the estate in 1966 and sold it in 1997. The estate, which originally extended to , was broken up from 1977 onwards. Much of it is now owned by the UK Ministry of Defence. Clermont House was built in 1971/2 in the walled garden of Clermont Hall as a replacement for Clermont Hall and as an agent's house. John Davies, Prince-Smith's resident land agent from 1971—1997, bought Clermont House in 1977. Davies added to the house in later years and in 1983 developed an arboretum extending which is open to public visitors. In 1972 Clermont Hall was found to be riddled with dry rot but attempts to demolish were thwarted by the imposition of a preservation order. The hall was sold in 1973 to Philip Jones, an artist, who demolished the servants quarters and restored the main house in of land with cottages.

Footnotes

References

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Great%20and%20Little%20Cressingham {{authority control Villages in Norfolk Breckland District Civil parishes in Norfolk