Potter Heigham is a village and

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 ...

on the

River Thurne The River Thurne is a river in Norfolk, England in The Broads. Just long, it rises from the coast near Martham Broad and is navigable from West Somerton. It flows southwest and is linked by Candle Dyke and Heigham Sound to both Horsey Mere ...

in the English county of

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 Nor ...

. It is situated north-east of the city of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

on the A149 road, and within the Broads. The village is known for its mediaeval bridge and the Church of St Nicholas. There are two national nature reserves within the parish; the

Ludham - Potter Heigham NNR Ludham - Potter Heigham Marshes is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. Part of the site is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and a National Nature Reserve. It is part of the Broadland Ramsa ...

is to the west of the village whilst the Heigham Holmes NNR is to the east. The

Weavers Way The Weavers' Way is a long-distance footpath in Norfolk, England. Much of the Weavers’ Way footpath follows the old trackbed of the Aylsham to Great Yarmouth railway line, which was operated by the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway an ...

, a

long distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

, also passes through the village on its way from

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

History

The village's name means 'Hatch homestead/village' or perhaps, 'hedge homestead/village'. There is evidence for

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

industry here hence the 'Potter' addition. The parish of Potter Heigham (pronounced locally as Ham) has a number of features related to the World Wars.

Hickling Broad Hickling Broad is a nature reserve 4 km south-east of Stalham, north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It is a National Nature Reserve and part of the Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes Site of Specia ...

, to the north of the parish, was used as a seaplane base during World War I. Part of Ludham Airstrip, a now shrunken remnant of a larger World War II airbase, is also built on parish lands, and there were a number of defensive structures around the medieval bridge. The Museum of The Broads was opened in Potter Heigham in 1996, and moved to its current location at the Poor's Staithe in

Stalham Stalham is a market town and civil parish on the River Ant in the English county of Norfolk, in East Anglia. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,951 in 1,333 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 3,149 at the 20 ...

in 1999.

Government

The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 961 in 425 households, the population increasing to 1,043 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was ...

and the county of Norfolk. As in other broadland villages, the areas adjacent to the river fall under the administration of the

Broads Authority The Broads Authority is the agency which has statutory responsibility for the Broads in England. Originally, the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England), pressed for a special authority to manage the Broads which had been neglected for ...

Main sights

Sailing on the Thurne through Potter Heigham (20618071264)

Apart from the church of St Nicholas and the medieval bridge, Potter Heigham has a number of buildings of historic or architectural note. These include the Heigham Holmes windpump to the east of the parish, High's mill on the River Thurne, and Sunways corn mill, all of which are listed buildings. The village is home to Lathams of Potter Heigham, a department store opened in 1964, but now owned by the QD Stores group.

Church of St Nicholas

Potter Heigham church is dedicated to

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Dem ...

, the patron saint of fishermen and children. The earliest surviving feature is the round tower, which dates from the 12th century and has a 14th-century octagonal extension, one of the best preserved in the country.Pevsner, N. and Wilson, B. (1991). ''The Buildings of England. Norfolk 2: North-West and South'', London: Penguin Books. It is famed for its

hammerbeam A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "...the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams ...

roof and the almost unique 15th-century brick font. The church also contains a scheme of wall paintings dating from the 14th century, the most readable of which depicts the Seven Works of Mercy. When the roof was re-thatched it required about 1850 bundles of reed. It is one of 124 existing

round-tower church Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, mostly in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, six in Essex, three in Sussex and two each in Cambridgeshire and Berksh ...

es in Norfolk. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Potter Heigham Bridge

Potter Heigham Bridge is a mediaeval bridge, believed to date from 1385, famous for being the most difficult to navigate in the Broads. The bridge opening is so narrow that only small cruisers can pass through it, and then only at low water, usually with the help of resident pilots at Phoenix Fleet boatyard next to the Bridge - there is a fee of £20 - £10 each way for holiday craft in the summer. Hire boats from the main agencies pay 50%, i.e. £10 for both trips. A modern roadbridge is close by.

Folklore

A tale is told that in 1742 Lady Carew and her daughter Evelyn were taken away on Evelyn's wedding day by a phantom coach driven by skeletons. The coach reportedly caught alight as it crossed Potter Heigham bridge. It is also said that the ghost of a drummer boy skates across the Broad during the month of February.

Notable people

*The Norfolk humourist

Sidney Grapes Sidney Samuel Grapes (6 June 1887 – 28 April 1958)''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995'' was a British comedian, the owner of a bicycle shop and later a garage in Potter Heigh ...

lived and worked in Potter Heigham. He was famous for his collection of

Norfolk dialect East Anglian English is a dialect of English spoken in East Anglia, primarily in or before the mid-20th century. East Anglian English has had a very considerable input into modern Estuary English, which has largely replaced it. However, it has r ...

letters entitle
''The Boy John Letters''
which were originally published in the

Eastern Daily Press The ''Eastern Daily Press'' (''EDP'') is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, northern parts of Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire, and is published daily in Norwich, UK. Founded in 1870 as a broadsheet called the ''Eastern Counties Daily P ...

. *

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...

set his books '' Coot Club'' and '' The Big Six'' in the Norfolk Broads, and Potter Heigham features as a location in both.

Notes

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Potter%20Heigham

External links

.
Information from Genuki Norfolk
on Potter Heigham.
St Nicholas on the European Round Tower Churches website
*Southall, A. (2006
'A Vision of Britain Through Time: Potter Heigham CP'
{{authority control North Norfolk Norfolk Broads Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk