Reepham () is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

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 ...

in the

Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. The population of the local authority district taken at the 2011 Census was 124,646. Its council is based in Thorpe St Andrew. In 2013, Broadland w ...

district 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 No ...

, England. Reepham is situated on the B1145 road between the Bure and

Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. The Wensum is ...

valleys. The town is northwest 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 See of Norwich, with ...

.Towns and villages of Broadland
Retrieved 17 November 2008 At the time of the 2001 census the

(including Pettywell) had a population of 2,455 residents in 970 households, occupying an area of . increasing to a population of 2,709 in 1,169 households at the 2011 census.

History

The town is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086, in which it is listed as ''Refham'' meaning the bailiff's or reeve's manor from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

(bailiff) and (homestead). Reepham has had

status since 1277; a sign to mark this has recently been erected. The town has undergone significant development throughout its life, with the

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

in the area showing a mix of vintages, styles and purposes.

Recent discoveries

In June 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of gold

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

thought to have been lost in the Black Death and dated back to the reign of Edward III near Reepham. According to researcher Helen Geake, one of the rare coins was 23 karat and known as a leopard, while other was called a noble. They were equal to £12,000 today and probably would have been owned by high ranked person.

Today

Recent housing developments have mostly been on

brownfield land In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

so have not significantly expanded the perimeter of the town. The town has both a secondary school, Reepham High School and College, which achieved the highest grade – Outstanding – in every category in its 2008 Ofsted inspection, and a primary school. The Reepham Society is a registered charity, set up in 1976 to stimulate public interest in Reepham, Hackford, Kerdiston, Salle and Whitwell. The town was one of the filming locations of the ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...

'' episode ''The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor''.

Religion

Twin churches

Reepham is one of only two places in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

to have three churches on the same site. Reepham's church of St. Mary is joined by its choir vestry to St. Michael's, Whitwell. The third church (All Saints') belonged to Hackford but burned down in 1543 and now only a fragment of the tower wall remains on the left of the path leading towards the market place. The three churches were built on their parish boundaries. Reepham church contains the fine tomb of Sir Roger de Kerdiston, 1337; Whitwell church has a Jacobean pulpit.

Shrine of Our Lady of Reepham

In medieval times, Reepham Church was an important place of pilgrimage. Although it was less famous than the shrine at Walsingham, people came on pilgrimage to Reepham to visit the image of Our Lady of Reepham, which had many miracles attributed to it. What form this image took is unknown. It may have been a statue, or perhaps a wood carving. There is evidence to suggest its importance and it is mentioned in the 15th-century will of Alice Cook of Horstead, who wrote that after her death, in order to smooth her passage from this world to the next, she would "Have a man goo a pilgrimage to our Lady of Reifham".

Town sign

The town sign was designed by the local high school and installed in 1992. Carved by the then head of Craft Design & Technology Mr. Geldard, and painted by male student Kerry Daniels, it depicts three of each of the following elements: churches, villagers, farm labourers, sheep, lambs and "sisters" and refers to a myth that three sisters were each responsible for building a church. In fact, the three churches were built over several generations.

Transport

Roads

The B1145, which connects King's Lynn with

Mundesley Mundesley /ˈmʌndz.li/ is a coastal village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is north-north east of Norwich, south east of Cromer and north east of London. The village lies north-north east of the town of Nort ...

, runs through the town.

Railway

Reepham is no longer connected to the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

network. The nearest station is in

, 14 miles away.

History

By 1882, the town had two stations, located on different tracks and each managed by a separate railway company. Whitwell station was on the M&GN's

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Melton Constable Melton Constable is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 518 in 225 households at the 2001 census. The population had increased to 618 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of ...

branch line. Reepham station was on the

GEN Gen may refer to: * ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar * Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series * Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series * Gen l ...

Wroxham Wroxham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Wroxham has an area of 6.21 square kilometres, and in 2001, had a population of 1,532 in 666 households. A reduced population of 1,502 in 653 households ...

to County School station line. In 1960, the tracks were joined by the construction of the Themelthorpe Curve; the work was carried out by British Rail, to facilitate the movement of concrete products from Lenwade. Today, the railway trackbed forms the

Marriott's Way The Marriott's Way is a long-distance footpath, cycle-path and bridleway in north Norfolk, England, between Norwich and Aylsham via Themelthorpe. It forms part of the National Cycle Network (NCN) (Route 1) and the red route of Norwich's Pedal ...

, a long-distance footpath between

and

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, ...

; both former stations are notable stops on the path.

Buses

Sanders Coaches Sanders Coaches is a bus operator based in Holt, Norfolk, England. It is operated by Charles Sanders. As of September 2021, it has approximately 115 employees. History Sanders Coaches was founded on 1 December 1975 by Norman J Sanders, follo ...

provide bus services to and from the town. The most regular services are on routes 43/A/B to

and Norwich.

Cycling

National Cycle Route 1 The cycle-path is located in the United Kingdom. Route Dover to Canterbury Dover , Deal , Sandwich , Canterbury Links with National Cycle Route 2, Regional route 16, and Regional route 17 in Dover. Leaves Dover passing Dover Castle. S ...

passes through the town.

Sport

The Reepham and Salle Cricket Club have their home ground in Salle, a village to the north of the town.Reepham and Salle Cricket Club
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Notable residents

* George Goodwin Kilburne (1839–1924), artist * Keith Simpson,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP for

References

External links

Reepham Town CouncilOur Lady of Reepham
{{authority control Towns in Norfolk Market towns in Norfolk Broadland Civil parishes in Norfolk