Stanford is a deserted 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 ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 is situated some north of the town of

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

and southwest 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 See of Norwich, with ...

. The villages name means 'stony ford'. The village became deserted when it was taken over by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

as part of the Stanford Battle Area, an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

training area that is still in use. The village and most of the parish are within a prohibited area and access is not allowed without special permission from the Army. The parish church of All Saints, like the other surviving churches within the training area, is fitted with blast-proof sheeting to protect the structure, and wire fencing surrounds the church and churchyard to protect from military manoeuvres. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 8 in 4 households. 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of Breckland.Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001).
Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes
''. Retrieved 2 December 2005. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100 and was included in the

of Croxton.

Notes

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Stanford

External links

*
All Saints on the European Round Tower Churches websiteInformation from Genuki Norfolk
on Stanford.

on the Stanford Battle Area and its deserted villages and churches. Villages in Norfolk Former populated places in Norfolk Ghost towns in England Civil parishes in Norfolk Breckland District {{Norfolk-geo-stub Forcibly depopulated communities in the United Kingdom during World War II