Bircham Newton is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Bircham, in the

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The district also includes the t ...

district, in the county of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England. Bircham Newton is located north of Great Bircham, north-east of

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

and north-west of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

History

Bircham Newton's name is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin and derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for the new settlement close to Bircham. The origin of 'Bircham' is unknown. Bircham Newton is listed 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as a settlement of 19 households in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Docking. In 1086, Bircham Newton was part of the estates of Ralph de Beaufour. Within Bircham Newton is 'The Old House' which is largely Seventeenth Century in origin with further Eighteenth and Twentieth Century additions. The building is Grade II listed.

Geography

Bircham Newton is located along the B1153, which runs between Narborough and Brancaster. According to the 1931 census, Bircham Newton had a population of 487. This was the last time separate population statistics were collected for Bircham Newton. On 1 April 1935, Bircham Newton was merged with Great Bircham and Bircham Tofts to form the civil parish of Bircham.

All Saints' Church

Bircham Newton's parish church is dedicated to All Saints and originates from the Twelfth Century. The church was gently restored in 1858 under the leadership of the churchwarden, P. Jarrett. Inside the church there are a set of royal arms from the reign of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

and a memorial to John James Stephens Ward (an illegitimate grandson of Admiral Horatio Nelson).

RAF Bircham Newton

In 1916, land close to Bircham Newton was developed into a base for the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The base was in further use during the inter-war period and saw further service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a base for

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

. From 1966 until 2020 the airfield was the home of the Construction Industry Training Board. In February 2020, the CITB announced it had sold its training provision to

West Suffolk College West Suffolk College is a Further Education college in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The college delivers a range of courses, including vocational and technical courses, apprenticeships, and an array of higher-apprenticeships and bachelor's degree ...

, based in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

, aiming to continue construction industry training provision at the site.

Governance

Bircham Newton is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Bircham with Ruddhams for local elections and is part of 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, municip ...

. The village's national constituency is North West Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's James Wild since 2010.

War Memorial

Bircham Newton's war memorial is shared with Great Bircham and takes the form of a stone cross atop a marble plaque. The following men from Bircham Newton are listed on the war memorial as having fallen during the

: *

References

External links

.
Information from Genuki Norfolk
on Bircham Newton.
The Hauntings of Bircham NewtonCITB Approved Training Provider
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Former civil parishes in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk