Bodney is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

Hilborough Hilborough is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The parish of Hilborough also includes Bodney. Hilborough is located south of Swaffham and west-southwest of Norwich, along the A1065 road. History Hilborough's ...

, in the

Breckland Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a la ...

district of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 ...

. Bodney is located north of

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

and 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 ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 70.

History

Bodney'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 Beoda's'' island.' This suggests that in the Early Medieval Period the area around the settlement was completely surrounded by marshland. 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 ...

, Bodney is listed 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 Greenhoe. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of William of Warenne, Ralph of Tosny and Hugh de Montfort. Bodney Hall Farmhouse, located within the village, dates back to the Sixteenth Century with significant Eighteenth Century additions. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Hilborough. During the Second World War, warplanes operated from RAF Bodney. From 1940 to 1943, the airfield was used by the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...

s of No. 21 and No. 82 Squadron and, subsequently, from 1943 to 1945 by the 149th, 486th and

487th Fighter Squadron The 487th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It activated during World War II and was assigned to the 352nd Fighter Group of VIII Fighter Command. After training in the United States, it deployed to the European Thea ...

s of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Geography

The B1108, between

Carbrooke Carbrooke is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Carbrooke is located east of Watton, north-east of Thetford and west of Norwich. History Carbrooke's name is of mixed Anglo-Saxon and Viking origin and derives fro ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, runs through the village. As well as the course of the

River Wissey The River Wissey is a river in Norfolk, eastern England. It rises near Bradenham, and flows for nearly to join the River Great Ouse at Fordham. The lower are navigable. The upper reaches are notable for a number of buildings of historic int ...

St. Mary's Church

Bodney's parish church is dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and dates in the most part from the 12th century. The church was significantly remodelled in the 19th century, but a

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

survives within from the 15th century. St. Mary's has been Grade II listed since 1960.

Governance

Bodney 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 Ashill 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

South West Norfolk South West Norfolk is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 by Terr ...

which has been represented by Labour's

Terry Jermy Terry James Jermy is a British politician and journalist who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the South West Norfolk constituency since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he defeated former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who had represe ...

since 2024.

References

External links

Villages in Norfolk Former civil parishes in Norfolk Breckland District {{authority control