Bylaugh 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in 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 ...

. Bylaugh is located north-east of

Dereham Dereham (), also known historically as East Dereham, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of the England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about west of the city of Norwich ...

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 ...

. Due to its small size, Bylaugh is often included with the nearby parish of Sparham.

History

Bylaugh'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 either a funeral-pyre enclosure or a wood clearing enclosure. 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 ...

, Bylaugh is recorded as a settlement of 14 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 Eynesford. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Alan of Brittany.

Bylaugh Hall Bylaugh Hall, also known as Bylaugh Park, is a country house situated in the parish of Bylaugh in Norfolk, England. History The estate was acquired by Sir John Lombe Bt (c. 1731–1817) in 1796. His fortune came from his family's silk throwing ...

, built of stone in 1851, and its estate are immediately above the church.Bylaugh Hall - Grade II* - The house is currently under restoration after it was stripped of its lead and interior fittings, and abandoned in 1950. The hall was the headquarters of 100 Group Royal Air Force 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 ...

. Its flat (

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

) roof has "obelisks and heraldic beasts". Its gatepiers, farm-enclosing railings and gazebo are separately listed, as is a farmbuilding and clocktower. Rustic farmbuildings at Park Farm are listed at Grade II*. Bylaugh Old Hall remains as a farm in the village. It is a brick building dating from the 17th century.

Geography

The 2011 census statistics for the parish are unavailable due to its small size. It forms the western third or so of the E00134328 Output Area that had 315 inhabitants: of these, 314 lived in a whole house or bungalow and only one lived in a flat. None lived in a caravan, other mobile or temporary structure. This smaller than average parish has three farms and is bounded to the south by the

River Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England, 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 Conservatio ...

. The rest of its people have smallholdings, live in the distant row of three cottages or live in homes in the Bylaugh Hall grounds. Its shape, due to the river bends immediately south, resembles a

molar (tooth) The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone too ...

. Approximately one sixth of Bylaugh is made up of its northern woodland, Bylaugh Wood, which adjoins

Bawdeswell Bawdeswell () is a small rural village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. At the time of the 2011 census it had a population of 828 and an area of 487 hectares. The village is situated almost in the centre of Norfolk about northwest of No ...

Heath, separated by the road between that village and

, the nearest main town. Elevations range from 47 m in the grounds of Bylaugh Hall at its centre, to 22 m above mean sea level in the southwest corner, just above

Elsing Elsing is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Elsing is located north-east of Dereham and north-west of Norwich, close to the course of the River Wensum. History Elsing's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives f ...

mill. Like much of north Norfolk, the parish has a significant minority of woodland, its other named (and largest) woods being the Elsing Lodge/Jubilee Plantation and Sparhamhole Plantation.Grid square map

Ordnance survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

website A sewage treatment works in the south of the village treats primarily the effluent of

Swanton Morley Swanton Morley is a village and civil parish situated in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated in the heart of Norfolk 18 miles from the centre of Norwich and three miles from Dereham, at the geographical centre of Norfolk. It covers an ...

and

, preventing damage to the canoe-navigable River Wensum.

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

Bylaugh'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 is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining

round-tower churches 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 Berks ...

. The church is located at the edge of Bylaugh Park and has been Grade I listed since 1960. The church was significantly re-built in 1809 by

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

at the expense of Sir John Lombe who is buried in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. A plaque on the west side of the church states: ''The chancel of this church rebuilt, the North and South transepts added. The tower buttress, windows, roof and battlements substantially rebuilt and repaired. And the interior of this church and chancel fitted up at the sole expense of Sir John Lombe Bart. – Patron''

Governance

Bylaugh 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 Upper Wensum 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 ...

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 ...

. The village's national constituency is

Mid Norfolk Mid Norfolk is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2010 by George Freeman (po ...

which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.

War Memorial

A stone memorial inside St. Mary's Church is dedicated to all British war dead from 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 ...

and

as Bylaugh was believed to be a Thankful Village. Despite this, one casualty is listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database as having lived in the village and died during the First World War, he is listed below:

Notes

References

External links

St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches Website
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk Breckland District