Caistor St. Edmund 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 Caistor St. Edmund and Bixley, in the English 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 ...

. Caistor St. Edmund is located east of

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies on the River Tiffey, south-west of Norwich and just off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The pari ...

and south 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 ...

. The village is located along the course of the River Tas

History

The remnants of the capital of the Iceni tribe,

Venta Icenorum Venta Icenorum (, literally "marketplace of the Iceni") was the civitas or capital of the Iceni tribe, located at modern-day Caistor St Edmund in the English county of Norfolk. The Iceni inhabited the flatlands and marshes of that county and ...

, are located nearby and are now in the care of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust. It is presumed that the Stone Street

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

runs from Dunwich in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

to Caistor St Edmund. Caistor St. Edmund'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 Saint Edmund's Roman settlement. 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 ...

of 1086, Caistor St Edmund is recorded as a settlement of 26 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 Henstead. The village was divided between Ralph de Beaufour and Bury St Edmunds Abbey. Caistor Old Hall was built in 1612 for Thomas Pettus, 1st Baronet and remained in the Pettus family until the Nineteenth Century when it passed to the Spurrells of

Thurgarton Thurgarton is a small Village#United Kingdom, village in rural Nottinghamshire, England. The village is close to Southwell, Nottinghamshire, Southwell, and Newark-on-Trent and still within commuting distance to Nottingham. It is served by Thur ...

. 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 ...

, two of the original Chain Home Radar pylons were erected in Caistor. As of 2013, one of the radar pylons is still standing. On 1 April 2019, the parish was merged with Bixley to form "Caistor St Edmund and Bixley". Listed buildings within Caistor include The Old Rectory (Eighteenth Century) and Queen Anne Cottage (c.1729).

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Caistor St. Edmund (including Bixley) has a population of 499 people which shows a slight increase from the 433 people recorded in the 2011 census. The River Tas runs through the parish as does the A47, between

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

St. Edmund's Church

Caistor St. Edmund's parish church is dedicated to Saint Edmund and dates to the Fourteenth Century. St. Edmund's is located on Stoke Road and has been Grade II listed since 1959. The church has had many additions and repairs made to it over the years with stone from

and also boasts a large, carved

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 ...

Notable Residents

Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, from Brittonic languages, Brythonic * 'victory, win' + * 'having' suffix, i.e. 'Victorious Woman', known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh language, Welsh as , ) was a queen of the Iceni, ancient ...

- (??- 60AD) Queen of the Iceni, likely lived in Caistor.

In popular culture

Steve Coogan's comedy character, Alan Partridge was married in St. Edmund's Church.

Governance

Caistor St. Edmund 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 Poringland, Framinghams & Trowse 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 ...

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. The largest town is Wymondham, and the district also includes the towns of Costessey, Diss, Harleston, Hingham, Loddon and Long Stratton. The council was based in Long S ...

. The village's national constituency is

which has been represented by the Labour's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

War Memorial

Caistor St. Edmund's war memorial is a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

octagonal cross with a crucifix on its eastern front which was unveiled by Reverend J. C. Warren in 1922. The memorial is located beside Stoke Road and has been Grade II listed since 2017. The memorial lists the following names for 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, the following for the

References

External links

Defra walk around the site

Norfolk Archaeological TrustSouth Norfolk CouncilCaistor St Edmund Parish Council
--> {{authority control Villages in Norfolk Former civil parishes in Norfolk South Norfolk