Clenchwarton is a village,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

and electoral ward 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 id ...

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 Nort ...

. It is located about west of the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the W ...

, about from the town 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 located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, ...

on the east side of the river.

History

Clenchwarton's name is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

origin and derives from the Old English for a hill dweller's farmstead or settlement. In the Domesday Book, Clenchwarton is recorded as an abandoned village with no recorded population in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Freebridge. The village was part of the estates of William d'Ecounis. The abandonment of the village was likely the result of the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

reprisals in retaliation for the Ely Rebellion of 1070, led by

Hereward the Wake Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resista ...

. The village was also surveyed by the Victorian traveller,

John Marius John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, in the 1870s. He wrote the following about the village in the ''

Imperial Gazetteer Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

'': "church is old but good. There are a N.Methodist chapel, and a national school."

Geography

In the 2011 Census, Clenchwarton was recorded as having a population of 2,171 residents living in 963 households. Clenchwarton falls within the constituency of North West Norfolk and is represented at

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

by James Wild MP of the Conservative Party.

St. Margaret's Church

Clenchwarton's parish church is of

origin and is dedicated to

Saint Margaret of Scotland Saint Margaret of Scotland ( gd, Naomh Maighréad; sco, Saunt Marget, ), also known as Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess and a Scottish queen. Margaret was sometimes called "The Pearl of Scotland". Born in the Kingdom of Hungary to th ...

. The church was significantly remodelled in the Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Nineteenth Centuries and is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. One of the main features of the church is a stained glass window installed by Hardman & Co. in the 1920s depicting Mary Elizabeth Townsend. Clenchwarton is also home to a Methodist Church which still hosts regular services.

Amenities

Most local children attend the local Clenwarton Primary School which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust. The school was rated 'Good' by Ofsted in 2017. The village is home to Clenchwarton Football Club which hosts several youth and adult teams. The first XI compete in the North-West Norfolk Saturday League. The FA. (2022). Retrieved December 11, 2022. https://fulltime.thefa.com/displayTeam.html?divisionseason=253179816&teamID=653967848 The village is also home to a lawn bowls team.

Transport

Clenchwarton Railway Station opened in 1866 as part of the Lynn and Sutton Bridge Railway and was eventually closed in 1959.

War Memorial

Clenchwarton's has two war memorials located inside St. Margaret's Church and on the nearby 'Peace Cottages.' It lists the following names for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

: * Lance-Corporal Arthur W. Benton (1895-1918), 9th Battalion,

Duke of Wellington's Regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he ...

* Lance-Corporal Charles A. Maycraft (1895-1916), 1st Battalion,

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

* Driver Herbert E. Chamberlain (1890-1915),

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and d ...

* Driver Alfred H. Collison (d.1917), 83rd Brigade,

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link r ...

* Gunner William E. Killingsworth (d.1917), 177th Brigade,

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...

* Private Henry W. Peake (d.1916), 6th Battalion,

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service in ...

* Private Samuel G. Vincent (1886-1917), 6th Battalion, Royal East Kent Regiment * Private Alfred Beaumont (d.1917), 2nd Battalion,

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

* Private Ralph Coates (d.1918), 1st (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment * Private Alfred C. Meek (1897-1918), 2/6th Battalion,

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96t ...

* Private George E. Maycraft (1898-1917), 1/5th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Joseph Howard (1893-1918), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Walter S. Meek (d.1915), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Sydney E. Killingsworth (d.1918), 2nd Battalion,

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's O ...

* Private William H. Haynes (1898-1918), 11st Battalion,

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before bein ...

* Sapper H. Coates (d.1919), 287th (Army Troops) Company, Royal Engineers * Stoker Harry Coy (1865-1917), '' HMS Vanguard'' And, the following for 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

: * Leading-Aircraftman Ernest G. Usher (d.1946),

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

* Pilot-Sergeant Russell E. Fuller (1923-1943), No. 77 Squadron RAF * Gunner Ernest F. W. Wake (1920-1942), 2nd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery * Private Arthur G. Gompertz (1903-1940),

* Private Cecil V. Hare (d.1942), 30th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment And, the following for the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency ( gr, Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–59), also known as the Greek Cypriot War of Independence or Cypriot War of Independence, was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between November ...

: * Private Clifford J. Gosling (1936-1956), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment

References

External links

Villages in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub