Edgefield is a village and a civil parish 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 A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. Edgefield is located south of Holt and 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

Edgefield'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 an enclosed area of parkland. 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 ...

, Edgefield is listed as a settlement of 36 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 Holt. In 1086, the village was divided between the

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

n estates of

Peter de Valognes Peter de Valognes (1045–1110) was a Norman noble who became a great landowner in England following his part as a commander in the 1066 Norman conquest of England. Land holdings Between 1070 and 1076, Peter de Valognes was granted lands in th ...

and Ranulf, brother of Ilger. 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 ...

, defensive emplacements including a mortar battery and searchlight were built in Edgefield in preparation for a potential

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

invasion of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Edgefield has a population of 436 people which shows an increase from the 385 people recorded in the 2011 census. Edgefield is bisected by the B1149, between Holt and

. The nearest railway station is at

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is a seaside town and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District ...

for the

Bittern Line The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the Eurasian bittern, bittern, a r ...

which runs between

and

. The nearest airport is

Norwich International Airport Norwich Airport is an international airport in Norfolk, England, north of the city of Norwich. In 2023, Norwich Airport was the 25th Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic, busiest airport in the UK and busiest in ...

. The village is situated on the B1149 between

and Holt road.

Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

Edgefield's parish church is jointly dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

and

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and was re-built in 1883 and 1884 by J.D. Sedding during the tenure of Reverend Walter Macron. St. Peter & St. Paul's is located close to the village on Sweetbriar Lane, and has been Grade II listed since 1987. The church also possesses good examples of twentieth-century stained glass by John Hayward and 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 ...

made from

Purbeck Marble Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone. Geology S ...

and dating from the thirteenth century. Rev. Marcon is commemorated in the church where he is depicted riding his bicycle in a stained-glass window, which also commemorates the building of the church. The Thirteenth Century churchtower from the medieval church still stands in a farmyard on the road to Hunworth. It is octagonal in shape and built from flint and

carrstone Carrstone (or carstone, also known as Silsoe, heathstone, ironstone or gingerbread) is a sedimentary sandstone conglomerate formed during the Cretaceous period. It varies in colour from light to dark rusty ginger. Used as a building stone it can be ...

. The remnants and tower of the old church were renovated with grants from English Heritage in 1981. The rector and P.C.C. still have the responsibility for the tower, while responsibility for the churchyard has been passed to the civil authorities.

Amenities

The village

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

is called 'The Pigs' and has stood on the site since 1744 under various names. In its history, the pub has operated under the ownership of the Coltishall Brewery, Brereton's of Letheringsett, Bullard's of Norwich, Watney Mann Ltd. and now operates as a freehouse. In the mid-Nineteenth Century, Piggs Inn (as it was then called) was involved in the smuggling of spirits led by landlord James Dyball. Edgefield School dates from the Nineteenth Century and was enlarged in 1878. The school building was closed in 1900 with local children being educated at what is now the village hall. Edgefield is also home to RMC Autos, a car garage.

Notable Residents

* Reverend Walter Marcon- (1824–1875) cleric, cricketer and Rector of Edgefield.

Governance

Edgefield 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 Stody 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 ...

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...

. The village's national constituency is

, which has been represented by the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Steff Aquarone MP since 2024.

War memorial

Edgefield's war memorial originally stood as an obelisk on the village green but by the early twenty-first century this had fallen into disrepair. As a result, a new memorial was built on the village green at the cost of £1,968 and subsequently unveiled on 11 November 2004. 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 ...

: There is another stone memorial in the church which lists the following names for the

Gallery

File:The ruines of Saint peter and Saint paul's Church, Edgefield, 3rd September 2008 (2).JPG, Remains of the old church tower File:The ruines of Saint peter and Saint paul's Church, Edgefield, 3rd September 2008 (3).JPG, The old graveyard of Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Church File:The church of SS Peter & Paul - stained glass roundel.jpg, Stained glass roundel of Canon Walter Herbert Marcon on his Bicycle in the church

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk North Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk