Great Ryburgh 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 Ryburgh, 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 ...

. Great Ryburgh is located south-east of

Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north-west of Norwich. The town is at the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to N ...

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 ...

History

Great Ryburgh'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 the larger rye fortification. An

cemetery was discovered in 2016 by a Museum of London Archaeology excavation that was largely funded by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. The waterlogged conditions of the site led to the remarkable preservation of burials including 6 plank-lined graves and 81 hollowed tree-trunk coffins dating from the 7th-9th century AD. The evidence is this may have been a community of early Christians, including a timber structure thought to be a church or chapel. 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 ...

, Great Ryburgh is listed as a settlement of 25 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 Brothercross. In 1086, the village was part of 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 William de Warenne and Peter de Valognes. There is evidence that there has been a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

in Great Ryburgh since 1579 which closed in 1923. In 2003, the mill was converted into an old people's home. In 1849, Ryburgh Railway Station opened on the line between

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

Wells-next-the-Sea Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England. The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 2,451,Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household c ...

. The station closed to passengers in 1964. A

maltings A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...

has stood in Great Ryburgh since 1870. The site was bombed twice 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 ...

. In 1961 the parish had a population of 484. On 1 April 1987 the parish was abolished and merged with Little Ryburgh to form "Ryburgh". In the mid-1990s, there were reports of a sighting of a

unidentified flying object An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

in the parish.

Geography

Population statistics are no longer recorded for just Great Ryburgh and are instead collected just for Ryburgh as a whole. 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 ...

flows through the village.

St. Andrew's Church

Great Ryburgh's church is dedicated to

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...

and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining

round-tower church 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 ...

es, dating from the Eleventh Century. St. Andrew's is located within the village on Mill Road and has been Grade II listed since 1959. The church is open sometimes for Sunday services and is part of the Upper Wensum Benefice. The church was restored in the 1910s by Sir Ninian Comper and had stained-glass windows designed by William Wailes.

Amenities

The Blue Boar Inn has stood in Great Ryburgh since 1789 and remains open for food and accommodation.

Governance

Ryburgh is a civil parish within the district of

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 ...

. Local matters are administered by Ryburgh Parish Council, which represents both Great Ryburgh and Little Ryburgh. The council is responsible for managing local assets, including public spaces and noticeboards, providing input on planning applications, and representing the interests of the community to district and county authorities. Great Ryburgh 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 Stibbard 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 Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.

War Memorial

Great Ryburgh War Memorial is a granite pillar surrounded by a flint and brick enclosure which was funded by public donations in 1920. 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 ...

: The following names were added after the

: The following name was added after the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

References

External links

Ryburgh Parish Council – official website

St Andrew's on the European Round Tower Churches WebsiteSt Andrew's Church website with extensive local historyExtensive history and photographs of Gt Ryburgh watermillHistory of Southmylle - Gt Ryburgh's early watermillBrief history of Gt Ryburgh's windmill
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Former civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk