Kelling (also known as ''Low Kelling'' or ''Lower Kelling'') is a village and a

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 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 ...

. Kelling is located west of

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

and north 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 ...

, along the A149 and within the Norfolk Coast AONB.

History

Kelling'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 ''Cylla's'' people. 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 ...

, Kelling is listed as a settlement of 81 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 part of the East Anglian estates of Hugh d'Avranches, Roger, son of Rainard and Ralph, son of Hagni. Between 1903 and 1905, Home Place was built as the residence of the Reverend Percy R. Lloyd by Edward Schroeder Prior in the Arts and Crafts Style. Kelling Hall was built in 1913 by Sir Edward Maufe in the Arts and Crafts style for Henri Deterding KBE, one of the founders of the Royal Dutch Shell. 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 ...

, numerous static defences were built in the parish to defend against a possible German invasion.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Kelling has a population of 173 people which shows a decrease from the 177 people recorded in the 2011 census. Kelling Heath is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. The A149, between

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 north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

and

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

, passes through the village.

St. Mary's Church

Kelling's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and dates from the medieval period. St. Mary's is located on 'The Street' and has been Grade II listed since 1960. The church is open twice a month for Sunday service. St. Mary's holds 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 ...

dating from the Fifteenth Century and holds stained-glass windows from the same period depicting various female saints. There is also a stained-glass window from the 1930s designed by Harry Mileham which depicts Saint Francis and a set of royal arms from the reign of King George III which may be earlier.

Amenities

The village has a reading room, which is now a book shop, gallery and tea-room. There is a small Victorian school house built in 1876 and opened October 1877, still in use as a primary school today on the coastal side of the A149 just opposite the reading room.

Governance

Kelling is part of the electoral ward of Coastal 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 ...

of North Norfolk. The village's national constituency is North Norfolk, which has been represented by the Liberal Democrat Steff Aquarone MP since 2024.

War Memorial

Kelling War Memorial is a memorial cross located at the junction of the A149 and 'The Street' which 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

Gallery

Image:Oldkelling.jpg, The street circa 1911 Image:The street kelling.JPG, The Street Image:Thestreet kelling.JPG , The Street Image:Old Reading Room.jpg, The Old Reading Room Image:Kelling village 12th April 2008 (2).JPG, The Old Reading Room Image:Kelling village 12th April 2008.JPG, Kelling Village School Image:Kelling War Memorial 12th April 2008.JPG, Kelling War Memorial Image:poppy2004.JPG, Poppies in field near Kelling June 2002 Image:Pillbox.JPG, World War II Type 22 Pillbox on the shingle beach at Kelling Image:Norcon Pillbox.jpg, World War II Norcon pillbox on Kelling Hard

References

Neighbouring villages

* Weybourne * Salthouse * High Kelling * Cley next the Sea * Wiveton

External links

* {{Civil Parishes of North Norfolk Villages in Norfolk North Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk Coastal erosion in the United Kingdom