Kirby Bedon is a hamlet in

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 ...

which lies approximately 3½ miles (5½ km) south-east 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 ...

on the road to

Bramerton Bramerton is a village and civil parish in the England, English county of Norfolk. Bramerton is located north-west of Loddon, Norfolk, Loddon and south-east of Norwich. History Bramerton's name is of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin and d ...

. It covers an area of and had a population of 186 in 77 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 198 at the 2011 Census. The villages name means "church farm/village". The village was held by the Bidun family in the 12th century. It has two churches, the ruined round-towered St Mary's Church and, standing opposite, St Andrew's church, which is still in use. St Andrew's contains a plaque erected by parishioners in memory of four crew members of "Broad and High", an American

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

bomber who were killed when it crashed near the church on 18 August 1944 as it returned to

Rackheath Rackheath is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, and is roughly north-east of Norwich city centre. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,551 in 625 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population ...

from a raid on

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Kirby Bedon village school was open between 24 June 1878 and 26 July 1978, a victim of the drive to close small village schools. Kirby Bedon has a historic link to the transatlantic slave trade through Sir John Berney (1757–1825) of Kirby Bedon Hall. He was the owner of Hanson Plantation, Barbados. The village no longer has a pub; the ''Stracey Arms'' on the main road from Norwich to Bramerton closed in 1967. It is now a

Caravan Club The Caravan and Motorhome Club is an organisation representing caravan and motorhome users in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and now represents nearly one million members (caravanners, motorhomers and campervanners). H ...

certified location. Kirby Bedon Church Hall was the home venue of Kirby Bedon Short Mat Bowls Club from the late 1980s to 2017 when it disbanded. They were a very successful side which won the Norfolk Summer League on many occasions as well as many other cups and titles. They were the winners of the first ever National Club Championships in 2009. Kirby Bedon is linked to Norwich by bus route 85 operated by

Konectbus Konectbus is a bus operator based in Dereham in Norfolk, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and forms part of Go East Anglia. History Konectbus was formed in 1999 when the Saham Toney depot of Norfolk Green was purchased from ...

, providing nine services a day into Norwich and to the neighbouring villages of Bramerton,

Surlingham Surlingham is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk situated on the Broads in eastern United Kingdom. It lies approximately 6½ miles (10½ km) south-east of Norwich on the south bank of the River Yare between Bra ...

and Rockland St Mary.

References

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Kirby%20Bedon

External links

St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches website

St Andrew's Church, Kirby Bedon

Kirby Bedon
on

GENUKI GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...

{{Civil Parishes of South Norfolk Hamlets in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk