Lenwade is a village in the

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 ...

of Great Witchingham,

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 ...

, situated in the Wensum Valley adjacent to the A1067 road 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 the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to Norwi ...

and some north-west of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

. The River Ainse (or Eyn) joins the Wensum at Lenwade. In 2001 it had a population of 464.

Etymology

The name may mean 'ford of the slowly moving river'. The first element possibly means ''lane'' in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

dialect sense of 'scarcely moving river'. The second element of the name is the Old English ''gewæd'' ( ford).

Industry and the local economy

Much of the surrounding land is given over to agriculture. However, due to its geographical location Lenwade became the centre of the sand and gravel extraction and the manufacturing of concrete products in the Wensum valley during the middle to late 20th century. The legacy of this activity can be seen in the many flooded gravel pits in the area. Today, these now mature lakes are popular with anglers, naturalists and

bird watchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

. Industry today is concentrated to the southeast of Lenwade between the A1067 road and the former railway line. Concrete products, metal recycling, joinery and double glazing items are produced in the area. Local tourist attractions include Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure theme park and the Lenwade country house hotel features in its grounds the only licensed

zoological garden A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

in the UK.

The Church of St Faith

Located on the busy A1067 Fakenham Road, the building started life as a Victorian mission church originally dedicated to All Saints. Despite its central location the church was little used and became redundant. Today, the church is fenced off and planned to become a residential development (July 2008).

Amenities

Amenities in the village include a village hall, primary school, doctor's surgery, general stores, garage, tea-rooms, butchers, bakers and a fish and chip shop. Located close to A1067 and the River Wensum is the late 18th century ''Bridge Inn''

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

. Pevsner.N. & Wilson. B. ''

The Buildings of England ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

Norfolk3: North-West and South'' p25 (1999)

Penguin books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an 18th-century Englishman who rose from humble origins to supervise the construction of Holkham Hall, and become one of the country's best-known ...

's c.1741 triple arched brick bridge is depicted on the pub's sign. The bridge was demolished in 1993 and replaced by today's steel bridge.

Lenwade mill

There has been a watermill on the river at Lenwade for many centuries. The present building, dating from the late 19th century, has been converted to homes

Railway history

Lenwade railway station was built in 1882 with direct trains to

and

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, ...

. Passenger traffic ceased in 1959, but due to Lenwade's important Anglian cement and concrete works the freight line was kept open to 1985. The former station today is a private residence and the track bed forms part of the Marriott's Way long-distance footpath.Railway history
Retrieved 4 November 2008

Public transport

Bus Services are provided by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

References

External links

Norfolk pubs-Lenwade

Great Witchingham & Lenwade Village Hall
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Great Witchingham