Little Cressingham lies south east by road from

Great Cressingham Great Cressingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Great Cressingham is located south of Swaffham and west of Norwich. History Great Cressingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old Engl ...

, west of Watton and south of

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District and England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the U ...

in the

Breckland District Breckland is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Dereham, although the largest town is Thetford. The district also includes the towns of Attleborough, Swaffham and Watton, along with numerous villages and surr ...

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 ...

. It covers an area of and had a population of 157 in 70 households at the 2001 census It is in the

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 ...

. The village is located on the edge of the

Stanford Battle Area The Stanford Training Area (STANTA), originally known as the Stanford Battle Area, is a British Army training area in the English county of Norfolk. The area is approximately in size; it is some north of the town of Thetford and south-west ...

. The villages name origin is uncertain but probably means 'Homestead/village of Cressa's people', or perhaps, 'cress homestead/village'. The village is dispersed, with the main centre focused on a crossroads around the church and the mill. The village church is dedicated to St Andrew and is partially ruined.St Andrew, Little Cressingham
Norfolk Churches. Retrieved 2011-05-02. The building is medieval and designated as a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

.Church of St Andrew, Little Cressingham
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-05-02. The village is in the

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

Cockley Cley Cockley Cley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Cockley Cley is located south-west of Swaffham and west of Norwich. History The village's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a "cl ...

. The

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

Church of All Saints at Threxton lies to the east of the village.Church of All Saints, Little Cressingham
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-05-02. The village pub, The White Horse, closed in 2004. Next to the church is the old Free School founded and endowed by William Farrer in 1809 and built at a cost of £144. It is now the village hall. The mill at Little Cressingham, a Grade II* listed building, is both a water and wind mill, one of only two in Norfolk.Wind and Water Mill, Little Cressingham
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-05-02. It was built in about 1820 on the Clermont Estate and is now disused. In 1849

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

finds attributed to the

Wessex culture The Wessex culture is the predominant prehistoric culture of central and southern Britain during the early Bronze Age, originally defined by the British archaeologist Stuart Piggott in 1938.

dating from c. 2000 BC were discovered in Little Cressingham, consisting of a rectangular gold plaque, three small cylindrical gold boxes, an amber necklace, a bronze dagger and bronze knife, and human remains. The finds are now on display at the

Norwich Castle Museum Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

. File:Gold objects and amber necklace from Little Cressingham, Norfolk, England, Wessex culture, Early Bronze Age.png, Gold plaque, boxes and amber necklace File:Bronze dagger and knife from Little Cressingham, Norfolk, England, Wessex culture, Early Bronze Age.jpg, Bronze dagger and knife File:Little Cressingham Wind - Watermill - geograph.org.uk - 1954541.jpg, Little Cressingham Wind/Watermill

Clermont estate

The Clermont Estate in Threxton, hamlet near Little Cressingham, was created by the Irish peer William Henry Fortescue (1722–1806),

Earl of Clermont Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

, friend of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. He built Clermont Lodge as a shooting box and it was extended for his nephew and heir William Charles Fortescue (1764–1829), Viscount Clermont to designs by the architect William Pilkington. Pilkington was a pupil and assistant to

Sir Robert Taylor Sir Robert Taylor (1714 – 27 September 1788) was an English architect and sculptor who worked in London and the south of England. Early life Born at Woodford, Essex, Taylor followed in his father's footsteps and started working as a stonema ...

(architect of the Bank of England). Following Viscount Clermont's death without issue Clermont Estate was sold to Sir Francis Lyttleton Holyoake Goodricke in 1844 and in 1858 it was purchased by the 2nd Duke of Wellington. In 1863 he conveyed the Hilborough and Clermont Estates to John Remington Mills.John Remington Mills was one of two sons of Samuel Mills (d 1847) of Russell Square. Both sons bought country estates. Thomas Mills, barrister and MP, bought Tolmers in Hertfordshire (which his brother inherited) and John Remington Mills bought the Hilborough and Clermont Estates at Little Cressingham, retaining property and business interests in London and elsewhere. In 1869 Mills bought the Watton estate and an outlying farm at Tottenhill in Norfolk. His son Joseph Trueman Mills added the

South Pickenham South Pickenham is a small village and civil parish in the Breckland (district), Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It has an area of 758 hectares (2.93 square miles) and it had a population of 101 in 40 households at the United Kingdom Cens ...

estate, Norfolk. Clermont Hall exterior 5

The last owner of Clermont Hall was Sir Richard Prince-SmithRichard Prince-Smith died in June 2007 at his home in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothil ...

''Yorkshire Post'': Obituary
/ref> who acquired the estate in 1966 and sold it in 1997. The estate, which originally extended to , was broken up from 1977 onwards. Much of it is now owned by the UK

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. Clermont House was built in 1971/2 in the walled garden of Clermont Hall as a replacement for Clermont Hall and as an agent's house. John Davies, Prince-Smith's resident land agent from 1971—1997, bought Clermont House in 1977. Davies added to the house in later years and in 1983 developed an arboretum extending which is open to public visitors. In 1972 Clermont Hall was found to be riddled with dry rot but attempts to demolish were thwarted by the imposition of a preservation order. The hall was sold in 1973 to Philip Jones, an artist, who demolished the servants quarters and restored the main house in of land with cottages.

Footnotes

References

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Great%20and%20Little%20Cressingham {{authority control Villages in Norfolk Breckland District Civil parishes in Norfolk