Stratton Strawless is a village in the 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 ...

and district of

Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based at the Broadland Business Park on the outskirts of Norwich. The district includes the towns of Acle, Aylsham, Reepham, Spro ...

. 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 ...

covers and has a population of 495, increasing to a population of 580 in the 2011 Census. Located close and to the east of the

A140 road The A140 is an 'A-class' road in Norfolk and Suffolk, East Anglia, England partly following the route of the Roman Pye Road. It runs from the A14 near Needham Market to the A149 south of Cromer. It is of primary status for the entirety of ...

and being south of the market town of

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea ...

and some 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 ...

. Much of the parish has been given over to the growing of arable crops, but there are substantial amounts of mixed woodland to be found.

History

The village was first recorded 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 ...

(1086) as ''Stratuna'' ('tun') meaning house or farm in

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 ...

. Strawless is an appellative from the poorness of the soil, producing little grain and less straw, but favourable to the production of timber.Sparks, T, & Lines, J, ''Chapters in the life of Robert Marsham''(2008) pp56.65

The Marsham family

From the 14th century to the end of the 19th century Stratton Strawless hall was the home of the Marsham family which included

Robert Marsham Robert Marsham (27 January 17084 September 1797) was an English naturalist considered to be the founding father of phenology, the study of the effects of the seasons on plants and animals. Life He was admitted to Clare College, Cambridge in 1728 ...

(1707–97), the phenologist. Marsham is believed to have planted two million trees on the estate. Most of the plantings were cleared for much-needed timber for the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

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 ...

. A few ancient trees remain, and in particular The Great Cedar (planted in 1747). The current hall (then 3 storeys) was completed c. 1800; in 1960 the top storey was removed. During the

the hall housed an operations room for

RAF Coltishall Royal Air Force Coltishall more commonly known as RAF Coltishall is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located north-north-east of Norwich, in the England, English Counties of the United Kingdom, county ...

. Today, the

Grade II listed 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, H ...

hall has been converted into residential flats and part of the grounds have been turned into a caravan park.

St Margaret's church

The

Grade I listed 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 ...

building dates back to the 13th century with a broad tower from 1422. The oldest feature is a Norman doorway leading to the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. The church is full of artefacts which include 17th century

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

monuments dedicated to the Marsham family. Also, of note is the early 18th century great brass chandelier which holds 25 candles and is lit every fourth Sunday for

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

. The life-sized Black Abbess was found walled up in the tower during the 19th-century renovation. She is believed to depict a crusader's widow dating from the late 13th century.

Leisure and recreation

The village hall is located in Parish Road. Adjacent to the building is the

village sign In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The desig ...

which depicts Marsham's Great Cedar, woodlands and the lily ponds that are located close by. In May of each year at Brook House, the bluebell woods are opened to the public.Brook House
Retrieved 1 May 2012 Much of the area can be explored by bicycle and foot via the network of quiet lanes and footpaths.

Public transport

Bus *

Sanders Coaches Sanders Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in Holt, Norfolk, England. Its managing director is Charles Sanders. As of September 2021, it has approximately 115 employees. History Sanders Coaches was founded on 1 December 1975 by Norman ...

44/44

4

Rail Both stations are approximately from the village. * Wroxham railway station * Worstead railway station

Notable residents

Founding father of

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

Gallery

File:Marsham memorial.JPG, The Marsham family memorial File:Stratton Strawless Village Sign2.jpg, The village sign File:The Great Cedar.JPG, The Great cedar File:Lily ponds.JPG, Lily ponds File:St Margaret's Church.JPG, The great brass chandelier File:The Black Abbess.JPG, The Black Abbess

References

External links

{{authority control Broadland Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk