Swafield is a village and

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

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...

district of 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 ...

, England. The village is north north 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 ...

, south south east 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 the town of

North Walsham North Walsham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. The town is located south of Cromer and Norwich is south. Demography The civil parish has an area of ...

. The village sits astride the B1145

Kings 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 ...

Mundesley Mundesley /ˈmʌn.dzli/ is a coastal village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is north-northeast of Norwich, southeast of Cromer and north-northeast of the town of North Walsham. The nearest airport is Norw ...

road that bisects

west to east. The nearest railway station is at

for the

Bittern Line The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the Eurasian bittern, bittern, a r ...

which runs between Sheringham and Norwich. The nearest airport is

Norwich International Airport Norwich Airport is an international airport in Norfolk, England, north of the city of Norwich. In 2023, Norwich Airport was the 25th Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic, busiest airport in the UK and busiest in ...

. The parish had in 2001 census, a population of 273, including Bradfield and increasing to 315 at the 2011 Census.

Origins

The name Swafield possibly originates from ''open land with a track'' from the Anglo Saxon words ', meaning track, and ''feld'', meaning field, often a forest clearing. The former is the origin of ''swath'' or ''swathe'', the latter of ''field''. The name may also mean therefore, ''open land with swathes'', the latter being areas of cut, laying corn.

History

Swafield has an entry 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 ...

of 1085. In the great book Swafield is recorded by the name ''Suafelda'', ''Suaffelda'' and ''Suauelda'', the main landholders being Bishop William and

William d'Ecouis William d'Ecouis (sometimes referred to as William de Schoies) was an early Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman baron, who is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a substantial holder of land and manors. William d'Ecouis founded Middleton, Norfolk# ...

with the main tenant being Ranulf brother of Ilger. The survey also mentions a church.

The North Walsham and Dilham Canal

The North Walsham and Dilham Canal, which is the only canal in Norfolk, was constructed and opened in 1826, and is 8.7 miles long and runs from Swafield Bridge to a junction with the River Ant at Smallburgh. The canal was constructed with locks a little wider than most canals in the UK to accommodate the use of the Norfolk wherries, hence the image of a wherry on Swafield's village sign.

The parish church of Saint Nicholas

The parish church of Saint Nicholas stands in a commanding position on high ground north of the village. the church is built in the

perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

with large windows and dates from the late 15th century although the tower is from the 14th century and the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

has a thatched roof. Inside the church the base of 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 ...

screen can still be seen. the base is painted red green and gold and was decorated by a 15th-century artist. Roses and leaves have been carved in the tracery of the panels, on which there are paintings of the eight

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

. The interior of the roof is decorated bosses. Some of them feature Tudor roses, another a lion, but others have faces on them. One face is of Christ, with the five pointed beard. Another face is surrounded by a crown of thorns, in the rope style of the 15th century. A third face is surrounded by sun rays and represents Christ in glory. Displayed on the north wall there is a little crucifix. It was found in separate pieces over several days in March 1937 on the beach at Walcott, after storms had eroded the cliffs there. Each piece was thickly caked with clay. It is believed the crucifix had been buried purposely and may have been hidden at the time of the Reformation by locals, before the Anglican reformers came and stole it from them, although this is only local folklore with no provenance to prove this case. Located in Trunch Road, the church is Grade II* listed.

References

External links

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