Wickmere is a village and a civil parish in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
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 ...
, 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 ...
, south-southwest 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 northeast of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The nearest railway station is at
Gunton 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
Sheringham (; population 7,367) is a seaside town and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District ...
, Cromer 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 ...
. In the
2001 census it had a population of 125, which increased to 158 at the 2011 census. For the purposes of local government, the it falls within the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of
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 ...
.
Description
Wickmere gets its name from the old English meaning ''Lake by a dairy farm''. The village is made up of a few cottages built to provide accommodation for the workers on the near-by Wolterton Estate, which was once the family seat of the younger brother of the Prime Minister,
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
. The parish has a long history that pe-dates the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
History
Over the years archaeological finds have proved that people have lived in the parish of Wickmere as far back as
prehistoric
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
times. These finds, made in 1991 take the form of prehistoric pot boiler.
[The Field Archaeology of the Mannington and Wolterton Estates: By A J Davison, 1997:Pub Norfolk and Norwich Archaeology Society XL, .] These flints represent the use of fire by the early inhabitants of the area for the purposes of heating water for cooking and washing.
Bronze Age
Evidence has also been uncovered of activity here in the
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 ...
with the find of Pieces of casting waste which might provide evidence for a metal working site in Wickmere. Discoveries by metal detectors of a copper alloy adza and an
axe
An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...
head, along with pottery shreds are more evidence of activity here in this period.
Roman period
Archaeological evidence has also found three possible Roman settlements
around Wickmere. In these areas finds include Roman pottery, coins and casting waste, dolphin brooches, a
spindle whorl
A spindle whorl is a weighted object fitted to a spindle to help maintain the spindle's speed of rotation while spinning yarn. History
A spindle whorl may be a disk or spherical object. It is typically positioned on the bottom of the spindle. T ...
, staff
ferrule
A ferrule (a corruption of Latin ' "small bracelet", under the influence of ' "iron") is any of a number of types of objects, generally used for fastening, joining, sealing, or reinforcement. They are often narrow circular rings made from m ...
and part of an iron key.
The Norman period
Wickmere 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 Wickmere's population, land ownership and productive resources are documented. The parish recorded by the name of ''Wicmare'' or ''Wicmere''. The parish is Kings land with main tenant being Tihel de Hellean, from the Bishop of Bayeux,
William de Warenne, also Robert de Courson from
Roger Bigot and the Abbot of Holme. The survey document revealed that the
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
Order held land here prior to 1066. It is also recorded that Wickmere had woodland, a share in a mill and numerous meadows.
Prominent buildings
The parish church of Saint Andrew
This parish church
[The Popular Guide to Norfolk Churches,1:North-East Norfolk, By D.P. Mortlock & C.V. Roberts, 1981, Pub:Acorn Editions, Page 106 Wickmere All saints, ] is mainly constructed from
carrstone
Carrstone (or carstone, also known as Silsoe, heathstone, ironstone or gingerbread) is a sedimentary sandstone conglomerate formed during the Cretaceous period. It varies in colour from light to dark rusty ginger. Used as a building stone it can be ...
and has a Saxo-Norman
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 ...
St Andrew's on the European Round Tower Churches website
/ref> and west wall.[Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East, By ]Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
and Bill Wilson, Wickmere entry. The rest of the church dates from the 14th century. The windows in the aisle and chancel are decorated with tracery and are in the perpendicular style. 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 ...
roof is a king-post construction, whilst 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 ...
roof is of King post design. Inside the church some of the benches date from medieval period, there is a 15th-century screen which has been restored but still retains four original panels with paintings of saints, although only Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus.
The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...
with his cross can be recognised. There are several notable memorials in the church, in particular, the tomb of the fifth earl of Orford
Earl of Orford is a title that has been created three times.
The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1697 when the naval commander Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was made Earl of Orford, in the County of Suffolk. He was cre ...
, Baron Robert Horace Walpole. A white marble cartouche with cherub heads at the corners is to Henry Spelman, a soldier, who died in Calcutta in the Bengal.
Wolterton Hall
South of the village is the estate of Wolterton Hall. The hall was built for Horatio Walpole between 1727 and 1741 and was designed by the architect Thomas Ripley. Constructed from red brick with stone dressing the building stands in the form of a block of seven by three bays. The elevations are plain without decoration with the plan of the house being of triple pile and is an early example of the palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
standard. On the garden side of the hall, George Repton added arcading and a staircase leading to a terrace in 1829. The interior of the house has fine examples of period fireplaces and plaster ceilings. Some restoration has been carried out in the 20th century. The Hall is a Grade II listed building.
The round tower of St Margaret’s Church
Within the grounds of Wolterton estate can be seen the remains of Saint Margaret's church. The round tower is all that remains of the church and the lost village of Wolterton which stood north of the church.
Gallery
File:Wickmere-g3.jpg, Saint Andrew Parish Church
File:Wolterton Hall - south facade.jpg, South elevation of Wolterton Hall
File:The ruined church of St Margaret.jpg, The remains of the round tower of Saint Margaret church
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Norfolk
North Norfolk
Civil parishes in Norfolk