Wiveton 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 English

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 ...

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 is situated on the west bank of the River Glaven, inland from the coast and directly across the river from the village of Cley next the Sea. The larger village of Blakeney is to the west, the town 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 ...

is to the east, and the city 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 ...

is to the south-east. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 158 in 74 households, the population reducing to 127 at the 2011 census. For the purposes of local government, the parish 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 ...

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 ...

History

The villages name origin is uncertain. 'Wife's farm/settlement' or 'women's farm/settlement'. Until the 17th century, the River Glaven was navigable and Wiveton was a port. The outline of the former harbour can still be seen in the fields between Wiveton and Cley. Alongside this, marks from mooring ropes belonging to large transport barges can still be seen etched into the wall on the east side of the church. Wiveton was in the national news in 1779 when

James Hackman James Hackman (baptized 13 December 1752, hanged 19 April 1779), briefly Rector (ecclesiastical), Rector of Wiveton in Norfolk, was the man who murdered Martha Ray, singer and mistress of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.Rawlings, Philip, ''Ha ...

, its newly appointed rector, was hanged for the murder of

Martha Ray Martha Ray (1746 – 7 April 1779) was a British singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household. Good-looking, intelligent, and a talented singer, she came to the attention of many of ...

, mistress of

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, Privy Council of Great Britain, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British politician, statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwic ...

. Wiveton church has a memorial to

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Gold Medal Winner Lt. Colonel

Frederick Marshman Bailey Frederick Marshman Bailey (3 February 1882 – 17 April 1967) was a British Political officer (British Empire), political officer and one of the last protagonists of ''The Great Game.'' His expeditions in Tibet and Assam Himalaya gave him many ...

, one of the heroes of '

The Great Game The Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th-century British and Russian empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and Tibet. The two colonial empires used military interventions and diplomatic negotiations t ...

'. Inside the church there is the joint memorial to Anne Fleming and Catherine Jennis. A series of archaeological test pits were dug around the settlement between 2006 and 2008. The report was published in 2018.

References

External links

.
Wiveton Information
from Genuki Norfolk

at norfolkchurches.co.uk

at NorfolkCoast.co.uk {{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk