Denver, Norfolk

Denver is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located on the River Great Ouse, 1 mile (2 km) south of the small town of Downham Market, 14 miles (22 km) south of the larger town of King's Lynn, and 37 miles (60 km) west of the city of Norwich.

Map of Denver, UK

The civil parish has an area of 10.82 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 847 in 358 households, the population increasing to 890 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

In 1651 the first sluice was built across the river at Denver, by Cornelius Vermuyden, although it had to be rebuilt after bursting in 1713. The sluices play a major role in the drainage of the fens, being at the confluence of five watercourses. The area is now enjoyed by many tourists, and Denver Sluice is the home of West Norfolk Rowing Club and Denver Sailing Club.

Denver is home to a fully restored 19th-century windmill, and lies on the path of the Roman Fen Causeway. Captain George Manby, the inventor, was born in the village in 1765, and a plaque commemorating this can be found at his birthplace.

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Dena fær = "the ford or passage of the Danes", referring to Viking invasions.

The fictional place Duke's Denver, the family seat of the Duke of Denver, brother of Lord Peter Wimsey in the novels of Dorothy L. Sayers, is also in Norfolk, but it is supposed to be situated several miles to the east of Denver village.

The American city of Denver, Colorado is not directly named after this English village, but after the 19th-century American politician James W. Denver; his name might, however, be ultimately connected to the Norfolk village.