Population 1,085 (2011) Civil parish Northwold Country England Area 19.72 km² Shire county Norfolk | OS grid reference TL751971 Region East Sovereign state United Kingdom Local time Sunday 9:59 PM | |
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Weather 12°C, Wind SW at 23 km/h, 90% Humidity District King's Lynn and West Norfolk | ||
Northwold ("North forest") is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 19.72 km2 (7.61 sq mi) and had a population of 1,070 in 448 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,085 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. The civil parish also includes the hamlets of Whittington and Little London.
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Map of Northwold, UK
The village is 12 km (7.5 mi) north of Brandon which is also the closest railway station on the Thetford to Ely line, and 153 km (95 mi) from London. It lies just to the north of the A134 between Thetford and King's Lynn and on the river Wissey, in the Western division of the county, Grimshoe hundred, Thetford union and county court district, Cranwich rural deanery, Norfolk archdeaconry and Norwich diocese.
Northwold is mentioned in the Domesday Book and traces of human settlements there from the Neolithic era have been recorded. Hugh of Northwold was Abbot of Bury St Edmunds from 1215 to 1229 and afterwards Bishop of Ely. Between 1279 and 1301 John of Northwold was Abbot of Bury St Edmunds.
Northwold is surrounded by farmland and some of the inhabitants work on farms in the district. This area of England cultivates sugar beet and there are several factories producing sugar in the region. Residents not working in the immediate area travel to the nearby larger towns or cites for work, such as King's Lynn, Swaffham, Downham Market or Norwich.
The Norman Church of England Primary School is the only school in the village. It was known as The Norman School after local benefactor Caroline Amelia Norman. Northwold has no general store or post office. In earlier times the village boasted several public houses but now only The Crown remains. The village is not served by a regular bus service.
Churches
The church of St Andrew dominates the village. In its oldest parts, it dates from the early thirteenth century. It was built in the Perpendicular and Early English styles, having chancel, nave and aisles, and tower built in the fourteenth century, containing 8 bells and a modern clock. The tower and church are built principally of flint and the tower has various devices inlaid in this material. Its top is ornamented with eight pinnacles. The roof of the nave is made of painted oak, richly gilt and ornamented with angels with extended wings. The register dates from the year 1650. The living is a rectory, tithe rent-charge £896, with 66 acres (270,000 m2) of glebe and house, in the gift of the Bishop of Norwich and held in 1880 by William Cowper Johnson of Caius College, Cambridge, honorary canon of Norwich.
During a renovation of the church in the 1970s the remains were found of wall paintings in the wall plaster dating from the early Middle Ages.
In Northwold there were also Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels, but these are now converted into dwellings for private use.