Binham is a village and a

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 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 ...

. Binham is north west 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 ...

and west of Cromer. The village lies east south east of the town of Wells-next-the-Sea.

History

Binham's name is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin and derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for ''Bynna's'' homestead or hemmed-in land. Despite its' Anglo-Saxon origins, there is evidence of human settlement within the parish from long before this period. There are archeological records such as

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

tools and Roman coins & pottery. Binham is listed 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 under the name of ''Benincham'', and ''Bin(n)eham'' as a settlement of 65 households in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of North Greenhoe. Binham was part of the estates of Peter de Valognes and featured two mills within the parish. There are numerous Seventeenth Century buildings within Binham which are all Grade II listed, including Chapel Corner, Manor Farmhouse and Ivy Farm. Between 2009 - 2023 a series of archaeological test pits were dug. The report was published in 2017.

Geography

The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which runs between Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 273 in 124 households, including Cockthorpe and increasing to 292 at the 2011 census. In the 2021 Census, Binham (including Cockthorpe) had a population of 319 people. Amenities within the village include a small store with a petrol pump and a pub called the Chequers Inn. The pub is Grade II listed and dates as a building to the Seventeenth Century. BinhamSign

Binham Priory and St. Mary's Church

Close to the village are the remains of 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 ...

St Mary's Priory. Today 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 ...

of the much larger priory church has become the ''Church of Saint Mary and the Holy Cross'' and is still used as a place of worship. The remains of the priory are in the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

. Both are Grade I listed buildings.

Governance

Binham is part of the electoral ward of Priory for local elections and is part of 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. The village's national constituency is North Norfolk, which has been represented by the Liberal Democrat Steff Aquarone MP since 2024.

Binham Market Cross

It is one of the best surviving examples of a medieval standing cross in Norfolk. It is situated on the triangular green in the centre of the village near the church. The 15th-century cross is built of Barnack limestone and consists of a socket stone and separate shaft. The 2-metre tall base is made of mortared flint rubble with stepped courses of stone blocks, capped by a platform of thin slabs. The weathered remains of an ornamental moulding can still be seen partway up the shaft, but the stone cross that originally topped the shaft is missing. Many cross-heads were destroyed by iconoclasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Following the grant of a charter by King Henry I granted the village a charter, so that an annual fair and a weekly market could be held here from the early 12th century, and fairs were allowed to be convened on the green until the early 1950s.

Binham Pride

Organised by members of the cast of the Thursford Christmas Spectacular, Binham has been the home of a Pride event since 2014. 'Binham Pride' started as a joke between members of the cast that were staying in Binham during their employment at the Thursford Christmas 2014 Spectacular. In two weeks they decided to throw the event for real and 'Binham Pride' was officially born; a celebration of Diversity and Inclusion. The first Event was on Monday 1 December - World AIDS day at Binham Memorial Hall and saw around 70 people attend – mostly those who were part of the Thursford show. The evening raised £2000 for the Terrence Higgins Trust. In 2015 it grew larger. Around 100 people attended - a handful of whom were from local communities who had heard about the event through the Chequers Inn and social media posts. The 2015 event raised £4000 for the Terrence Higgins Trust. The 2016 event fell on Monday 28 November and around 150 people attended – around 40 of whom were locals and raised just over £5000 for the Terrence Higgins Trust. The 2017 event was the most successful and raised the largest amount to date. After a two-year hiatus, Binham Pride returned on 5 December 2022. To date, Binham Pride has raised over £36,000 for The Terrence Higgins Trust.

War memorial

Binham's war memorial is a

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

monument located in the grounds of Binham Priory. It holds the following names for the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

: And William H. Males. As well as the following for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

: And H. Gaxter and F. Baplin. Smith, L. (2003). Retrieved November 5, 2022. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/BinhamPriory.html

References

External links

*
Information from Genuki Norfolk
on Binham. *http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Binham {{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk