Blickling 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

Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based at the Broadland Business Park on the outskirts of Norwich. The district includes the towns of Acle, Aylsham, Reepham, Spro ...

district of 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 ...

. Blickling is located north-west of

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea ...

and 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 ...

. Most of the village is located within the Blickling Estate, which has been owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

since 1940.

History

Blickling'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 the people of ''Blicla's'' people. 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 ...

, Blickling is listed as a settlement of 44 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 South Erpingham. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of King William I and William, Bishop of Thetford. Adjacent to the hall is the ''Buckinghamshire Arms'' public house. The present building and barn were built in 1700, although an ale house was recorded in the early 17th century.Newman. J. ''The National Trust-Blickling Hall'' p71,73 Retrieved 11 December 2008

To the west of the B1354 road is Silvergate a hamlet of estate cottages, some of which are

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

and Grade II listed.Blickling conservation area p17
Retrieved 16 December 2008 Flashpits Farmhouse is located on the south east corner of the park at Ingworth Road, the red brick building was absorbed into the estate in the 18th century. But its origin is probably from the 17th century. One of only two properties on the road, the other being the unlisted Keeper's Cottage. Blickling1

Aylsham Old Hall dates back to 1689 with parts of the building Grade 1 and Grade II listed. The dwelling is constructed of red brick with red hipped pantile roofing and located close to the B1354 road on the fringes of

Geography

According to the 2021 census, the population of Blickling is 111 people (which decreased from 113 in 2011) living in a total area of . The

River Bure The River Bure is a river in the county of Norfolk, England, most of it in the Broads.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. . The Bure rises near Melton Constable, upstream of Aylsham, which was the original head of ...

runs through the parish of Blickling.

St. Andrew's Church

Blickling's parish church is dedicated to

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 ...

and was extensively remodelled in the Nineteenth Century, first by

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

and later by

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a British Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was bo ...

. Inside the church there is an elaborate memorial to William Kerr, Eighth Marquess of Lothian as well as a Fifteenth Century

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

. There are numerous memorial bronzes including one to Sir Nicholas Dagworth, a Fourteenth Century soldier and diplomat, and multiple dedicated to members of the Boleyn family.

Blickling Hall

Blickling is dominated by the Seventeenth Century stately home, Blickling Hall. Blickling Hall is most famous as the residence of the Boleyn family but also contains a significant collection of manuscripts in its' library. Blickling Hall has been in the possession of the

since 1940.

Governance

Blickling is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Aylsham 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 ...

. The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Jerome Mayhew since 2024.

Notable Residents

* Steff Aquarone MP, (b.1984) British politician. *

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

, (c.1501-1536) Queen of England and English noblewoman. * Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, (1406-63) English merchant and politician. *

George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford ( – 17 May 1536) was an English courtier and nobleman who played a prominent role in the politics of the early 1530s as the brother of Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII. George was the mate ...

, (c.1504-1536) English courtier. * Lady Mary Boleyn, (c.1499-1543) English courtier and mistress of King Henry VIII. * Sir William Boleyn KB, (1451-1505) English landowner. * Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Baronet, (1560-1625) English politician and lawyer. * Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet, (1657-1698) English politician and nobleman. * Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet, (1628-1683) English politician and landowner. * Sir John Hobart, Baron Intwood, (1593-1647) English politician and nobleman. * Anne, Lady Shelton, (1483-1556) English courtier.

War memorial

Blickling's war memorial is carved into the oak pulpit in St. Andrew's Church. Imperial War Museum. (2022). Retrieved November 6, 2022. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/85052 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, Fred Hancock and Charles Pert. The memorial also lists the following names 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 ...

: * *

References

* http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Blickling

External links

Blickling watermill historyBlickling conservation area
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk Broadland Mary Boleyn Anne Boleyn