Cockley Cley 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The village covers an area of and 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, municipa ...

of Breckland.

History

The village's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for a clay hill shrouded in trees. 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

, Cockley Cley is recorded as a settlement of 32 households located in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of South Greenhoe. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of King William I and William de Warenne. Cockley Cley is the site of significant defensive infrastructure built during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, including a rare example of an 'Allan Williams Turret' designed to mount a Lewis gun in an anti-aircraft role. In 1974, an unidentified decapitated corpse was discovered near the village. As of 2022, the individual remains unidentified. Between 1975 and 2004, Cockley Cley was home to a mock

Iceni The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...

village visitor attraction. The site reopened briefly in 2014 as the 'Iceni Centre' but was subsequently forced to close due to dwindling customer numbers.

Geography

In the 2011 Census, Cockley Cley was recorded as having 232 residents living in 117 households. Cley falls within the constituency of Mid Norfolk and is represented at

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

by George Freeman MP of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

All Saints' Church

Cockley Cley's parish church is one of Norfolk's 124 existing Anglo-Saxon round-tower churches. The church was significantly remodelled in the Nineteenth Century by the architect Richard Phipson. The church tower collapsed on 29th August 1991 and remains unbuilt. Knott, S. (2006). Retrieved December 12, 2022. http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/cockleycley/cockleycley.htm

War Memorial

Cockley Cley's war memorial is a marble plaque located inside All Saints' Church which lists the following names for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: * Corporal William B. Root (1893-1916), 8th Battalion,

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

* Corporal Frederick Atter (1896-1917), 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Lance-Corporal Wallace G. Rungary (d.1918), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Fireman Frederick W. Barker (1887-1915), ''S.S. Sailor Prince'' * Private Henry Norman (1885-1916), 14th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment * Private Charles R. Wilding (1883-1915), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * F. Draper * E. Pedgrift And, the following for the

: * Marine Sydney A. Holman (1924-1944), ''H.M. Landing Craft (Flack) 14'' * Private Russell K. Pigg (1917-1940), 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment

Gallery

File:Cockley Cley village sign - geograph.org.uk - 1217871.jpg, Cockley Cley

village sign In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The design ...

, showing the church still with its tower File:Two Alan Williams Turret's, Cockley Clay Hall, 30th March 2009.JPG, Rare Allan Williams Turret fortifications of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in Cockley Cley File:Entrance to the reconstruction of an Iceni village - geograph.org.uk - 46588.jpg, Entrance to the reconstruction of an Iceni village, now closed

References

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Cockley%20Clay

External links

All Saints of the European Round Tower Churches Website
Breckland District Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub