Gateley 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 Breckland district 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 ...

, England.

Location

The village is situated some north-east of the town of

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

, north of the town of

Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40& ...

and north-west of the city of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. The parish of Gateley is within the Breckland area of Norfolk. The parish lies south-east of the parish of

Great Ryburgh Great Ryburgh is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ryburgh, in the North Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. In 1961 the parish had a population of 484. On 1 April 1987 the parish was abolished and merged w ...

and north-west of the parish of

North Elmham North Elmham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,428 in 624 households at the 2001 census, including Gateley and increasing slightly to 1,433 at the 2011 Census. For ...

. For local Government the Village falls in the Upper Wensum Ward of

Breckland District Council Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a l ...

and the Elmham and Mattishall Division of

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the top-tier local government authority for Norfolk, England. Its headquarters are based in the city of Norwich. Below it there are 7 second-tier local government district councils: Breckland District, Broadland Distr ...

. The

river Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. The Wensum is ...

runs across the north-east of the parish. Nearby villages include

Colkirk Colkirk is a village (population 2001-547) situated about two miles south of Fakenham in the county of Norfolk, England. Dating from at least the time of the Domesday Book. The village including Oxwick , Pattesley and South Raynham currently (201 ...

and Horningtoft.

History

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The parish name is old English and translates as 'clearing where goats are kept'. This place name and documentary evidence suggests the settlement has been in existence since at least the Late Saxon period.

Notable buildings

The parish church of Saint Helen

The parish church of Gateley is called St Helen's. 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 ...

dates from the 15th century. The chancel is a Victorian rebuilding. The church tower is of the Perpendicular style. There are two shields on south-west buttress. Tower has rectangular vice, the belfry windows have been partly blocked. On south side of the nave is a round headed arch made up of late medieval tiles although the doorway is of late Saxon origins. The south porch has three niches. The church floor has been renewed but is of brick. The primitive font has a marble plinth . There is a rood screen with fine paintings thought to be East Anglia, which are of a local flavour. The Saints chosen for the screen are for local devotions. From left to right they are

Saint Etheldreda In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, foundress of the Diocese of Ely shown as a nun with a Latin inscription, Scta Adria, or Saint Audrey. Next is Saint Elizabeth, also shown dressed in a nun's habit and her arms crossed as if in an echo of the Visitation, The Blessed Virgin, turned to face her cousin. A third image is of the Mistress of Ridibowne, a local devotion. Virtually nothing is known about her. Ridibowne was probably either Redbowne in Lincolnshire or Redbowne in Hertfordshire. On the other side of the screen are paintings of Saint Louis of France, Henry VI labelled in Latin as 'the Blessed Martyr Henry VI', St Augustine and Sir John Schorne, conjuring the devil into a boot. Sir John Schorne was a clergyman, he is said to be best known for his ability to cure the gout.

Gateley Hall

Gateley Hall is an

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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Grade I listed building which was built in 1726, on the site of an older manor house. The early

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

house has double shaped gables at each end. On the south gable is an illegible date plaque thought to be 1726, the plaque is paired by a sundial. The front elevation stands over five bays topped with

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

s and is of two storeys. Another architectural feature of the house is the Roman Doric doorcase which has the same slightly chequered brickwork as the gables, but has been cemented over. On the rear elevation there is a round brick projecting bay and a flint bay with small blocked windows. Inside the house the half-turn staircase with landings dates from 1726. The stair has Turned attenuated vase at the balusters and shaped tread-ends and a wide swept handrail. There are examples of

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

plaster and wood decoration. The grade I listing was put on the building in 1954 partly due to the exceptional quality and rarity of Rococo plasterwork to the interior of the house. There is also a fine barn dating from the 16th Century. The house is the current seat of the 7th Earl Cathcart, Charles Alan Andrew Cathcart.

Population

The village and parish covers an area of and had a population of 65 in 24 households at the 2001 census.Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes
Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100 and was included in the

Transport

The nearest 'mainline' railway station is at

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich off the A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through. The parish, one of Norfolk's largest, includes rural areas to ...

, which is 21 miles south-east (although Norwich is 23 miles and easier to reach by road) of the village and gives access to local services operated by East Midlands Railway and

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the J ...

on the

Breckland Line The Breckland line is a secondary railway line in the east of England that links in the west to in the east. The line runs through three counties: Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk. It takes its name from the Breckland region of Norfolk, ...

on the

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

lines. The nearest station is actually at Dereham, which is on the Mid Norfolk Railway, which runs from Dereham to Wymondham. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport.

References

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Breckland District Civil parishes in Norfolk