Narford is situated in the

Breckland 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 la ...

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 ...

and covers an area of 970

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

(3.75 square miles). Narford village has all but

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...

, with a population of only 41. At the 2011 Census the population of the area remained less than 100 and is included in the

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 authority ...

South Acre South Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village has almost disappeared, but the remnants are located about south-west of Castle Acre, north of the town of Swaffham, east of the town of King's Lynn and ...

. The villages name probably means 'narrow ford' or 'ford at the narrow place'. The large 18th-century Narford Hall built by

Andrew Fountaine Andrew Fountaine (7 December 1918 – 14 September 1997) was an activist involved in the British far right. After military service in a number of conflicts Fountaine joined the Conservative Party and was selected as a parliamentary candidate un ...

, art collector and amateur architect exists.

Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (29 April 1675 – 2 November 1741) was one of the leading Venetian history painters of the early 18th century. His style melded the Renaissance style of Paolo Veronese with the Baroque of Pietro da Cortona and ...

's decorations were removed from

Burlington House Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earls of Burlington and was expanded in the mid-19th century after being purchased by the British government. Toda ...

in London by 1727 and survive at Narford Hall.

(1918–1997) who was a founder member of the National Labour Party and deputy leader of the

British National Front The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. As a minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gaine ...

lived at the hall. To the rear of the hall runs the river

River Nar A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

on its way from

West Acre West Acre is a village and civil parish in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 187 in 83 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 260 at th ...

towards Narborough. Adjacent to the hall is St Mary the Virgin church in the

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Narborough and part of the Nar Valley Group of Parishes. Both the church and the hall are Grade I listed. The village is on the Nar Valley Way path. In 1870-72,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–72), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was a c ...

's ''

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

'' described Narford.Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer
/ref>

Gallery

File:Narford Hall - geograph.org.uk - 454207.jpg, Narford Hall File:Neale(1818) p3.068 - Narford Hall, Norfolk.jpg, Narford Hall (1818)

References

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Narford {{authority control Villages in Norfolk Breckland District Civil parishes in Norfolk