Narborough is a village of 1405

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 ...

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 ...

, England, with a population of 1,094 at the 2011 census. It is situated in the Nar Valley, with the river Nar flowing through on its way to the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

. The villages name probably means 'fortification at the narrow place'. The

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 ...

is a back-formation from the place-name. The village has a large community centre and associated heritage centre which puts on exhibitions. The parish church is All Saints' 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. Narborough Primary School serves the village with around ninety pupils and five teachers. The present school was opened in 1987. It replaced the old village school situated on the outskirts of the village, which had served the children of Narborough and Narford for 117 years. Narborough Hall, set in eighteenth-century parkland by the River Nar, is surrounded by lakes, gardens and woods. It holds exhibitions and events in the grounds with a café open at these times. Narborough Mill was built c.1780, although several additions, renovations and modifications have been undertaken since then. The structure is three storeys high and built of brick with a single locum and a pantiled roof. It has distinctive large recessed brick arches. The rear still has some weatherboarding and it is quite possible the upper storeys were also of weatherboard in the early days. Charles Tyssen enlarged the mill in 1845 with a poorly built extension, the foundations of which slowly sank over many years until part of the roof collapsed in 1980. This complete section, along with the Victorian miller's house built onto the front, had to be demolished. Thirteen 50-foot piles had to be sunk in order to make the building safe when restoration began. The 1897 plan shows an engine house on the front of the building. This was converted into the miller's residence soon after. At that time the tributary was made wider and deeper than the parallel stretch of the

, providing an adequate fall of water and more power to drive the wheel. The Narborough Trout & Coarse Lakes are in the village with trout and

coarse fishing In Britain and Ireland, coarse fishing (, ) refers to angling for rough fish, which are fish species traditionally considered undesirable as a food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids — most particularly salmon, trout and cha ...

and its own smokery. The village is on the Nar Valley Way path. Narborough aerodrome was opened in May 1915 and used principally for defence against

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

raids. The aerodrome was complemented by a separate base just a few miles down the road at

Marham Marham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximate away from King's Lynn. An RAF station, RAF Marham, is situated nearby at Upper Marham.Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 236 - King's Lynn, Downham M ...

. During the First World War RAF Narborough was the largest aerodrome in Britain, but was closed following the end of hostilities. The last hangar, latterly used by farmers, was demolished in mid 1977 after having been damaged by gales. Narborough is the location of Burntstalks Solar Farm, one of a growing number of

solar farm Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

s in Britain. It covers 61 acres and generates 11.5 MW of electricity. The development has been criticised by the CPRE, The Countryside Charity.Sky news report 24 August 2013
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Landmarks

* Narborough Watermill * Narborough Bone Mill * Narborough Railway Line

References

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