Ridlington is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Witton, in the

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a ...

district, in the 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 ...

, England. The village is north-east 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 ...

, south east of

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

and north-east of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The village lies east of the town of

North Walsham North Walsham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England, within the North Norfolk district. Demography The civil parish has an area of and in the 2011 census had a population of 12,634. For the purposes of local government, the pa ...

.The nearest railway station is at

for the

Bittern Line The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the bittern, a rare bird found in t ...

which runs between

and Norwich. The nearest airport is

Norwich International Airport Norwich Airport is an international airport in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England, north of Norwich. In 2017, Norwich Airport was the 28th busiest airport in the UK and busiest in the East Anglia region. Norwich Airport has a CAA Public Use Aero ...

. The civil parish was merged into Witton on 1 April 1935. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 180.

Description

The village of Ridlington is in the eastern part of the large parish of Witton. The name Ridlington is thought to derive 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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for ''Hrethel’s people’s enclosure''. The village is surrounded by land largely in arable use. Many of the fields were owned by a single landowner, John Owles.

The Domesday Book

Ridlington has an entry 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 manusc ...

of 1085 where its population, land ownership and productive resources were extensively detailed along with the other settlement of WittonThe Domesday Book, England's Heritage, Then and Now, (Editor: Thomas Hinde), Norfolk, page 192, Ridlington, In the survey Ridlington is recorded by the name of ''Ridlinketuna'', 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 de ...

of Tunstead.Open Domesday Online: Ridlington, Norfolk
accessed April 2018. The main tenants being Ranulf brother of Ilger. The survey also indicate the presence of a priest in Witton. Despite the evidence for Saxon activity in Witton, the settlement does not appear to have been particularly populous or valuable, and Ridlington even less so. Despite the mention of a priest, there is no listing of a church or chapel in the settlements. The Church of St Peter Ridlington The exquisite tower, with its four Evangelist pinnacles, was built by Thomas Stacy, who died 11 April 1411. The General History of Norfolk 1829, by John Stacy, records his tomb in the chancel, with a brass plate inscribed: Presbyter hic stratus quidam jacet intumulatus Vir bonus et gratus Thomas Stacy vocitatus Cantor Subtilis pueris Magnus Relevator Et Campanilis, Ridlington, erat fabricator M.Anno C. quator bis XI, ruit iste Luce bis X et I April stet sibi Christe . Amen Translated: A Priest lies here A good and generous man called Thomas Stacy A great singer and child of the Redeemer And he was the builder of Ridlington Bell Tower In 1411, he stood before Christ on 11 April. Amen The inscription was lost when a German Zeppelin bomb damaged the Chancel end of the Church, around midnight on 24/25 April 1916.

Gallery

File:Ridlington Church.jpg, parish church of Saint Peter, Ridlington

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Former civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk