Spixworth 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 authority ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

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 lies close to the B1150 road and is north 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 ...

and some south of North Walsham. It covers an area of and had a population of 3,769 in 1,508 households at the 2001 census. including Beeston St. Andrew but decreasing to a population of 3,718 in 1,579 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Broadland.

Etymology

The village was known as ''Spikeswurda'' in

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

times and the name is believed to be derived from either the River Spikes (now Spixworth Beck) or ''Spic'' meaning swine pasture. The suffix ''worth'' is from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

''yrth'' meaning land sloping from water or marsh. Alternatively the name is possibly derived from the OE ''spics'' (bacon farm) and ''worth'' (enclosure).

History

From

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

times the village has been part of the Taverham Hundred. Prior to the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

of 1066 much of the land was held by a Saxon freeman known as Suart. After the conquest, Spixworth and other surrounding villages were given to Roger of Poictiers.History of the village
Retrieved 7 April 2010 In 1199, Peter Bardoph became

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

, a position the family held to 1485. The estate was eventually sold to William Peck in 1602. Peck, Sheriff of Norwich in 1561 and Mayor of the city in 1573 and 1586, built Spixworth Hall in 1607. The house and estate was subsequently purchased by the Longe family in 1693 and remained in the family until 1950 when the hall was sold. The hall subsequently fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1952. The title, Lord of the Manor is still owned by Longe family as well as the surrounding lands.

The village today

Due to its proximity to Norwich the village is a popular residential area. Amenities include an infant school, a junior school, a dental practice, a

doctor's surgery A doctor's office in American English, a doctor's surgery in British English, or a doctor's practice, is a medical facility in which one or more medical doctors, usually general practitioners (GP), receive and treat patients. Description Doct ...

, a village hall, a

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...

, the ''Longe Arms''

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and a wide selection of retail outlets and services.

The Church of St Peter

A church has stood on the same site for 900 years. The present day church dates from 1160 and is built in the Early English style. The narrow pencil shaped tower is the oldest part of the church. Inside the building is a

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

. Also, of note is the 17th century memorial depicting two life–sized corpses and the church bells some of which date from 1350.

Public transport

Bus

Scheduled services link the village to Norwich and further afield.Bus services
Retrieved 1 June 2010

Sport and leisure

The football club Norwich CBS played in the village between 2009 and 2017 under the name Spixworth Football Club.

Gallery

File:The Longe Arms.JPG, The ''Longe Arms'' File:Spixworth.JPG, Road sign

References

External links

Geograph images
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk Broadland