Wretham is a

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

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 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 ...

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 parish includes the village of East Wretham, which is about northeast of Thetford and southwest 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 ...

. It also includes the villages of

Illington Illington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wretham in the Breckland District, Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. The village is 6.2 miles north east of Thetford, 24 miles west south west of Norwich and ...

and Stonebridge. The parish has an area of . The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 374 people in 141 households.

History

The

place-name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

"Wretham" is derived from

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 ...

. It means "the hām (place) where

crosswort Crosswort is a common name for several species of plants and may refer to: * ''Crucianella stylosa'' (Rubiaceae) * ''Cruciata laevipes'' (Rubiaceae) * ''Lysimachia quadrifolia ''Lysimachia quadrifolia'', the whorled loosestrife, whorled yellow ...

grew". The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of St Ethelbert in East Wretham was built in the 12th century and rebuilt in 1865. It is a Grade II* listed building. The former parish church of St Lawrence in West Wretham was built in the 14th century and is now a ruin. It is a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and Grade II listed building. RAF East Wretham was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

air station. It was commissioned in 1940 and operational until November 1945. It was then a resettlement camp for Polish refugees until 1946. The former air station is now part of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Stanford Training Area Stanford Training Area (STANTA), originally known as Stanford Battle Area, is a British Army training area situated in the English county of Norfolk. The area is approximately in size; it is some north of the town of Thetford and south-west ...

(STANTA). The licensee of the Dog and Partridge local pub opposed the

smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor work ...

that was introduced in England in July 2007.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Wretham Village Website
* Breckland District Civil parishes in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub