Bawburgh () 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 authorit ...

in the

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 ...

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 Nor ...

, England, lying in the valley of the

River Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the v ...

about west 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 Episcopal see, See of ...

city centre. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 466, increasing to 595 at the 2011 census. Bawburgh is very close to the relatively new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the Bowthorpe Estate. The name is first recorded as ''Bauenburc'' in 1086 and is 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 settlers in the mid-5th ...

'stronghold of a man called Beawa.' The mill at the centre of the village was the original site of the manufacture of Colman's mustard. There is a pub called The King's Head. Bawburgh is a significant location in the legend of St Walstan, the 10th-11th century patron saint of farm labourers. According to legend, Walstan was born at Bawburgh (or possibly Blythburgh in Suffolk) into a Saxon noble family circa 970, but at the age of 12 gave up his privileged life, choosing instead to work as a farm labourer in Taverham. His initial journey on foot from Bawburgh to Taverham took Walstan through Costessey, where he donated his noble garments to two passing peasants. After many years, Walstan's imminent death was foretold by an angel and he asked a priest for the last rites; no water was available but a miraculous spring welled up on the spot. On his death, Walstan's body was returned to Bawburgh on a cart drawn by two white oxen. The oxen stopped at Costessey, where a second spring gushed forth and at Bawburgh, where a third spring appeared. St Walstan's Well at Bawburgh is the only one of the legendary springs that remains identifiable. Walstan's body was taken into the church and Bawburgh became the centre of a cult of pilgrimage, with several miracles recorded.

Church of St Mary & St Walstan

The church of Bawburgh St Mary and St Walstan is one of 124 existing

round-tower church Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, mostly in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, six in Essex, three in Sussex and two each in Cambridgeshire and Berksh ...

es in

. St Walstan's Day is celebrated on an annual basis with a church service and walk to the nearby St Walstan's Well. The church is a Grade I listed buildin

There is a canonical sundial on the south wall.

War Memorial

Bawburgh's War Memorial is located in St. Mary and St. Walstan's Churchyard and holds the following names for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

: * Corporal William J. Child (1895-1917), 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry * Lance-Corporal Alphonso E. Allison (1893-1916), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Rifleman Cyril S. Harmer (1892-1918), 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles * Private Herbert H. Woods (1882-1917), 4th Battalion,

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers R ...

* Private Dan W. Allison (1888-1914), 1st Battalion,

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the E ...

* Horace A. Allison * Herbert H. Gould And, the following for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

: * Leading-Airman Percy W. Clitheroe DSM (1916-1941), '' HMS Victorious (R38)'' * Corporal Herbert H. Mortimer (1913-1944), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment

References

External links

St Mary's and St Walstan's on the European Round Tower Churches WebsiteVillage Website
{{authority control South Norfolk Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk