Bergh Apton (Ber-Guh App-ton) 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 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 2011 Census. History The district was formed on 1 April 19 ...

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, 7 miles (11 km) south-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 ...

just south of the A146 between Yelverton and

Thurton Thurton is a village in South Norfolk lying 8½ miles (13½ km) south-east of Norwich on the A146 Norwich to Lowestoft road between Framingham Pigot and Loddon. The A146 effectively divides the village in two; a 40 mph limit is in force. At ...

. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 428 in 186 households, the population increasing to 442 at the 2011 Census.

History

The origin of the name 'Bergh Apton' is from the joining of two separate villages; Apton to the north-west and Bergh to the south-east, each with its own church, the origin of their names are unknown. Apton was served by the church of St. Martin which lay near the present day Church Farm on Dodgers Lane, its last recorded use being in 1555 and the remains being finally cleared in 1834. Bergh was served by the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul which stands on a low hill overlooking the

River Chet The River Chet is a small river in South Norfolk, England, a tributary of the River Yare. It rises in Poringland and flows eastwards through Alpington, Bergh Apton, Thurton and Loddon. At Loddon it passes under the A146 through Loddon Mill a ...

which marks the southern boundary of the now combined parish. The church appears to have been reconstructed in the 14th century, with local

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

with ashlar and brick details.

Today

The village school was closed in 1981 and the children transferred to Alpington and Bergh Apton CofE voluntary-aided school in Alpington. The village shop and Post Office closed on 31 December 2012. In August 2015 the Post Office reopened its Bergh Apton branch within the Green Pastures Plant Centre and Farm Shop on Mill Road. The village hall, opened on the day of Queen Elizabeth's coronation on 2 June 1953 was totally refurbished in 2013 and reopened in November of that year with new facilities and all-ability access. The hall is regularly used by village societies, the Parish Council, and numerous activities that include a microscopy study group, yoga, painting, singing and dog-training. Bergh Apton is served by bus route 570 operated by Konectbus providing five services a day into

and out to Seething and Loddon.

Sculpture Trail and Mystery Plays

Beginning in 1997 and repeated in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011, the village hosted six

sculpture trail A sculpture trail - also known as "a culture walk" or "art trail" - is a walkway through open-air galleries of outdoor sculptures along a defined route with sequenced viewings encountered from planned preview and principal sight lines. Setting ...

s with works from over 60 artists both local to Norfolk and from across the UK, displayed in private gardens and public places. The trails were organised by Bergh Apton Community Arts Trust and became significant South Norfolk tourist attractions. In the years 2005, 2008 and 2011, they drew over 10,000 visitors over three weekends in late May/early June. During the 2011 Sculpture Trail, the village, with assistance from the

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in t ...

, performed “A Mighty Water”. This

Mystery Play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...

, based on the story of Noah, was commissioned from internationally renowned story teller,

Hugh Lupton Hugh Lupton is a British storyteller, one of the most prominent figures in the tradition of oral storytelling. Early life and career Lupton was born in 1952, the eldest child of Francis G. H. Lupton and Mary Gee/Lupton. He is the great nephew ...

. In May and June 2014, Bergh Apton was joined by inhabitants of 11 neighbouring villages to perform a Cycle of four Mystery Plays based on the Bible stories in the Legend of the Rood, also commissioned from Hugh Lupton.

War Memorial

Both World Wars took an enormous toll upon the population of Bergh Apton with twenty villagers dying in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

alone. Their names are recorded on the memorial located in St. Peter and St. Paul's Churchyard, which was rededicated in May 2007 to include even more men who were associated with the village. The fallen for the First World War are listed as: * Corporal John A. Boggis, MM (1881-1918), 9th Battalion,

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

* Lance-Corporal James R. Wright (1885-1918),

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations ...

* Lance-Corporal Walter E. Alexander (1892-1916), 1st Battalion,

Royal Newfoundland Regiment The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (R NFLD R) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group. Predecessor units trace their origins to 1795, and since 1949 Royal New ...

* Lance-Corporal Aubrey S. Stone (d.1916), 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Leonard G. Rope (1889-1916), 31st Battalion, Calgary Rifles,

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...

* Private Ernest A. Leeder (d.1917), 11th Battalion, 3rd (Australian) Division * Private Henry G. V. Greenacre (1892-1916), 1st Battalion,

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

* Private Charles D. Weddup (d.1915), 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards * Private Arthur W. Annis (1882-1916), 7th Battalion,

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

* Pioneer Albert W. Parker (d.1917), 392nd (Road Construction) Company, Royal Engineers * Private Sidney H. Marks (d.1917), 1st Battalion,

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

* Private Sydney G. Keeler (1899-1918), 41st Battalion,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks ...

* Private Robert G. Beaumont (1888-1917), 22nd Battalion,

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

* Private Victor G. Gillingwater (1897-1917), 1st Battalion,

Royal Marine Light Infantry The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...

* Private Albert H. Rope (1894-1917), Royal Marine Light Infantry * Private Charles W. Greenacre (d.1916), 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Harry S. Mayes (d.1915), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Clement S. Wall (1888-1917), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Sidney R. Kedge (1895-1916), 6th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) * Deckhand C. Walter W. Bracey (d.1914), ''H.M. Trawler Eyrie'' * Leonard Cain * Jack Lovewell * Archibald Mayes * Jack Mayes * Charles Podd 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 ...

: * Petty-Officer John A. Mayes (1903-1941), ''

HMS Cossack (F03) HMS ''Cossack'' was a destroyer named after the Cossack people of Ukrainian steppe. She became famous for the boarding of the German supply ship ''Altmark'' in Norwegian waters, and the associated rescue of sailors originally captured by ...

'' * Leading-Seaman Archibald R. Mayes (d.1941), ''

HMS Warspite (03) HMS ''Warspite'' was one of five s built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. Completed during the First World War in 1915, she was assigned to the Grand Fleet and participated in the Battle of Jutland. Other than that battle, and the in ...

'' * Sergeant Jack E. Lovewell (1922-1943), No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF * Gunner Herbert C. G. Podd (1916-1942), 74th Field Regiment,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

* Private Leonard W. G. Cain (1920-1944), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment Ling, J. (2005). Retrieved October 31, 2022. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/Berghapton.html

References

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Bergh%20Apton

External links

Bergh Apton website2002/5 Sculpture Trail
on

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