Denver 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

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 is situated on the River Great Ouse, approximately 1 mile (2 km) south of the small town of

Downham Market Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and 30 ...

, 14 miles (22 km) south of the larger town of King's Lynn, and 37 miles (60 km) west of the city 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 ...

History

Denver's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for a passage or crossing used by the Danes. Denver acted as the terminus for the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Fen Causeway Fen Causeway or the Fen Road is the modern name for a Roman road of England that runs between Denver, Norfolk in the east and Peterborough in the west.Phillips, C.W. ''The Fenland in Roman Times''. Royal Geographical Society (1970). Its path ...

which began in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. 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 manus ...

, Denver is listed as a settlement of 43 households 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 des ...

of Clackclose. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of William de Warenne. In 1651, the first sluice to help with the drainage of

The Fens The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...

was built by the Dutch architect

Cornelius Vermuyden Sir Cornelius Vermuyden ( Sint-Maartensdijk, 1595 – London, 11 October 1677) was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch land reclamation methods to England. Vermuyden was commissioned by the Crown to drain Hatfield Chase in the Isle of Axholm ...

. The sluice was rebuilt after bursting in 1713. Today, the West Norfolk Rowing Club are based at Denver Sluice. Denver Sluice - geograph

Denver Windmill Denver Windmill is a Grade II* listed tower mill at Denver, Norfolk, England. In March 2010, there were about 374,000 list entries of which 5.5% were Grade II* and even fewer were superior. History Denver windmill was built in 1835, replaci ...

was built in the mid-Nineteenth Century and today is fully restored. Denver windmill - geograph

Denver Railway Station opened in 1847 as a stop on the Great Eastern Railway between King's Lynn and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. The station to passengers in 1930. Denver station building side

Geography

According to the 2011 Census, Denver is a settlement of 890 residents living in 379 households. Denver falls within the constituency of

South West Norfolk South West Norfolk is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Liz Truss, a Conservative, who was prime minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022. Constituency profile This is ...

and is represented at

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

by Liz Truss MP of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

St. Mary's Church

Denver's parish church is of

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 ...

origin and is dedicated to Saint Mary. The church was heavily remodelled in the later Nineteenth Century with the stained glass being created and installed by Ian Pace. Knott, S. (2005). Retrieved December 22, 2022. http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/denver/denver.htm Today, the church is Grade II listed and still holds regular church services.

Famous Residents

George William Manby Captain George William Manby FRS (28 November 1765 – 18 November 1854) was an English author and inventor. He designed an apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks and also the first modern form of fire extinguisher. Early life Manby was b ...

- English author and inventor

In Popular Culture

The fictional Duke of Denver's, from the novels of

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

, family seat is supposedly based on the village.

War Memorial

Denver shares a war memorial with the nearby villages of Fordham,

Ryston Ryston is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It once had its own railway station. The villages name means 'Brushwood farm/settlement'. It covers an area of and had a population of 93 in 34 households at the 200 ...

and

Bexwell Bexwell is a small village and former civil parish near Downham Market, now in the parish of Ryston, in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 60. On 1 April 1935 the p ...

located on the village green taking the form of hexagonal stone column topped with a crucifix. The memorial lists the following names for Denver for 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 ...

* Stoker-First Class G. Beck (1890-1916), '' HMS Queen Mary'' * Stoker-First Class Harry Paul (1893-1916), ''HMS Queen Mary'' * Quarter-Master-Sergeant Frederick Armsby (1872-1917), 8th 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 ...

* Sergeant W. Dack (1878-1919), Y Company, Royal Army Service Corps * Sergeant George R. Day (d.1914), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Sergeant Arthur Day (d.1914), 2nd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps * Corporal William Hassack DCM (d.1916), 6th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment * Lance-Corporal Charles H. Holliday (d.1916),

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 ...

* Lance-Corporal Reginald P. H. Howlett (d.1918), 1st Battalion,

Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Quee ...

* Lance-Corporal E. Scarborough (d.1917), 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private John Garrod (d.1917), 6th Battalion,

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service i ...

* Private Arthur Hilling (1895-1916), 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards * Private John W. Hall (d.1918), 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 Ernest R. B. Chapman (1897-1917), Royal West Kent Regiment * Private James W. Rodwell (1895-1918), 2/6th 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 Robert Fountain (d.1915), 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Horace Allcock (1897-1917), 3rd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Harold Monk (1895-1914), 1/5th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Francis H. Holliday (1885-1916), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private H. Hurrell (d.1919), 2nd Garrison Battalion, Suffolk Regiment * Private William E. Fendick (1873-1915), 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment * Private Horace Sutlefe (d.1917), 9th Battalion,

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

* Private Thomas Redcar (1899-1918), 1st Battalion,

Wiltshire Regiment The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. The ...

* Private William H. Holliday (d.1918), 1st Battalion,

Yorkshire Regiment The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Army 2020 defence ...

* Private George Akred (1897-1917), 1/4th 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 ...

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk