Fincham 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 ...

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 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 ...

. The village is located south of King's Lynn and 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 See of Norwich, with ...

, along the A1122 between

Outwell Outwell is a village and civil parish in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, in the English county of Norfolk.Ordnance Survey (2006). ''OS Explorer Map 228 – March & Ely''. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 2,083, an ...

and

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

History

Fincham'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 homestead or settlement with an abundance of

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

es. Fincham was the site of a major

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 ...

thoroughfare, meaning the parish has yielded numerous Roman artefacts including three separate hoards of silver coins, a curious figure of a hare and hound and a bust of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

. The foundations of a Roman building have been discovered in the north of the parish, which have been excavated by Norfolk Heritage. The parish has also yielded many artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon period including rare coins dating from the reign of King Eadwold and another that was minted in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

. With later coins found dating from the reigns of

King Cnut Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...

and

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

. 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 ...

, Fincham is listed as a settlement of 164 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 divided between the East Anglian estates of William de Warenne, Hermer de Ferrers, Bury St Edmunds Abbey, St. Etheldreda's Abbey, Ralph Baynard and Reginald, son of Ivo. Fincham Hall is a manor-house dating from the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, with an earlier octagonal brick tower. Today, the hall is available for tourists to rent on

Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( ), based in San Francisco, California, operates an online marketplace focused on short-term homestays and experiences. The company acts as a broker and charges a commission from each booking. The company was founded in 2008 b ...

. Talbot Hall was built in Eighteenth Century and was notable for hosting an impressive collection of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

s currently displayed in

Kew Botanical Gardens Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

Geography

According to the 2011 Census, Fincham has a population of 496 residents living in 239 households. Furthermore, the parish has a total area of . Fincham 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 Lizz Truss of the Conservative Party. For the purposes of local government, the parish 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Most of Fincham village is a dedicated conservation area due to its distinct rural character.

St. Martin's Church

Fincham's parish church is dedicated to Saint Martin, with the exterior of the church dating from the Fifteenth Century and the interior being the remains of an extensive Nineteenth Century restoration. St. Martin's font is famous throughout Norfolk due to the fact it stands on four separate legs and depicts scenes from The Gospel of Christ. Fincham once had another church, dedicated to

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

, but this fell into disuse and was subsequently demolished in the mid-Nineteenth Century.

Amenities

Though at one time Fincham was home to five

public houses 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 ...

, today only one remains- 'The Swan'. The pub has stood on its current site since the late-Eighteenth Century and today operates as a freehouse. Fincham Memorial Hall is located close to the Village Green, and is the venue for monthly car boot sales and the annual Village Fete. The hall has been severely damaged twice in recent memory, once after an illegal rave and secondly by flooding in Winter of 2010. As of 2016, the village was home to a petrol station and a hairdressing salon. In 2005, the Fincham Chorus was formed by people from Fincham and the surrounding area. To date, they have staged several concerts and performed at one wedding, as well as taking part in the Christmas carol services. To date, they have raised over £10,000 for St Martin's Church restoration fund.

War Memorial

Fincham's war memorial takes the form of a square plinth topped with a crucifix, made from Portland stone and located inside St. Martin's Churchyard. The memorial was restored in 2012 with the partition chains around the memorial being stolen in 2013 and subsequently replaced. Historic England. Retrieved January 01, 2023. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1447508?section=official-list-entry The memorial lists the following names 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 ...

: * Sgt. George Harvey (1888-1918), 1st Bn.,

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 ...

* L-Cpl Jack Laws (1881-1916),

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 ...

* L-Cpl. Ernest Lankfer (1898-1917), 18th Bn.,

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fus ...

* L-Cpl. Sydney Bacon (1887-1914), 1st Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment * Gnr. Bert Sculpher (1897-1917), 322nd (Siege) Battery,

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

* Pvt. A. Thomas Utting (1894-1916), 4th Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment * Pvt. George Nelson (1895-1918), 2nd Bn.,

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. ...

* Pvt. Isaac Sculpher (1883-1915), 1st Bn.,

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 ...

* Pvt. Harry Jude (1877-1916), 1st Bn., East Surrey Regiment * Pvt. Robert Secker (1897-1915), 1st Bn.,

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. ...

* Pvt. Albert Bly (1888-1915), 1st Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment * Pvt. Bert Bell (1894-1917), 7th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regt. * Pvt. Ralph Bacon (1893-1918), 8th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regt. * Pvt. Arthur Elliot (1888-1917), 8th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regt. * Pvt. Charles Wilding (1883-1915), 8th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regt. * Pvt. Jonathan A. Bywater (1886-1915), 9th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regt. * Pvt. Benjamin Barker (1883-1917), 6th Bn.,

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's O ...

* Pvt. Arthur Cater (1897-1918), 6th Bn., Northamptonshire Regt. * Pvt. R. Reginald Bellham (1892-1916), 2nd Bn.,

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

* Pvt. Frederick W. E. Upshaw (1891-1918), 2/5th Bn.,

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...

* Rfn. Percy W. Bacon (1897-1918), 13th Bn., King's Royal Rifle Corps * Rfn. John Johnson (1895-1916), 13th Bn., K.R.R.C.

References

External links

* - Parish Council Website
St. Martin's - A church near youMemorial HallHistory SocietyFincham and the Finchams
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk