Framingham Earl is a small 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 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 north-west of Loddon and 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 ...

History

Framingham Earl'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 the village or homestead of Fram's people. The addition of 'Earl' was added due to the fact the village was traditionally part of the estates of the

Earl of Norfolk Earl of Norfolk is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. Created in 1070, the first major dynasty to hold the title was the 12th and 13th century Bigod family, and it then was later held by the Mowbrays, who we ...

. Framingham Earl has been identified as the site of possible

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 ...

settlement due to the discovery of coins, pottery, tiles and bricks during an excavation of a new gas pipeline in 1992. 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 ...

, Framingham Earl is listed alongside

Framingham Pigot Framingham Pigot is a village and civil parish in the English of Norfolk. The village is located north-west of Loddon and south-east of Norwich, along the A146 between Norwich and Lowestoft. History Framingham Earl's name is of Anglo-Saxon ...

as a settlement of 61 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 Henstead. In 1086, the villages were divided between the

East Anglian East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

estates of King William I, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, Roger Bigod and Godric the Steward.

Geography

According to the 2011 Census, Framingham Earl has a population of 871 residents living in 374 households. Furthermore, the Parish of Framingham Earl has a total area of . Framingham Earl falls within the constituency of

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 ...

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 Richard Bacon 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 ...

. 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 ...

St. Andrew's Church

Framingham Earl's parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining Anglo-Saxon round-tower churches. The church tower dates from the Eleventh Century with the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

being an earlier survival, the interior features rare surviving Medieval stained-glass depicting Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine.

Amenities

Framingham Earl High School is located within the village and operates as part of the Sapientia Education Trust. The school has a student body of around 800 and was rated as a 'Good' school in 2014 by Ofsted, a decision which was upheld in 2022. Ofsted. (2022). Retrieved January 04, 2023. https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50201110 The school shares its site with a Sports Centre which opened in 2006 and offers exercise classes and sports to the local community. The centre is currently under the management of South Norfolk Council.

Notable Residents

* W. G. Sebald (1944-2001)- German writer and academic, buried in St. Andrew's Churchyard

War Memorial

Framingham Earl's war memorial takes the form of a marble plaque with a carved wooden border, located inside St. Thomas' Church. 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 ...

: * L-Cpl. Henry Meadows (d.1916), 8th 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 ...

* Pvt. F. Norman Watkinson (1897-1917), 9th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regt. * James Clare * William Smith

References

External links

Parish Council websiteSt Andrew's on the European Round Tower Churches WebsiteFramingham Earl High SchoolFriends of St Andrew's Church
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk South Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk