Knapton is a village and a

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 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 southeast of

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

, northeast 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 ...

and northeast of London. The Village is located alongside the B1145 a route which runs between King's Lynn and

Mundesley Mundesley /ˈmʌndz.li/ is a coastal village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is north-north east of Norwich, south east of Cromer and north east of London. The village lies north-north east of the town of Nort ...

. The nearest railway station is at

North Walsham North Walsham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England, within the North Norfolk district. Demography The civil parish has an area of and in the 2011 census had a population of 12,634. For the purposes of local government, the pa ...

for the Bittern Line which runs between

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban Distr ...

, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport.

History

Knapton is mentioned 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 ...

of 1086 where it is listed under the name 'Kanapatone'. The tenant in chief was William de Warenne who was a Norman aristocrat who fought at the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conque ...

and became great landowners in England.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Parish Church

The present church dates from mainly the 14th century.Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East, By

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

and Bill Wilson, Knapton entry. The tower is set into the north west corner of the building. The porch is on the southern elevation. Atop of the church there is a weathervane designed by J.S. CotmanThe King’s England, Norfolk, by Arthur Mee, Page 152 an artist famed as a member of the Norwich school. Inside there is a 13th-century font on three high steps which has a Purbeck marble bowl and a cover over which dates from 1704. The inscription which is in Greek reads "wash my sins and not my face only" The inscription is a palindrome, reading the same backwards as forwards.. At the back of the church behind the font there are some coffin-lids from the earlier church set into the flags of the floor. The most prominent feature of this church is the roof. The roof was given to the church by a John Smithe in 1504. It is of a double hammerbeam construction and still retains its original colour. The beams and spandrels are richly carved with three tiers of angels which have outspread wings. More angels are carved on the kingposts and on the wall plate. In niches below the wall supports there are figures with scrolls, shields, symbols or playing musical instruments. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Church Gallery

Image:Inside Knaptom church 23 Jan 2008.JPG, The covered Font Image:Knapton Church (1).jpg, Some of the carved angels Image:Hammer Beam Roof at Knapton Church 23 Jan 2008 (4).JPG, The double hammerbeam roof

Notable residents

* Walter Pardon - carpenter and traditional folk singer

References

External links

Village Website

External links

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk