Stratton Strawless is a village in the 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 Nor ...

and district of

Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. The population of the local authority district taken at the 2011 Census was 124,646. Its council is based in Thorpe St Andrew. In 2013, Broadland w ...

. The

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 ...

covers and has a population of 495, increasing to a population of 580 in the 2011 Census. Located close and to the east of the

A140 road The A140 is an 'A-class' road in Norfolk and Suffolk, East Anglia, England partly following the route of the Roman Pye Road. It runs from the A14 near Needham Market to the A149 south of Cromer. It is of primary status for the entirety ...

and being south of the market town of

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, ...

and some north 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 Episcopal see, See of ...

. Much of the parish has been given over to the growing of arable crops, but there are substantial amounts of mixed woodland to be found.

History

The village was first recorded 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 manusc ...

(1086) as ''Stratuna'' ('tun') meaning house or farm in

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

. Strawless is an appellative from the poorness of the soil, producing little grain and less straw, but favourable to the production of timber.Sparks, T, & Lines, J, ''Chapters in the life of Robert Marsham''(2008) pp56.65

The Marsham family

From the 14th century to the end of the 19th century Stratton Strawless hall was the home of the Marsham family which included Robert Marsham (1707–97), the phenologist. Marsham is believed to have planted two million trees on the estate. Most of the plantings were cleared for much-needed timber for the First and

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 ...

. A few ancient trees remain, and in particular The Great Cedar (planted in 1747). The current hall (then 3 storeys) was completed c. 1800; in 1960 the top storey was removed. During the

the hall housed an operations room for

RAF Coltishall Royal Air Force Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , is a former Royal Air Force station located North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, which operated from 1938 to 2006. It was a fighter airf ...

. Today, the

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

hall has been converted into residential flats and part of the grounds have been turned into a caravan park.

St Margaret's church

The

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

building dates back to the 13th century with a broad tower from 1422. The oldest feature is a Norman doorway leading to 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. ...

. The church is full of artefacts which include 17th century

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

monuments dedicated to the Marsham family. Also, of note is the early 18th century great brass chandelier which holds 25 candles and is lit every fourth Sunday for

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

. The life-sized Black Abbess was found walled up in the tower during the 19th-century renovation. She is believed to depict a crusader's widow dating from the late 13th century.

Leisure and recreation

The village hall is located in Parish Road. Adjacent to the building is the

village sign In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The desig ...

which depicts Marsham's Great Cedar, woodlands and the lily ponds that are located close by. In May of each year at Brook House, the bluebell woods are opened to the public.Brook House
Retrieved 1 May 2012 Much of the area can be explored by bicycle and foot via the network of quiet lanes and footpaths.

Public transport

Bus * Sanders Coaches 44/44

4

Rail Both stations are approximately from the village. * Wroxham railway station * Worstead railway station

Notable residents

* Robert Marsham Founding father of

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

Gallery

File:Marsham memorial.JPG, The Marsham family memorial File:Stratton Strawless Village Sign2.jpg, The village sign File:The Great Cedar.JPG, The Great cedar File:Lily ponds.JPG, Lily ponds File:St Margaret's Church.JPG, The great brass chandelier File:The Black Abbess.JPG, The Black Abbess

References

External links

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