Thwaite St Mary is a rural 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 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 ...

, it sits just a few miles north of the Suffolk border. Thwaite – sometimes pronounced ‘twayt’ by locals – has approximately thirty-five dwellings and a population of around seventy-nine. The population is included in the civil parish of

Hedenham Hedenham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 173 in 70 households at the 2001 census, including Thwaite St. Mary and increasing to 240 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local g ...

. The name 'Thwaite' means 'Clearing'. Due to its rural location and minimal air and light pollution, Thwaite is home to an astronomical observatory run by the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. The village also backs on to the tiny Seething Airfield, formerly

RAF Seething Royal Air Force Seething or more simply RAF Seething is a former Royal Air Force station located south east of Norwich, Norfolk, England, paradoxically just inside of the village of Mundham. History Seething airfield was built in 1942� ...

which utilises part of the runway from an old American wartime airbase. The 1941 control tower still stands and serves as a museum to the war years and to the 448th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in particular. Its unchanged control tower and the fact that it is still an active airfield means that Seething is often used as a location for wartime-themed charity events and air-days. It is also one of the staging posts for the popular Lowestoft summer air-show. The community in Thwaite is active in organising social and fund-raising events. These events regularly draw a crowd from the wider South-Norfolk and Suffolk area. Together with the appearance of the village and its position in the picturesque Norfolk/Suffolk-borders countryside, this

social cohesion Group cohesiveness (also called group cohesion and social cohesion) arises when bonds link members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole. Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it can be broken down into four main co ...

contributes to a reputation as a highly desirable place to live.

St Mary's Church

Thwaite's church of St Mary has an active congregation, and also draws attendees from outside the parish, families who have once lived in the village sometimes return to use this pretty church for weddings and memorial services. The original church was founded in 1385.

Architecture

Its well-kept churchyard and striking

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 ...

arch doorway attract sightseers from the wider area too. Families who have once lived in the village sometimes return to use this pretty church for weddings and memorial services. The 14th Century square tower replaced a round one, and curiously the north side of the church has not a single window. The brick porch was added in the 18th Century, the church was partly rebuilt of brick in 1738. The church is entirely rustic in character. The only medieval survival is the 15th century font, which is completely plain. However, the stem is similar to that of those in several other churches round about. 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 ...

is simple and elegant; the screen is a nice simple Georgian piece which must be contemporary with the rebuilding. The glass in the east window was restored after being blown out by a stray bomb during the Second World War.

References

{{coord, 52.5036, 1.4367, type:city(100)_region:GB, display=title Tourist attractions in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk South Norfolk