Wortwell is a village and
civil parish in the
English county of
Norfolk and adjoining the county of
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. It is located on both the
River Waveney (which forms the county boundary) and the
A143 road, some 20 km east of
Diss
Diss or DISS may refer to:
*Diss, Alberta, a place in Canada
*Diss, Norfolk, a market town in England, United Kingdom
**Diss railway station
**Diss Rugby Club
** Diss Town F.C.
*Diss grass, a Mediterranean grass
*Diss (music), a song whose primary ...
and 30 km west of
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
. The city of
Norwich lies approximately 30 km to the north.
The village name originates from roughly 1704 when naturally occurring 'Wort' was found to spring from a well fed by a water source near to the local river Waveney. When the local brewer was satisfied with the beer brewed from the 'Wortwell' he would ring a bell to let the local residents know it was ready for drinking, which also gave the local drinking establishment its name, established as a pub in 1836.
The civil parish has an area of and in the
2001 census had a population of 574 in 243 households, the population decreasing to 561 at the 2011 census.
For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the
district of
South Norfolk.
The village of Wortwell is one of the few in Norfolk not to be listed in the
Domesday Book. Until the end of the 19th century Wortwell was a hamlet within the parish of Mendham-in-Norfolk, (the modern village of Mendham is south of the River Waveney in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
) becoming a parish in the 1885 boundary alterations.
Ezekiel Blomfield (1778–1818), a
Congregational minister, author and compiler of religious works and works on natural history, was buried on 21 July 1818 in the grounds of the Meeting House at Wortwell.
Wortwell has a well established football club with its two football teams currently play in the Anglian Combination Football League, the first team playing in division 2 and the reserves playing in division 6. Playing home games at the rec at Wortwell community centre village hall.
References
* Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 230 - Diss & Harleston''. .
* Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 231 - Southwold & Bungay''. .
* Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001).
Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes'. Retrieved 2 December 2005.
External links
Diss Express- village's local newspaper website
.
Information from Genuki Norfolkon Wortwell
Wortwell Community Centre- Village Events page.
Villages in Norfolk
Civil parishes in Norfolk
{{Norfolk-geo-stub