Barsham is 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, and includes the villages of

East Barsham East Barsham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Barsham, in the North Norfolk district, in the English county of Norfolk. East Barsham is located north of Fakenham and west of Cromer. The village is one of the four v ...

, North Barsham, West Barsham and Houghton St Giles. The villages are all situated within two miles of each other, about three miles north of the town of

Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north-west of Norwich. The town is at the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to N ...

and 28 miles north-west of the city of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. The headwaters of the

River Stiffkey The River Stiffkey is a chalk stream running through an area of north Norfolk, England from its source near Swanton Novers to flow out into the North Sea on the north Norfolk coast near the village of Stiffkey. The river has been dredged histori ...

flow through both East and North Barsham and Houghton St Giles. Originally all four villages had their own parishes, but these were merged to create a single civil parish in 1935. This parish has an area of 7½ square miles and in the 2001 census had a population of 253 in 115 households, the population reducing to 232 at the 2011 census. 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, municip ...

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...

. There are no shops in Barsham, and the White Horse Inn in East Barsham is the only pub. The mediaeval pilgrimage centre of

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Expl ...

lies only 1¼ miles north of Houghton St Giles, and the Roman Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady or

Slipper Chapel The Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham is a Catholic basilica and national shrine in Houghton Saint Giles, Norfolk, England, located one mile from Walsingham. It incorporates both the historic Slipper Chapel, built in 1340, and the contemporary ...

is located within the civil parish of Barsham. East Barsham Manor, in the village of East Barsham, is an important work of

Tudor architecture The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture in England and Wales, during the Tudor period (1485–1603) and even beyond, and also the tentative introduction of Renaissance architecture to Britain. It fo ...

. The Wymondham to Wells Branch railway line ran through the parish, but this closed during the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

of the 1960s.

References

* Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 251 - Norfolk Coast Central''. . * Great Britain Historical GIS Project.
Barsham CP Norfolk through time
'. Retrieved 22 December 2005. * 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

* for East Barsham. * for North Barsham. * for West Barsham. * for Houghton St Giles. Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub