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

in the English 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 ...

. Brooke is located west of Loddon and south-east 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 ...

. Brooke CP also includes the smaller village of Howe.

History

Brook's name is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin and derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

word for a small stream. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, Brooke is recorded as a settlement of 41 households in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Henstead. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of St. Edmund's Abbey. Listed buildings in Brooke include Porch House (Seventeenth Century), Mere House (Seventeenth Century), Mere Cottage (Seventeenth Century), Laurel Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century) with accompanying barn (Nineteenth Century), No. 10 High Street (Eighteenth Century), High Green House (Eighteenth Century), The Warren (Seventeenth Century) and No. 66 High Green (Eighteenth Century). The Old Post Office dates from the Seventeenth Century and has nearby outbuildings from the Eighteenth Century with a 1935 Telephone Box as well. There are further listed buildings along 'The Street' include No. 19, No. 21 (Eighteenth Century), No. 23, No. 24, No. 25, No. 26, No. 27 (Seventeenth Century), No. 28 (Sixteenth Century), No. 45 (Seventeenth Century), No. 79, No. 80, No. 81, No. 82 and No. 83 (Seventeenth Century). A Brooke resident, Arthur Bunbury, died from fever whilst serving as assistant paymaster aboard '' HMS Hermione'' during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

in 1900. A brass plaque commemorates Bunbury inside St. Peter's Church.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Brooke (including Howe) has a population of 1,390 people which shows a slight decrease from the 1,399 people recorded in the 2011 census. The B1332, between

Trowse Trowse (pronounced by those from Norwich and by elderly residents of the village), also called Trowse with Newton, is a village in South Norfolk which lies about south-east of Norwich city centre on the banks of the River Yare. It covers an ...

and

Ditchingham Ditchingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Ditchingham is located north of Bungay and south-east of Norwich, along the course of the River Waveney. History Ditchingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and d ...

, runs through the village. Local children may attend Brooke Church of England Primary School which is located in a Seventeenth Century schoolhouse. Brooke Primary was last visited by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in September 2023 when it received a 'Good' Rating. Amenities within the village include the King's Head

Pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

and

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

which dates from the Eighteenth Century as well as a care home in Brooke House, a cafe and a veterinary practice. There is also another pub, The White Lion, within the village. Brooke Cricket Club operates two senior men's teams as well as several youth teams. The 1st XI competes in Division 2 of the L'Anson League.

St Peter's Church

Brooke's parish church is dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

and dates to the Twelfth Century. St. Peter's is located on 'The Street' and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining

round-tower churches Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, mostly in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, six in Essex, three in Sussex and two each in Cambridgeshire and Berks ...

. The church was restored in the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Centuries and boasts an elaborate

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

dating from 1470 and depicting the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

. Additionally, there is stained-glass in the church designed by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

depicting Faith, Hope and Charity.

Notable Residents

Sir Astley Cooper, 1st Baronet Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgery, surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the p ...

- (1768-1841), surgeon and anatomist, born in Brooke. * Reverend Dr. William Beal- (1815-1870), Vicar of Brooke 1847-1870. *

George Ewart Evans George Ewart Evans (1 April 1909 – 11 January 1988) was a Wales, Welsh-born schoolteacher, writer and folklorist who became a dedicated collector of oral history and oral tradition in the East Anglian countryside from the 1940s to 1970s, a ...

- (1909-1988), teacher, write and folklorist, lived in Brooke. * Bernard Matthews CVO CBE- (1930-2010), founder of

Bernard Matthews Foods Bernard Matthews Foods Limited is a British farming and food products business with its headquarters in Great Witchingham, Norfolk, England, which specialises in turkey products. Founded by Bernard Matthews in 1950, it has 56 farms throughout ...

, born in Brooke. *

Caroline Cossey Caroline Cossey (born 31 August 1954), also known as Tula, is a British model, actress, activist, and author. She appeared in the 1981 James Bond film '' For Your Eyes Only'' as an extra. Following her appearance in the film, she was outed as ...

- (b.1954), model and actress, born in Brooke.

Governance

Brooke is an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

for local elections and is part of 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 ...

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. The largest town is Wymondham, and the district also includes the towns of Costessey, Diss, Harleston, Hingham, Loddon and Long Stratton. The council was based in Long S ...

. The village's national constituency is

which has been represented by the Labour's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

War Memorial

Brooke War Memorial is a stone cross memorial located in St. Peter's Churchyard and lists the following for the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

: And, the following for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

External links

St Peter's on the European Round Tower Churches Website
Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk {{authority control