Cantley is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Cantley, Limpenhoe and Southwood, in the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

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 ...

. Cantley is located north of Loddon and 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 ...

. The village is within the Broads Special Protection Area and lies on the north bank of the

River Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the villag ...

History

Cantley'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 ...

for ''Canta's'' glade or meadow. 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 ...

, Cantley is recorded as a settlement of 58 households located 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 ...

Blofield Blofield is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of the English county of Norfolk. The parish includes the village of Blofield and the hamlets of Blofield Heath and Blofield Corner. Blofield is located five miles (8 km) ...

. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of King William I. There are two historic manors, Cantley Netherhall and Cantley Uphall. Currently, the Lord of the manor of Cantley Netherhall is Franck Rallu resident in France. In April 1935, the parish absorbed Limpenhoe and Southwood into a larger parish. In 1931, the parish (prior to the merge) had a population of 291.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Cantley has a population of 511 people which shows a slight increase from the 504 people recorded in the 2011 census. Cantley is located along the course of the

and is within the

Norfolk Broads Norfolk ( ) is a 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 east, Cambridgeshire to the west, a ...

. The majority of local children attend Cantley Primary School and is part of the Coastal Together Federation of local primary schools. In 2021, the school was rated as 'Good' 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 ...

. Cantley is served by Cantley railway station which opened in 1844 on the

Yarmouth & Norwich Railway The Yarmouth and Norwich Railway (Y&NR) was the earliest railway in Norfolk, England. It was formed after it became apparent that it would be a number of years before the Eastern Counties Railway would extend their railway into Norfolk. Its a ...

. Today, the station lies on the

Wherry Line The Wherry Lines are railway branch lines in the East of England, linking with and . There are 14 stations on the lines, including the three termini. They form part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.11 and are classified as a rural ...

with regular to

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

and

St Margaret's Church

Cantley's parish church is dedicated to Saint Margaret and dates from the 14th century. St Margaret's is located on Church Road and has been Grade II listed since 1962. The church was significantly remodelled in the 19th century. Within St Margaret's Churchyard there are two listed monuments including a tombstone with a stone coffin lid and a further coffin lid emblazoned with

fleur-de-lys The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

Cantley Sugar Factory

In 1912 the Cantley Sugar Factory was founded by the Dutch company Algemene Suikermaatschappij (ASMij). ASMij had been founded in 1908 to concentrate the Dutch beet sugar industry and remove surplus capacity. To achieve this, it also bought the already closed down Dordrecht Sugar Factory. The machinery of this factory was then shipped to England to become part of Cantley Sugar Factory. Cantley Sugar Factory was founded in 1912. It was not successful and closed down in 1916. After the English Beet Sugar Corporation was founded, Cantley Sugar Factory was reopened in 1920. The site is still in operation today by

British Sugar British Sugar plc is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods and the sole British producer of sugar from sugar beet, as well as medicinal cannabis. History Early history The company was formed as the British Sugar Corporation in 1936, wh ...

, forming one of the four British sugar processing factories.

Notable residents

* Edward B. Evans (1846-1922) – army officer and stamp collector, died in Cantley. * Fred Judd (1914-1992) – inventor and amateur radio enthusiast, lived in Cantley. * Brian Edrich- (1922-2009) –

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

cricketer, born in Cantley. *

Alfie Hewett Alfie Hewett (born 6 December 1997 in Norwich, Norfolk) is a British professional wheelchair tennis player. He is the current world No. 2 in singles and world No. 1 in doubles. Hewett has won a total of 32 major titles: ten in singles and 22 ...

– (b.1997) wheelchair tennis player, born in Cantley.

Governance

Cantley is part of the

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 ...

of Brundall 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 ...

Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based at the Broadland Business Park on the outskirts of Norwich. The district includes the towns of Acle, Aylsham, Reepham, Spro ...

. The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.

War memorial

Cantley's war memorial is split across two marble plaques located inside St Margaret's Church. The following men are listed 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

Cantley Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Former civil parishes in Norfolk Sugar refineries Broadland Sugar industry of the United Kingdom