Felbrigg 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 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 ...

. Felbrigg is located south-west of

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

and north 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 ...

History

Felbrigg's name is of

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

origin and derives from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

for a plank bridge. Felbrigg parish has been the site of the discovery of several

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

artefacts including pottery, coins, brooches and a figurine of

Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism. He becam ...

. Despite this, no conclusive evidence of a Roman settlement has been identified. 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 ...

, Felbrigg is listed as a settlement of 6 households in the hundred of North Erpingham. In 1086, the village formed part of the

East Anglian East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

estates of Roger Bigod.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Felbrigg has a population of 201 people which shows an increase from the 193 people recorded in the 2011 census. Felbrigg sits along the B1436, between

and

Thorpe Market Thorpe Market is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 4.4 miles south of Cromer and 20.5 miles north of Norwich. The village's name means 'Outlying farm/settlement with a market'. The parish church The parish chur ...

Felbrigg Woods Felbrigg Woods is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Cromer in Norfolk, England. It is the main part of the grounds of Felbrigg Hall, a National Trust property which is listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gard ...

is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

and is mainly within the grounds and estate of

Felbrigg Hall Felbrigg Hall is a 17th-century English country house near the village of that name in Norfolk. Part of a National Trust property, the unaltered 17th-century house is noted for its Jacobean architecture and fine Georgian interior. Outside ...

. The woods mainly consist of

common beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large ...

trees, with many rare species of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

St Margaret's Church

Felbrigg's parish church is dedicated to

Saint Margaret of Antioch Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr () in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 30th of July (Julian calendar) by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip ...

and dates from the early 15th century with extensive 19th-century restoration. St. Margaret's is located outside of the village, deep within the grounds of Felbrigg Hall, and has been Grade II listed since 1960. St Margaret's has examples of memorials to historical owners of

, notably a carved plaque to William Windham (died 1696) by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London church ...

and a carved bust of

William Windham William Windham (4 June 1810) was a British Whig politician. Elected to Parliament in 1784, Windham was attached to the remnants of the Rockinghamite faction of Whigs, whose members included his friends Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke. ...

Joseph Nollekens Joseph Nollekens R.A. (11 August 1737 – 23 April 1823) was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. Life Nollekens was born on 11 August 1737 at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, ...

. The church also holds a significant collection of medieval bronzes, which has been noted as one of the best in Norfolk.

Felbrigg Hall

Felbrigg Hall was first built in the seventeenth century in

Jacobean style The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James's reign, the ...

Robert Lyminge Robert Lyminge ( 1607–1628) was an English carpenter and architect. His surname is also sometimes spelt Lemyinge or Liminge. Lyminge's earliest record of employment is dated 1607 at the almshouses at Theobalds in Hertfordshire. From 1607 to ...

, with an interior completed in the

Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

. The hall was later adapted by William Samwell and, later, James Paine. The hall was the home of the Windham and Ketton-Cremer families until the death of its last, heirless owner R. W. Ketton-Cremer when the property passed to the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Notable residents

* V-Adm. Thomas Wyndham (1508–1554) – Royal Navy officer, explorer and navigator *

Sir John Wyndham ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

(1558–1645) – English landowner *

Ashe Windham Ashe Windham (17 February 1673 – 4 April 1749), of Felbrigg, Norfolk, was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1710. Life Windham was the eldest son of William Windham of Felbrigg (died 1689) an ...

(1673–1749) – English landowner and politician * William Windham Sr. (1717–1761) – English landowner *

(1750–1810) – English politician and landowner * Vice Admiral William Lukin (1768–1833) – Royal Navy officer and veteran of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

* William H. Windham (1802–1854) – English politician * Gen. Sir Charles Ash Windham (1810–1870) – British Army officer and politician * William Frederick Windham (1840–1866) – English landowner * R. W. Ketton-Cremer (1906–1969) – biographer and historian, resident of Felbrigg Hall.

Governance

Felbrigg 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 Roughton 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 ...

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 ...

. The village's national constituency is

, which has been represented by the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Steff Aquarone Steffan Luke Aquarone (born 12 May 1984) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk since 2024. He is also an entrepreneur in film and technology. His projects involve collaboration bet ...

MP since 2024.

War Memorial

Felbrigg War Memorial is a Latin Cross atop a square plinth with the inscription: '1914-1918.' The memorial lists the following names 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 ...

: Furthermore, there is a memorial to the following soldier who was killed during the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

during 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 ...

inside St. Margaret's Church:

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk North Norfolk