Flitcham 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 ...

. The village is located north-east of

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

and north-west 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 ...

, along the River Babingley. Together with the villages of West Newton, Shernborne and Anmer, Flitcham forms part of the Royal Sandringham Estate.

History

Flitcham'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 a village or settlement where 'flitches' of

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

were cured. There is, however, an alternate local theory that Flitcham's name derives from ''Felix-ham'' as the site of Saint Felix's original monastery after he arrived in

East Anglia 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, ...

in the Seventh Century. In 1948, the site of a Roman villa was excavated close to Denbeck Wood, within the parish. After excavation, the villa was found to have glazed windows, a tessellated floor and a small courtyard flanked by other buildings from the same period. Further artefacts, including coins, pottery and metalwork dating from the Third and Forth Centuries, have been discovered close to the site and across the parish. Another possible Roman building has been identified close to the course of the River Babingley. In addition, the Denbeck Wood excavations also led to the discovery of several Anglo-Saxon artefacts including brooches, pottery and several fittings. 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 ...

of 1086, Flitcham is listed as a settlement of 88 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 Freebridge. In 1086, the village was divided between the East Anglian estates of Bishop Odo de Bayeux, William de Warenne and Roger Bigod. The survey lists the value of Flitcham as 4 mills, a church, of meadow, pannage for 27 swine, 3 cows, 1 beast for carriage and 180 sheep. In the Domesday Book, the size of woodland was normally indicated by the number of swine in a wood. During 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 ...

, many local men joined the 1/5th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment. In 1915, the unit was sent to Gallipoli and first saw action at Suvla Bay. On 21 August the unit attacked the Ottoman positions and subsequently found themselves encircled and then eliminated. Six Flitcham men were killed on 21 August 1915 in this attack. These events were dramatised in the 1999 TV drama '' All the King's Men'' starring David Jason. Appleton House was built in the 1860s as a residence for Haakon VII of Norway and his wife, Maud of Wales, during visits to England, with the future Olav V being born in the house. 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 ...

, Appleton House was the residence of the Norwegian monarchy in exile, and for this reason a sophisticated air-raid shelter was attached to the house.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Flitcham with Appleton has a population of 260 people which shows a decrease from the 276 people listed in the 2011 census. Flitcham lies along the course of the River Babingley and the B1153, between Narborough and Brancaster. The eastern boundary of the parish is discernible by Peddars Way, a long-distance footpath between Knettishall and Holme-next-the-Sea.

St. Mary's Church

Flitcham's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and dates from the Fourteenth Century. St. Mary's is located within the village on Church Road and has been Grade II listed since 1960. St. Mary's was restored in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

under the direction of the future King Edward VII, taking many furnishings, including a

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 ...

, from St Mary Magdalene Church in nearby Sandringham.

Governance

Flitcham is part of the electoral ward of Massingham with Castle Acre 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 ...

of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. The village's national constituency is North West Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's James Wild MP since 2010.

War memorial

Flitcham War Memorial is a stone obelisk atop a square plinth adorned with slate on each face, and stands along the side of the B1153. The memorial was unveiled in May 1920 and lists the following names for the

: The following names were added after the

External links

Village web site

References

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk