Gillingham ( ) is a small 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 ...

. Gillingham is located north-west of

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is located along the A145 r ...

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 ...

, along the A146.

History

Gillingham'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 the homestead or village of Gylla's people. 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 ...

, Gillingham is listed as a settlement of 34 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 Clavering. In 1086, the village formed part of the

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, ...

n estates of King William I. The parish contains two villages that were abandoned in the Fourteenth Century due to the ravages of the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

: Winston and Wyndale.

Gillingham Hall Gillingham Hall is a Jacobean architecture, Jacobean manor house in the village of Gillingham, Norfolk, England. It is a Grade II* Listed Building. The house has 10-bedrooms and was built in the early 16th century. It was altered and enlarged in ...

is located within the parish and was built in the early-Sixteenth Century as a residence for Sir Nicholas Bacon. Today, the hall is owned by Edward Haughey. On the night of the 6th and 7 November 1943, a

Dornier 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Large numbers were operated by the ''Luftwaffe'' throughout the Second World War. The Do 17 was designed durin ...

light bomber crashed in the village after being shot down by anti-aircraft fire whilst on a bombing raid of

. Only one of the crew survived and attempts at excavation of the site were made by the

Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum is a museum collection of aircraft and aviation-related artefacts, located near the former RAF Bungay airfield in Flixton in the north of the English county of Suffolk. Details First established in 197 ...

during the 1970s. On 13 March 2014, a helicopter crashed shortly after take-off from Gillingham Hall, killing all four people on board, including

Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond Edward Enda Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, OBE, FRCVS, (5 January 1944 – 13 March 2014) was an Irish-British entrepreneur and politician. With an estimated personal wealth of €780 million (£650 million/USD$1,078 million), he was the second-r ...

, the owner of Gillingham Hall.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Gillingham has a total population of 697 people which demonstrates an increase from the 676 people listed in the 2011 census. The A146, between

and

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 ...

, passes through the parish.

St. Mary's Church

Gillingham's parish church dates from the Twelfth Century but was largely rebuilt in the mid-Nineteenth Century by Thomas Penrice and is dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. St. Mary's is located on Church Road and has been Grade I listed since 1960. St. Mary's is open throughout the week for services. Gillingham is also home to the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Church, which was built in late-Nineteenth Century by the Kenyon family of Gillingham Hall.

Amenities

St. Michael's Church of England Primary School is located within the village and is part of the Diocese of Norwich Education Trust. The headteacher is Mrs. H. Brand. The village also has a playground, allotments and a village hall.

Transport

The village currently has a regular bus service to much of the surrounding area.

First Norfolk & Suffolk First Bus East of England is a bus operator that provides services in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England; it is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. It has five depots in operating areas spread out across East Anglia: Norwich, Ipswich, Great Yarmou ...

run the X2 through the village, which gives access to

, Loddon,

and

as well as the smaller surrounding villages and BorderBus run the 580 to

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at th ...

, Harleston and Diss and the connecting 581 to

and

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 ...

and the 146 which runs between Norwich and Lowestoft via Loddon and Beccles. Bus services to other areas can be found in Beccles.

Notable Residents

* Admiral Henry Eden- (1798-1888) Royal Naval officer, lived at Gillingham Hall. *

- (1944-2014) Anglo-Irish entrepreneur & politician, lived at Gillingham Hall.

Governance

Gillingham 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 Thurlton 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

Gillingham War Memorial is a grey granite wheel cross with a small plinth located outside the village at the site where

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

inspected troops in 1916. 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 ...

: The following names were added after 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

S Norfolk Council
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk