Martham 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

Borough of Great Yarmouth The Borough of Great Yarmouth is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Norfolk, England. It is named after its main town, Great Yarmouth, and also contains the town 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 ...

. England. It is situated some north-west of the town of

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 north-east of the city 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

The villages name means 'marten homestead/village' or 'weasel/marten hemmed-in land'. The Saxons settled in Martham around AD601 and gave the village its name, "the ham of the martens", the home of the polecats.

Parish

The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 3,126 in 1,267 households, the population including Cess and increasing at the 2011 Census to 3,569. In recent years the population has expanded with considerable housing being constructed.

Transport

Bus service to Great Yarmouth is regular. There was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

that served the village, with a level crossing on Rollesby Road. The station closed in 1959, when the entire line from

North Walsham North Walsham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. The town is located south of Cromer and Norwich is south. Demography The civil parish has an area of ...

was closed. The station buildings stood for another 30 years.

Education

Education is available in the village from Early Years to aged 16. Martham Primary & Nursery caters for children up to Year 6, with

Flegg High School Flegg High Ormiston Academy (formerly Flegg High School) is an 11–16 mixed secondary school with academy status in Martham, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. Description It was built in the 1960s for boys and girls aged 11–16. Much of t ...

taking students from Year 7 to Year 11. Post 16 education is available at other establishments outside of Martham.

Village centre

The village has several Georgian houses, a large village green, covering three areas of greensward and two duck ponds. Near St Mary's church

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, Ferrygate Lane leads to Martham Ferry, where an unusual floating

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

crosses the

River Thurne The River Thurne is a river in Norfolk, England in The Broads. Just long, it rises from the coast near Martham Broad and is navigable from West Somerton. It flows southwest and is linked by Candle Dyke and Heigham Sound to both Horsey Mere ...

. The bridge leads to

Heigham Holmes Heigham Holmes is a national nature reserve located within the Norfolk Broads in the English county of Norfolk. The reserve is, in effect, an island, being surrounded by the river channels, drainage ditches and wetland areas of the Broads. It ...

, an island

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

, which can only be accessed by the public on special occasions. About to the north of the village is Martham Broad, a

, which is not navigable by boat.

Notable people

The

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Anna Hinderer died in the village in 1870.

Notes

External links

.
Information from Genuki Norfolk
on Martham.
Martham Parish Council websiteMartham Local Weather website
Martham Primary & Nursery

Flegg High School

The History of Martham *http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Martham {{authority control Martham, Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk Borough of Great Yarmouth