__NOTOC__ Walpole is a

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England. The parish includes the conjoined villages of Walpole St Andrew and Walpole St Peter. Walpole Highway and

Walpole Cross Keys Walpole Cross Keys is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 469 in 182 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 518 at the 2011 census. For the purposes of ...

are separate civil parishes. The parish covers an area of , and had a population of 1,707 in 654 households as of the 2001 Census, the population increasing to 1,804 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, Walpole falls within 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a local government district with borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 147,451. History The district was ...

. An

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 to t ...

in the same name exists. This ward had a population at the 2011 Census of 2,322. Edmund of Walpole was Abbot of Bury St Edmunds from 1248 to 1256.

History

The partially filled in moat of a former manorial site indicates mediaeval occupation. A brick from an archaeological dig was found to have been used as the board of a game,

nine men's morris Nine men's Morris is a strategy board game for two players dating at least to the Roman Empire. The game is also known as nine-man morris, mill, mills, the mill game, merels, merrills, merelles, marelles, morelles, and ninepenny marl in English. ...

. In 1339 the

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...

brought criminal proceedings, complaining of the breaking up by local merchants of the market which he and his predecessors had held at Walpole "time out of mind". St Peter's Church was used as the parish church of the fictional village of Fenchurch St Paul in the 1970s production of

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

' novel ''

The Nine Tailors ''The Nine Tailors'' is a 1934 mystery novel by the British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The story is set in the Lincolnshire Fens, and revolves around a group of bell-ringers at the local parish church. The b ...

'', starring

Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...

Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A dilettante who solves mysteries fo ...

Churches

Both St Andrew's and St Peter's are

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

churches. St Andrew's is a

redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a "closed church", is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused church ...

, now under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. St Peter's Church, known as "the Cathedral of the Fens", is a

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

building, and is often regarded as one of England's finest parish churches.Alec Clifton-Taylor, ''English Parish Churches as Works of Art'', Batsford, 1974

References

External links

*
Official church website

Parish Council website
Civil parishes in Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub