Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Beachamwell
Beachamwell is a village and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England about 5 miles (8.0 km) south west of Swaffham and 10 miles (16 km) east of Downham Market. It has four ancient churches, two of them in ruins. The former parish of Shingham is now part of the parish.
The name as spelt is the official one, but the alternative Beechamwell is found in modern publications as well as in historical sources. The correct spelling was a source of dispute in the village, until a parish council meeting in 1977 decided the matter.
The village is at the northern extremity of the Breckland and so its soil is light and sandy, free-draining and easily losing its fertility. This made traditional farming difficult, and so the north of the parish is occupied by Beachamwell Warren, once one of the most important mediaeval rabbit warrens in the Breckland. Some of the boundary earthworks can still be traced. However, the historical heathland here has mostly been lost, and the parish land use is now mostly either modern arable farming or conifer plantations, with a few semi-natural woodland areas – especially along a brook marking the southern boundary of the parish. The topography is flat.
The location is isolated, and the main access is a country lane running south-west of Swaffham, looping north-west to join the A1122 east of Fincham. The core of the village itself is south of this lane, around a rectangular village green, with the church of St Mary at the west end and a pub at the east end. The former post office is just beyond the church, at 24–25.
The village includes the deer park of Beachamwell Hall. The mansion was rebuilt in 1906 after a fire, but the original 18th-century stables, ice-house and ha-ha survive.
To the east of the village is the hamlet of Shingham, which used to be a separate parish and which retains its own church building, St Botolph's. The hamlet of Drymere is strung along the road to Swaffham. It was created for forestry workers when the Warren was afforested. According to the 2011 census the village had a population then of 339, including Shingham.
The parish has been the source of a rich collection of archaeological finds, mostly obtained by fieldwalking or metal-detecting. The light, easily worked soil was attractive to Neolithic farmers, and large numbers of worked flints have been recovered. A possible cursus exists just south-west of the All Saints church ruin.
A small menhir of uncertain date, called the Cowell Stone, marks the meeting point of the parishes of Beachamwell, Swaffham and Narborough. It has been moved a short distance from its original location, on a track leading north of the A1122 to Narford, and is no longer upright.
Hub AI
Beachamwell AI simulator
(@Beachamwell_simulator)
Beachamwell
Beachamwell is a village and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England about 5 miles (8.0 km) south west of Swaffham and 10 miles (16 km) east of Downham Market. It has four ancient churches, two of them in ruins. The former parish of Shingham is now part of the parish.
The name as spelt is the official one, but the alternative Beechamwell is found in modern publications as well as in historical sources. The correct spelling was a source of dispute in the village, until a parish council meeting in 1977 decided the matter.
The village is at the northern extremity of the Breckland and so its soil is light and sandy, free-draining and easily losing its fertility. This made traditional farming difficult, and so the north of the parish is occupied by Beachamwell Warren, once one of the most important mediaeval rabbit warrens in the Breckland. Some of the boundary earthworks can still be traced. However, the historical heathland here has mostly been lost, and the parish land use is now mostly either modern arable farming or conifer plantations, with a few semi-natural woodland areas – especially along a brook marking the southern boundary of the parish. The topography is flat.
The location is isolated, and the main access is a country lane running south-west of Swaffham, looping north-west to join the A1122 east of Fincham. The core of the village itself is south of this lane, around a rectangular village green, with the church of St Mary at the west end and a pub at the east end. The former post office is just beyond the church, at 24–25.
The village includes the deer park of Beachamwell Hall. The mansion was rebuilt in 1906 after a fire, but the original 18th-century stables, ice-house and ha-ha survive.
To the east of the village is the hamlet of Shingham, which used to be a separate parish and which retains its own church building, St Botolph's. The hamlet of Drymere is strung along the road to Swaffham. It was created for forestry workers when the Warren was afforested. According to the 2011 census the village had a population then of 339, including Shingham.
The parish has been the source of a rich collection of archaeological finds, mostly obtained by fieldwalking or metal-detecting. The light, easily worked soil was attractive to Neolithic farmers, and large numbers of worked flints have been recovered. A possible cursus exists just south-west of the All Saints church ruin.
A small menhir of uncertain date, called the Cowell Stone, marks the meeting point of the parishes of Beachamwell, Swaffham and Narborough. It has been moved a short distance from its original location, on a track leading north of the A1122 to Narford, and is no longer upright.