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Castle Acre

Village and civil parish in Norfolk, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Castle Acre
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Castle Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

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The village is located on the course of the River Nar, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) north of Swaffham and 26 miles (42 km) west of Norwich.

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History

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Castle Acre's name is of Anglo-Saxon and Norman origin and derives from the Old English and Norman French for a castle close to cultivated land.[1]

The village is most famous for being the location of Castle Acre Castle which was built in 1085 by William de Warenne in order to enforce his control over his East Anglian lands. By the 12th century, the castle passed into the ownership of Hamelin Plantagenet who hosted both King Henry II and King Edward I in Castle Acre. By the 16th century, the castle lay mainly derelict yet had a procession of illustrious owners including Thomas Howard, Thomas Cecil and Sir Edward Coke. Today, the castle is maintained by English Heritage.[2]

In the Domesday Book, Castle Acre is listed with West Acre as a settlement of 130 households in the hundred of Freebridge. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of William de Warenne, St. Etheldreda's Abbey and Ralph de Tosny.[3]

Furthermore, Castle Acre is home to the ruins of Castle Acre Priory which was established in 1090 by William de Warenne for an order of Cluniac monks. The monastery fell into disrepair after Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. The priory is maintained by English Heritage.[4]

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Geography

According to the 2021 census, the population of Castle Acre is 862 people which shows a slight increase from the 848 people listed in the 2011 census.[5]

The village is located on the course of the River Nar and close to the A1065, between Mildenhall and Fakenham.

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Village sign in Castle Acre

St. James' Church

Castle Acre's parish church is dedicated to Saint James and dates to the Fourteenth Century. St. James' is located at the junction between High Street and South Acre and has been a Grade I listed building since 1960.[6] The churchtower was largely rebuilt in the Fifteenth Century in the Perpendicular style with a further restoration in the 1870s by Ewan Christian. The church boasts an ornate font cover and a painted pulpit with damage from firearms dating from the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.[7]

Within the church are memorials to Corporal Michael Brown of the Life Guards who was killed in an armoured car accident during the Cyprus Emergency, Lieutenant Alan E. Hudson who was killed serving aboard HMS Pearl and Clare S. Hudson who was killed serving aboard SS Tofua.[8]

Notable Residents

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Governance

Castle Acre is part of the electoral ward of Massingham with Castle Acre for local elections and is part of the district 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

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Castle Acre's war memorial is shared with nearby Newton is a granite wheel-headed cross located in St. James' Churchyard which was unveiled in 1923.[9] The memorial lists the following names of individuals from Castle Acre for the First World War:[10][11]

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And: Lewis Green, Arthur J. Stapleton, James Stapleton and Charles Turner. And, the following for Second World War:

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References

External links

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