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Castle Acre

Coordinates: 52°42′11″N 0°41′11″E / 52.70310°N 0.68633°E / 52.70310; 0.68633
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Castle Acre
Castle Acre is located in Norfolk
Castle Acre
Castle Acre
Location within Norfolk
Area13.18 km2 (5.09 sq mi)
Population862 (2021)
• Density65/km2 (170/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTF816151
• London103 miles (166 km)
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townKING'S LYNN
Postcode districtPE32
Dialling code01760
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Norfolk
52°42′11″N 0°41′11″E / 52.70310°N 0.68633°E / 52.70310; 0.68633

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

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.

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]

Geography

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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.

Village sign in Castle Acre

St. James' Church

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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

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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]

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Burial
Capt. Bernard Beck MC[a] 3rd Bn., King's Regiment 18 Aug. 1916 Mametz Copse Cemetery
Lt. Reginald Porter[b] Royal Army Medical Corps 26 Oct. 1914 Ploegsteert Memorial
CSM Phillip Moore 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment 27 Jul. 1916 Caterpillar Cemetery
Sgt. Henry J. Askew DCM[c] 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 15 Apr. 1918 Tyne Cot
LCpl. Algier Buckenham 8th Bn., Border Regiment 5 Jul. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
LCpl. W. Edgar S. Grimes 8th Bn., King's Royal Rifle Corps 28 Aug. 1917 Lijssenthoek Cemetery
LCpl. Cyril J. Savage 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment 27 Oct. 1917 Hooge Crater Cemetery
LCpl. Albert E. Skeet 2nd Bn., Norfolk Regt. 11 May 1916 Amara War Cemetery
LCpl. George Moore 7th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 17 Jul. 1917 Canadian Cemetery No. 2
Pte. Hugh T. Buxton 14th Bn., Argyll and Sutherland Hs. 8 Oct. 1918 Bandaghem Cemetery
Pte. Thomas Skipper 7th Bn., Border Regiment 27 Jun. 1916 Citadel New Cemetery
Pte. Walter Hamblin 8th Bn., Border Regt. 9 Jul. 1916 Le Cateau Cemetery
Pte. Herbert Howard 8th Bn., Border Regt. 28 May 1916 Écoivres Cemetery
Pte. Arthur J. Sculpher 3rd Bn., Coldstream Guards 12 Apr. 1918 Ploegsteert Memorial
Pte. Ernest J. Archer 7th Bn., East Surrey Regiment 20 Nov. 1917 Cambrai Memorial
Pte. William J. Green 1st Bn., Essex Regiment 6 Aug. 1915 Helles Memorial
Pte. Thomas Hudson 1st Bn., Essex Regt. 22 Nov. 1916 Guards Cemetery
Pte. Robert Skipper 1st Bn., Essex Regt. 11 Aug. 1915 Helles Memorial
Pte. Arthur H. Meek Royal Fusiliers 27 Nov. 1918 St. James' Churchyard
Pte. G. William Ward 13th Bn., Royal Fus. 23 Apr. 1917 Arras Memorial
Pte. C. Frederick Moore 1st Bn., King's Own Scottish Bords 1 Aug. 1915 Helles Memorial
Pte. Robert W. Green 2nd Bn., K.O.S.B. 5 Feb. 1915 R.E. Farm Cemetery
Pte. Alan W. Heywood 20th Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers 21 Aug. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. Lewis Hudson 5th Bn., Lincolnshire Regiment 14 Oct. 1916 Berles Position Cemetery
Pte. Henry W. Skipper 2/5th Bn., Lincolnshire Regt. 21 Mar. 1918 Grévillers Cemetery
Pte. Thomas E. Wright 35th Coy., Machine Gun Corps 30 Nov. 1917 Cambrai Memorial
Pte. William T. Pember 4th Bn., Middlesex Regiment 14 Nov. 1914 Le Touret Memorial
Pte. William Wicks 1/8th Bn., Middlesex Regt. 18 Sep. 1916 Euston Road Cemetery
Pte. William R. Sillis 2nd Bn., Norfolk Regiment 4 Nov. 1915 Doiran Memorial
Pte. Frederick Skeet 2nd Bn., Norfolk Regt. 20 May 1916 Amara War Cemetery
Pte. John Dawes 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 19 Apr. 1917 Jerusalem Memorial
Pte. William W. Long 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 6 Sep. 1915 Helles Memorial
Pte. George Ellis 7th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 5 Oct. 1915 Bethune Town Cemetery
Pte. Ernest W. Mobbs 7th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 13 Oct. 1915 Loos Memorial
Pte. E. Stapleton 8th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 5 Oct. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. John Blowers 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 15 Sep. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. John W. Green 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. 15 Sep. 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pte. Sydney G. Buxton 2nd Bn., Northumberland Fusilers 10 Sep. 1916 Doiran Memorial
Pte. William Willigress 8th Bn., Suffolk Regiment 13 Oct. 1915 Albert Cemetery
Pte. Herbert T. Williamson 11th Bn., Suffolk Regt. 25 Oct. 1918 Delsaux Farm Cemetery

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

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Burial
Sgt. Robert Vincent 1st Bn., Worcestershire Regiment 5 May 1941 Khartoum Memorial
A1C Robert H. Overman Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 10 Feb. 1944 St. James' Churchyard
Cpl. William D. Pightling 2nd Coy., Northamptonshire Yeo. 6 Mar. 1941 St. James' Churchyard
OS Harold Barlow HMS Prince of Wales 24 May 1941 Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Pte. Thomas L. Hudson 1st Bn., Loyal Regiment 19 Feb. 1944 Anzio War Cemetery
Pte. Kenneth Eggleton 5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment 15 Feb. 1942 Kranji War Cemetery
Pte. Herbert J. Howard 6th Bn., Royal Norfolks. 21 Sep. 1944 Kranji War Memorial
Pte. Ernest J. Nunn 1st Bn., Northamptonshire Regiment 5 Jan. 1945 Taukkyan War Cemetery
Pte. Ernest A. Turvey 7th Bn., Ox and Bucks Light Infantry 6 Dec. 1943 Cassino War Cemetery
Pte. Arthur Harbour Pioneer Corps 12 Mar. 1945 St. James' Churchyard
Tpr. John J. Gore 49th (West Riding) Regt., R.A.C. 29 Nov. 1944 Maasbree RC Cemetery

References

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  1. ^ "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  2. ^ "History of Castle Acre Castle and Bailey Gate". English Heritage. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  3. ^ "[Castle and West] Acre | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Castle Acre: Castle Acre Priory". English Heritage. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Castle Acre (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  6. ^ "CHURCH OF ST JAMES, Castle Acre - 1342386 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Castle Acre". www.roll-of-honour.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Castle Acre and Newton War Memorial, Castle Acre - 1440879 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  10. ^ "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Castle Acre". www.roll-of-honour.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Geograph:: Caister to Croxton :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.

Notes

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  1. ^ MC citation not found.
  2. ^ Also has a separate memorial inside St. James' Church.
  3. ^ DCM citation not found.
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