Cockley Cley
| Cockley Cley | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 All Saints' Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TF792042 |
| Location: | 52°36’24"N, 0°38’44"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 239 (2021) |
| Post town: | Swaffham |
| Postcode: | PE37 |
| Dialling code: | 01760 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Breckland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South West Norfolk |
Cockley Cley is a village in Norfolk, three miles south-west of Swaffham and 27 miles west of Norwich.
The 2021 census recorded Cockley Cley’s population as 239.
The River Gadder rises close to Cockley Cley.
History
The village's name is first recorded in 1086 simply as Cleia (also Claia) meaning "clay, clayey soil". "Cockley" first appears in the placename in 1324 when the village is recorded as Cocklikleye, and the origin of this element is less clear.[1] It may derive from the Old English for "hill shrouded in trees".[2] Alternatively, "Cockley" may derive from Middle English cocklayk "place where cocks display to attract a mate", from Old English *cocca-lēah "cocks' wood", or be a manorial affix from a rare family name possibly originating in the West Riding of Yorkshire or Suffolk.[1]
In the Domesday Book, Cockley Cley is recorded as a settlement of 32 households located in the Hundred of South Greenhoe. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of the King and William de Warenne.[3]
Cockley Cley is the site of significant defensive infrastructure built during the Second World War, including a rare example of an "Allan Williams Turret" designed to mount a Lewis gun in an anti-aircraft role.[4]
Between 1975 and 2004, Cockley Cley was home to a mock Iceni village visitor attraction. The site reopened briefly in 2014 as the Iceni Centre but was subsequently forced to close due to dwindling customer numbers.[5]
All Saints' Church
Cockley Cley's parish church is one of Norfolk's 124 existing Anglo-Saxon round-tower churches, and thus dates from the Thirteen Century. All Saints' is located on Swaffham Road and has been Grade II listed since 1960.[6]
The church tower collapsed on 29 August 1991 and has not been re-built with much of the remaining building dating from a restoration and rebuilding in the Victorian era under the architect, Richard Phipson.[7]
Pictures
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Cockley Cley) |
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Cockley Cley village sign -
Rare Allan Williams Turret fortifications -
Entrance to the reconstruction of an Iceni village, now closed
Outside links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hough, Carole (2024). "The Place-Name Cockley Cley In Norfolk". Notes and Queries 71 (1): 10–11. doi:10.1093/notesj/gjae015.
- ↑ "Key to English Place-names". http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Cockley%20Clay.
- ↑ Cley Cockley Cley in the Domesday Book
- ↑ "World-War-Two-Allan-Williams-Turret - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF24183-World-War-Two-Allan-Williams-Turret&Index=22987&RecordCount=57338&SessionID=79c54ba6-7db7-445f-9c25-ce405215990d.
- ↑ "Iceni Centre, formerly the Iceni Village, closes despite attempted revival" (in en). 2014-07-15. https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/21031030.iceni-centre-formerly-iceni-village-closes-despite-attempted-revival/.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1077261: Church of All Saints, Cockley Cley (Grade II listing)
- ↑ "Norfolk Churches". http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/cockleycley/cockleycley.htm.