Coltishall
| Coltishall | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 St John the Baptist, Coltishall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TG271197 |
| Location: | 52°43’41"N, 1°21’43"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,446 (2021) |
| Post town: | Norwich |
| Postcode: | NR12 |
| Dialling code: | 01603 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Broadland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Broadland and Fakenham |
Coltishall is a village in Norfolk, sitting beside the River Bure amongst the Norfolk Broads. Across the river is Horstead. Coltishall is two and a half miles north-west of Wroxham and eight miles north-east of Norwich.
The 2021 census recorded a population of 1,446.
Name
In local dialect, Coltishall may be pronounced "Coltshall",[1] "Coltshull"[2] or "Cõlesil/Cõltsul".[3]
Coltishall's name is of Old English origin and first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the forms Cokereshala and Coketeshala. From 1200 onwards, it is attested in the contracted form Couteshal(e), in which form it has more or less remained to the present day (the l in the modern spelling is due to hypercorrection). The second part of the name is thought to derive from the Old English word halh ('nook') but the origin of the first part is uncertain; one guess is that it was an otherwise unattested personal name Coccede or Cohhede, and thus meant 'Coccede's nook'.[4] However, The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names concludes that "the recorded forms are too few and contradictory for satisfactory explanation".[5]
History
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Coltishall is recorded as a settlement of 16 households in the South Erpingham Hundred. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of William de Warenne and Roger de Poitou.[6]
In 1231, Coltishall was made a 'free-town' by King Henry III.[7]
Furthermore, from the mid-eighteenth Century, Coltishall was a centre for the malting industry with many wherries being built in the village.[8]
In the late-eighteenth century, parts of the Bure Navigational Canal were dug in the parish to make the River Bure more easily navigable for watercraft.[9]
Horstead Watermill, close to the village, was one of the most photographed mills in Britain until it burned down in 1963.[10]
RAF Coltishall
RAF Coltishall was opened in 1939 as a fighter station of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It became home to No. 242 Squadron RAF, which was largely composed of Canadian personnel who had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of France. Morale within the unit was low, and on 24 June 1940, the squadron was placed under the command of the legless fighter ace Douglas Bader.[11][12] Bader quickly restored discipline, reshaped the squadron’s reputation, and led it effectively through the early stages of the Battle of Britain.
RAF Coltishall remained an active RAF station throughout the Cold War, later becoming a base for English Electric Lightning and SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft. The station was operational until its closure in November 2006, following a review by the Ministry of Defence.[13]
The main technical site was subsequently repurposed as HM Prison Bure, a Category C prison for adult male offenders.[14]
The adjoining married quarters and residential area were renamed Badersfield in honour of Douglas Bader.
Church of St. John the Baptist
Coltishall's parish church is dedicated John the Baptist and dates at its earliest to the fifteenth century. St John's, on Church Street, is a Grade I listed building.[15]
The church was largely re-built in 1865 and boasts a Twelfth Century font made from Purbeck Marble. In addition, there is a good collection of stained-glass windows including some from the workshops of James Powell and Sons (depicting the Risen Christ) and memorial glass by Alfred Wilkinson.[16]
Within the parish there is a ruined church dedicated to Saint Theobald of Provins which was built in the eleventh century and was abandoned in the nineteenth century.[17]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Coltishall) |
References
- ↑ Hales, J. and Bennett, W. "Looking at Norfolk" (October 1971) Charles N. Veal & Company
- ↑ https://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/norfolk_place_names.htm
- ↑ https://friendsofnorfolkdialect.com/portfolio-items/norfolk-placenames/
- ↑ Encyclopaedia of English Place-names: University of Nottingham. (2022)
- ↑ The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society, ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. Coltishall.
- ↑ Coltishall in the Domesday Book
- ↑ "Coltishall, Norfolk – White's Directory 1845". https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/NFK/Coltishall/White1845?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
- ↑ "MNF19209 – Norfolk Heritage Explorer". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF19209.
- ↑ "MNF29856 – Norfolk Heritage Explorer". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF29856.
- ↑ "Norfolk Mills – Horstead watermill". https://norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/horstead.html.
- ↑ "Douglas Bader Fighter Pilot – A Fighter Pilot Again". https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/douglas-bader-fighter-pilot/a-fighter-pilot-again.aspx.
- ↑ "24 June 1940 – Douglas Bader Takes Command of 242 Squadron". https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/24-june-1940-douglas-bader-takes-command-of-242-squadron/.
- ↑ "MNF7697 – RAF Coltishall". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF7697.
- ↑ "Bure Prison". 2 August 2022. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bure-prison.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1177913: Parish Church of St John The Baptist (Grade II listing)
- ↑ "Norfolk Churches". http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/coltishall/coltishall.htm.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1295280: Church of St Theobald (Grade II* listing)