East Lexham
| East Lexham | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 St Andrew's Church, East Lexham | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TF840120 |
| Location: | 52°43’12"N, 0°45’9"E |
| Data | |
| Post town: | King's Lynn |
| Postcode: | PE32 |
| Dialling code: | 01328 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Breckland |
East Lexham is a village in northern Norfolk, eight miles north of Swaffham, the nearest town and fully thirty miles north-west of the county town, Norwich. It may be found a mile and a half east of the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road.
The village is a parish of itself in ecclesiastical terms but shares a civil parish, Lexham, with neighbouring East Lexham.
The parish church village is a noteworthy building, St Andrew's: it is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk.
The Parish Church of Saint Andrew
The parish church of Saint Andrews is a very early church which is thought to date from circa 900 AD[1] and is thought to be one of the oldest churches in Britain. Nikolaus Pevsner described the church as probably Anglo-Saxon.[2]
The church stands within a circular churchyard with the building on a slight mound which suggest an earlier occupation. The most recent research has also suggested, like Pevsner, that the current church was built by Saxons but with a Norman influence.[1] This conclusion has been made due to the style and design of the three Bell tower|belfry openings which have all been constructed differently. The east opening has a unique stone frame cut out to form a Maltese cross.[2] Within the belfry is one bell which has a Latin inscription which translates to I am called the bell of Virgin exalted Mary,[1] The bell is thought to have been cast by Brasyers of Norwich in the 15th century.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about East Lexham) |
- Website with photos of East Lexham St. Andrew, a round-tower church
- The Norfolk Churches Site: St Andrew, East Lexham
- Maplandia - East Lexham
- Genuki - East Lexham
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 East Lexham for Church Tours: Revised in 2004: Printed by Church Tours at Burnwood Hall; Leaflet was available at the church
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Norfolk 2: South & West, 1962; 1999 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09657-6
