Foxley, Norfolk
| Foxley | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 St Thomas's Church, Foxley | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TG039218 |
| Location: | 52°45’19"N, 1°1’16"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 349 (2021) |
| Post town: | Dereham |
| Postcode: | NR20 |
| Dialling code: | 01362 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Breckland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Broadland and Fakenham |
Foxley is a village in Norfolk, six miles north-east of East Dereham and 15 miles north-west of Norwich, along the A1067 between Fakenham and Norwich.
The 2021 census recorded Foxley's population as 349.
The village's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for 'fox meadow'.[1]
History
Norfolk Heritage discusses the archaeology of the parish and states that there is evidence of a settlement here in the Saxon period. "The earliest prehistoric finds date to the Neolithic Era there was activity in the parish from much earlier than the Saxon period". The oldest building is the former Chequers Pub (NHER 19249) from the 1700s but a survey found carpenters' marks in the interior from 1624.[2]
In the Domesday Book, Foxley is listed as a settlement of 12 households in the Hundred of Eynsford. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Alan of Brittany.[3]
Foxley Lodge is a former rectory constructed in the early 1840s. The style of the Lodge is Georgian, described in 1984 as "brick with slate roofs. Roughly square in plan. 2 storeys. 3 bays to each of 3 facades".[4] The manor was restored in the 1930s; the property was operated as a dairy farm until some time before 2017. The property includes the seven bedroom manor, outbuildings, orchards, and three gardens which were planned by Verity Hanson-Smith.[5]
Foxley Mill was built in 1845 by the miller, William Elvin, using a wind-powered mechanism. By the 1980s, the mill fell out of use and was subsequently used as an art gallery until 1990 when it was turned into a private residence.[6]
In July 1944, two B-24 Liberators of the 392nd Bomb Group, USAAF, based at RAF Wendling, crashed in the parish after a mid-air collision. The crash site was a field to the west of the Old Rectory and fragments from the crashes are regularly ploughed up by local farmers.[7]
Parish church
Foxley's parish church, St Thomas the Apostle, on The Street, dates from the fourteenth century. The church is a Grade I listed building.[8]
The interior of St. Thomas' is mainly the product of the seventeenth century, but there is also a painted rood screendepicting saints which dates from 1472. The rood features some damage which was likely inflicted by iconoclasts in the reign of King Edward VI and, subsequently, repaired in the reign of Queen Mary I.[9]
About the village
Foxley Wood is a site of special scientific interest and the largest remaining area of ancient woodland in Norfolk. Operated by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust,[10] parts of the 300-acre reserve are thought to be over 6000 years old, dating from the end of the last Ice Age. The reserve is a Nature Conservation Review site and a National Nature Reserve.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Foxley, Norfolk) |
References
- ↑ Place-Names
- ↑ "Parish-Summary-Foxley-(Parish-Summary) - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details.
- ↑ Foxley, Norfolk in the Domesday Book
- ↑ National Heritage List 1077374: Foxley Lodge (Grade II listing)
- ↑ The country home of Percy Bysshe Shelley and his family comes up for sale, along with 111 rolling acres of Sussex
- ↑ "Norfolk Mills - Foxley tower wind windmill". https://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/foxley-towermill.html.
- ↑ "mnf20528 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?mnf20528.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1169955: Church of St Thomas, Foxley (Grade II listing)
- ↑ "Norfolk Churches". http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/foxley/foxley.htm.
- ↑ Visit Foxley Wood