Rackheath
| Rackheath | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 Holy Trinity Church, Rackheath | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TG279139 |
| Location: | 52°40’31"N, 1°22’12"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,972 (2011) |
| Post town: | Norwich |
| Postcode: | NR13 |
| Dialling code: | 01603 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Broadland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Broadland and Fakenham |
Rackheath is a village in Norfolk, is roughly six miles north-east of Norwich city centre. The 2011 census recorded a population of 1,972.
It is the site of a proposed new ‘eco-town’.
The villages name origin is uncertain. Suggestions include a meaning 'Narrow landing place' or perhaps, 'hollow landing place' or 'narrow path landing place', from the suffix ‘’hyð’’ meaning ‘port’.
The A1151 Norwich to Wroxham Road runs through the parish dividing it in two. There is a small settlement (originally known as Great Rackheath or Rackheath Magna) near the old parish church to the north, and the now much larger settlement of New Rackheath (but originally known as Little Rackheath or Rackheath Parva) to the south.[1]
Churches
The Church of All Saints is a 14th century church which has been redundant since the 1970s.[2] It has a 12th-century canonical sundial on the south wall. New Rackheath contains the modern (1959) Holy Trinity Church[3] as well as the 1930s art deco style Sole and Heel public house, which is situated in the part of the village known locally as Slipper Bottom (or Slipper's Bottom). Rackheath's other pubs are the Racecourse Inn, originally the Washington Hotel, on Salhouse Road; and the Green Man, on the Wroxham Road, which dates from before 1826 and closed in November 2011.[4]
Wartime airfield
Rackheath was the location of a Second World War USAAF base, RAF Rackheath, the most easterly and therefore the nearest to Germany of all British wartime airfields. Near the village sign on Salhouse Road, next to the gate of Holy Trinity Church, is a memorial plaque to the 467th Bombardment Group, which consisted of four squadrons who flew B-24 Liberators from the base in support of the Allied advance across Europe. Part of the former airfield is now Rackheath Industrial Estate.
Rackheath Eco Town
In 2008, controversial proposals were made for a new eco-town containing over 5100 homes to be built in Rackheath and Salhouse[5] on farmland formerly the site of the Second World War RAF Rackheath airfield. The proposals have attracted much criticism, mainly because the eco-town is to be built on a greenfield site, within a mile of The Broads National Park.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Rackheath) |
References
- ↑ Taverham Hundred: Rackheath Magna: Topographical History of Norfolk
- ↑ "Norfolk Churches". http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/rackheath/rackheath.htm.
- ↑ "Rackheath: Holy Trinity". http://www.achurchnearyou.com/rackheath-holy-trinity/.
- ↑ "Sole & Heel - Rackheath - Norwich". http://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolkr/rackheath/rackhsh.htm.
- ↑ "New Rackheath eco-town plans go on show". Rackheath Eco-community. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20110715143029/http://www.rackheatheco-community.com/news07.php. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
- Place-Names