Terrington St Clement

Terrington St Clement
Norfolk
St Clement's Church, Terrington St Clement
Location
Grid reference:	TF548199
Location:	52°45’17"N, -0°17’41"E
Data
Population:	3,902  (2001)
Post town:	King's Lynn
Postcode:	PE34
Dialling code:	01553
Local Government
Council:	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Parliamentary constituency:	South West Norfolk

Terrington St Clement is a large village in Norfolk, presiding over the farmsteads of the Terrington Marsh, drained marshlands to the south of The Wash, and found 7 miles west of King's Lynn, and 5 miles east of Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire. The village is on the old route of the trunk road across the edge of the marsh. The A47 today runs to the south of Terrington.

The parish covers an area of 17½ square miles, across the marsh. The farmland here is rich, the soil of alluvial silt and clay which has been reclaimed from the sea amounting to approximately half of the total parish area.

Terrington St Clement has grown substantially and is reputed to be the largest village in Norfolk. It is indeed a remarkable village, with many more facilities that would be expected for a village of that size, though it functions as the centre of the Terrington Marsh, playing for the surrounding farms of the marsh rather the role which a market town performs for its surrounding villages; a town district in miniature.

About the village

Terrington St Clement has a wide selection of amenities, including a supermarket, farm shop, two doctor's surgeries, a post office, newsagents, bakers, Indian restaurant and takeaway^{Chilli Hut}, fish & chip shop, Chinese takeaway, hairdressers and an estate agent in addition to the well-known Marshland Stores, a traditional hardware store with a very large range of products. It also has a village hall, scout hut, and two pubs, The King William and The Wildfowler, both of which serve food.

The name Terrington comes from the early Saxon "Tun" meaning enclosure or homestead of Tir(a)s people. The settlement is referred to in the Domesday Book as Tilinghetuna.

At the edge of the village there is commercial flower-growing, as in much of this part of Norfolk, and for which Terrington provides a local centre.

Parish Church

The parish church is St Clements. This magnificent building, once again, much larger than one might expect for the location, is known as the "Cathedral of the Marshland". It was built in the 14th century by Edmund Gonville, Rector of Terrington, who founded Gonville Hall (now Gonville and Caius College) at the University of Cambridge.

History

In 970, Godric granted part of the lands of Turrintonea to the monks of Ramsey Abbey.

By the mediæval period the small settlement which began on raised ground on the edge of the marsh had grown substantially. In the 14th century the Church of St Clement was built, named after a bishop of Rome, and it has dominated the village ever since.

Methodists arrived in the village in 1813 and during the Victorian era the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and Primitive Methodist Chapel were established along with a Salvation Army headquarters and 3 other mission chapels. A lively shopping centre had developed by the beginning of the 20th century, but most of the independent traders have now disappeared, along with all but two of the village's pubs.

There was once a Terrington railway station serving the village, but this is now closed.

Local folklore

The Dickman is a mythical being in local folklore who roams the marshes and attacks anyone who strays onto them. The legend is well known in the local area and is thought to have been promulgated by samphire traders to stop people from going down to the marsh and picking the samphire.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Terrington St Clement)

• Terrington St Clement Community Website
• Terrington St Clement Parish Church Website
• Terrington School
• St Clement's High School Website
• Terrington Community Fund Website