Tibenham
| Tibenham | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 All Saints, Tibenham | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TM137898 |
| Location: | 52°27’50"N, 1°8’40"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 494 |
| Post town: | Norwich |
| Postcode: | NR16 |
| Dialling code: | 01379 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Norfolk |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South Norfolk |
Tibenham is a village in Norfolk, two miles north-west of Tivetshall railway station. It has a public house called The Greyhound. The wider parish includes a hamlet, Cargate Common.
The 2011 census recorded the village’s population as 494.
History
In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Tibenham as:
"a parish, with a village, in Depwade district, Norfolk; 2 miles NW of Tivetshall r. station, and 7½ S by E of Wymondham...The church is good; and there are a Primitive Methodist chapel"[1]
RAF Tibenham
RAF Tibenham is an airfield which used to be a Royal Air Force station, located 13½ miles south-west of Norwich and six miles north of Diss. The site was controlled at various times by the Royal Flying Corps, the United States Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Force. It was used between 1916 and 1920 and between 1942 and 1959.
The Norfolk Gliding Club Air Show and Open Day programme for 1975 includes an article by James Stewart which says:
"When you looked across the airfield, there would have been perhaps twenty or thirty of the big bombers in the olivedrab camouflage dispersed all around the maze of hardstandings leading off the perimeter track....from this base [I] flew 20 combat missions in B. 24.H. Liberators and was Commander of the 703rd Bombardment squadron of the 445th Group."[2]
Since 1960, the airfield has been used by the Norfolk Gliding Club.[3]
The Dad's Army episode "Round and Round went the Great Big Wheel" was filmed at RAF Tibenham.[4]
Parish church
All Saints' Church has an eighty-seven and a half foot tower, making it Tibenham's most recognisable and prominent landmark. Within the church are 12 steps that lead to the ringing chamber with a further 35 steps that reach a heavily bound and reinforced door.[5]
The architecture of the chancel and nave were influenced by the English Gothic era (1250 - 1350), the south aisle and tower to the Perpendicular period (1350 - 1550). The east end of the south aisle at one time constituted the St. Nicholas chapel, and was constructed in the sixteenth century.[5] The church received £31,500 of Heritage Lottery funding in 2003 to renovate and re-cast its bells.[6]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Tibenham) |
References
- ↑ Wilson, John Marius (1870–72). Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. A. Fullerton & Co.. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/908890.
- ↑ James Stewart, "Wings over Tibenham", Air Show and Open Day programme, Norfolk Gliding Club, Sunday 14 September 1975
- ↑ Michael Bowyer (2000). Action Stations Revisited: No 1 Eastern England. Crecy Publishing. p. 326. ISBN 9780947554798.
- ↑ "Dad's Army Filming Locations". https://findthatlocation.com/television-show/dads-army/episode/s5e12/round-and-round-went-the-great-big-wheel. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "All Saints' Church". http://www.tibenham.fsnet.co.uk/church.htm.
- ↑ "Tibenham Church Bells". Heritage Fund. 4 November 2018. https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/our-work/tibenham-church-bells.