Cranwich

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|52.5217|0.6244|display=inline,title}}

| os_grid_reference = TL781947

| official_name = Cranwich

| population =

| area_total_km2 = 7.38

| static_image_name = Cranwich-g1.jpg

| static_image_caption = St. Mary's Church

| shire_district = Breckland

| shire_county = Norfolk

| region = East of England

| civil_parish = Cranwich

| constituency_westminster = South West Norfolk

| postcode_district = IP26

| postcode_area = IP

| post_town = THETFORD

| dial_code = 01842

| london_distance =

}}

Cranwich is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England.

Cranwich is located {{Convert|8.6|mi|km}} north-west of Thetford and {{Convert|29|mi|km}} west of Norwich.

History

Cranwich's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for 'a marsh with cranes or herons.'{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Cranwich |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}

In the Domesday Book, Cranwich is listed as a settlement of 36 households in the hundred of Grimshoe. In 1086, the village formed part of the estates of William de Warenne.{{Cite web |title=Cranwich {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TL7894/cranwich/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=opendomesday.org}}

In 1935, a labour camp was established in Cranwich by the Ministry of Labour for unemployed men. The camp gave manual work in forestry and quarrying and was closed at the onset of the Second World War, where it was used by the British Army.{{Cite web |title=MNF25240 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF25240 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}

Geography

In the 2011 Census, Cranwich's population is measured as a civil parish and therefore in the same survey as Ickburgh. The combined population of Ickburgh and Cranwich in 2011 was recorded as 309 residents living in 161 households. Office for National Statistics. (2011). Retrieved 20 December 2022. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E04006132

Cranwich is located close to Watermill Broad and the course of the River Wissey. The A134, between King's Lynn and Colchester, runs through the village.

St. Mary's Church

Cranwich's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and is one of Norfolk's 124 round-tower churches, dating from the 11th century. St. Mary's is located just off Cranwich Road and has been Grade I listed since 1960.{{Cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST MARY, Cranwich - 1305340 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1305340?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}

St. Mary's tower is one of the oldest in Norfolk, but the rest of the building is later. The church was restored in a simple fashion in the Victorian era.{{Cite web |title=Cranwich |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/cranwich/cranwich.htm |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}

In popular culture

Cranwich is the setting for the 2009 horror-comedy film Lesbian Vampire Killers, with the village renamed Cragwich in the film.{{fact|date=June 2025}}

Governance

Cranwich is part of the electoral ward of Bedingfield for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.

Cranwich is located in the constituency of South West Norfolk, which has been represented by Terry Jermy of the Labour Party since 2024.

War memorial

Cranwich's war memorial is located in Mundford and is a stone memorial topped with a metal cross, which also lists the fallen for Mundford, Lynford and West Tofts. The memorial lists the following from the First World War:{{Cite web |title=Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Mundford |url=https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/Mundford.html |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.roll-of-honour.com}}{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Caister to Croxton :: War Memorials in Norfolk |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/War-Memorials-in-Norfolk/5 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Name

!Unit

!Date of Death

!Burial

Pte.

|Herbert Nickolls

|1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment

|13 May 1917

|Mont-Huon Military Cemetery

Pte.