Great Dunham

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|52.697115|0.770711|display=inline,title}}

| official_name = Great Dunham

| population = 372

| population_ref = (2021 census)

| shire_district = Breckland

| shire_county = Norfolk

| metropolitan_borough =

| metropolitan_county =

| region = East of England

| constituency_westminster = South West Norfolk

| post_town = King's Lynn

| postcode_district = PE32

| postcode_area = PE

| dial_code = 01760

| os_grid_reference = TF8732514650

| static_image = Great Dunham (Norfolk) St Andrew's Church - geograph.org.uk - 68980.jpg

| static_image_width =

| static_image_caption = St Andrew's Church

| area_total_sq_mi = 4.43

}}

Great Dunham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

Great Dunham is located {{convert|4.8|mi|km}} north-east of Swaffham and {{convert|23|mi|km}} west of Norwich.

History

Great Dunham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the larger settlement on the hill.{{cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Great%20and%20Little%20Dunham |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}

In the Domesday Book, Great Dunham is listed alongside Little Dunham as a settlement of 76 households in the hundred of South Laundich. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of King William I, Ralph de Tosny and Edmund, son of Payne.{{cite web |title=[Great and Little] Dunham {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/XX0000/great-and-little-dunham/ |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=opendomesday.org}}

In 1756, a smock mill was built in Great Dunham where it stood until it was burned down in an arson attack in 1840.{{cite web |title=Norfolk Mills – Gt Dunham smock windmill |url=https://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/gt-dunham-smockmill.html |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=www.norfolkmills.co.uk}} The mill was replaced with a tower mill which fell into dereliction in 1926, today the mill has been restored.{{cite web |title=Norfolk Mills – Gt Dunham tower windmill |url=https://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/gt-dunham-towermill.html |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=www.norfolkmills.co.uk}}

Dunham Railway Station opened in 1848 on the Lynn and Dereham Railway and was finally closed in 1968.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Great Dunham has a population of 372 people which shows an increase from the 344 people recorded in the 2011 census.{{cite web |title=Great Dunham (Parish, United Kingdom) – Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/admin/breckland/E04006119__great_dunham/ |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}

St Andrew's Church

Great Dunham's parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew and dates from the Fifteenth Century. St Andrew's is located within the village on Litcham Road and has been Grade I listed since 1960.{{NHLE |desc=CHURCH OF ST ANDREW, Great Dunham |num=1077480 |access-date=31 March 2025 }} The church holds Sunday services once a month.{{cite web |title=Great Dunham: St Andrew |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10256/service-and-events/events-all/ |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=www.achurchnearyou.com }}

St Andrew's features stained-glass depicting Christ, Abraham and Saint Andrew designed by James Powell and Sons as well as a Seventeenth Century pulpit and reading desk.{{cite web |title=The Norfolk Churches Site |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/greatdunham/greatdunham.htm |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}

Amenities

Great Dunham Primary is a local authority school, the headteacher is Mr. M. Cuenca-Farrow.{{cite web |title=Headteachers Welcome {{!}} Great Dunham Primary School |url=https://greatdunhamprimary.uk/headteachers-welcome/ |access-date=31 March 2025 }}

Governance

Great Dunham is part of the electoral ward of Launditch for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.

The village's national constituency is South West Norfolk which has been represented by Labour's Terry Jermy MP since 2024.

War Memorial

Great Dunham War Memorial is a stone wheel cross in St Mary's Churchyard, the memorial was unveiled by the Reverend Humphrey Barclay MC.{{NHLE |desc=Great Dunham War Memorial, Great Dunham |num=1452794 |access-date=31 March 2025 }} The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:{{cite web |title=Roll of Honour – Norfolk – Great Dunham |url=https://roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/GreatDunham.html |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=roll-of-honour.com}}{{cite web |title=Geograph:: Garboldisham to Gunton :: War Memorials in Norfolk |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/War-Memorials-in-Norfolk/9#garboldisham-to-gunton |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Name

!Unit

!Date of Death

!Burial/Commemoration

Pte.

|John Hunter

|9th Bn., Essex Regiment

|8 August 1918

|Beacon Cemetery

Pte.