Great Ellingham

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|52.5353|0.9761|display=inline,title}}

| official_name = Great Ellingham

| static_image = Great Ellingham Mill.jpg

| static_image_width = 250px

| static_image_caption = Great Ellingham Windmill

| population = 1,267

| 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 = ATTLEBOROUGH

| postcode_district = NR17

| postcode_area = NR

| dial_code = 01953

| os_grid_reference = TM0194197215

| area_total_sq_mi = 4.30

}}

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

Great Ellingham is located {{Convert|2.2|mi|km}} north-west of Attleborough and {{Convert|15|mi|km}} south-west of Norwich. The civil parish also includes the hamlets of Bow Street and Stalland Common.

History

Great Dunham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the larger settlement of Ella or Eli's people.{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Great%20Ellingham |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}

In the Domesday Book, Great Ellingham is listed as a settlement of 47 households in the hundred of Shropham. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of Henry de Ferrers and Ralph de Beaufour.{{Cite web |title=[Great] Ellingham {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TM0196/great-ellingham/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=opendomesday.org}}

Several Fifteenth Century buildings have survived in Great Ellingham including Mill Farmhouse,{{Cite web |title=MNF24605 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF24605 |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}} Tannery Farm{{Cite web |title=MNF30928 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF30928 |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}} and Ye Olde Thatche Shoppe.{{Cite web |title=MNF44024 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF44024 |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}

Great Ellingham Windmill was built in 1849 and ceased working in 1922. Today, the windmill is in the process of redevelopment.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Mills - Gt Ellingham tower windmill |url=https://norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/gt-ellingham-towermill.html |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=norfolkmills.co.uk}}

RAF Deopham Green spills into the parish of Great Ellingham which was home to the 452nd Bomb Wing of the US Eighth Air Force.{{Cite web |title=MNF4260 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF4260 |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Great Ellingham has a population of 1,267 people which shows an increase from the 1,132 people recorded in the 2011 census.{{Cite web |title=Great Ellingham (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/admin/breckland/E04006120__great_ellingham/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}

Great Ellingham is located on the B1077, between Carbrooke and Ipswich.

St. James' Church

Great Ellingham's church is dedicated to Saint James and dates from the Fourteenth Century. The church is located within the village on Church Street and has been Grade I listed since 1958.{{Cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST JAMES, Great Ellingham - 1248331 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1248331?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} St. James' remains open for Sunday services once a month.{{Cite web |title=Great Ellingham: St James |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10210/service-and-events/events-all/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.achurchnearyou.com |language=en}}

St. James' was heavily restored in the Victorian era as well as stained-glass installed by King & Son of Norwich.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Churches |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/greatellingham/greatellingham.htm |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}

Amenities

Great Ellingham Primary is part of the Great Ellingham & Rocklands Schools Federation. The headteacher is Mrs J. Dekker.

The Crown Pub has stood in the parish since 1784.{{Cite web |title=CROWN - GREAT ELLINGHAM |url=https://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolkg/gtellingham/gtelcr.htm |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.norfolkpubs.co.uk}} The pub remains open to this day.{{Cite web |title=The Crown |url=https://www.ellinghamcrown.co.uk/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=The Crown |language=en-US}}

Teddy Bear Festival

File:Great-Ellingham-2022-TeddyBearFestival 16.jpgThe village is locally renowned for its annual Teddy Bear Festival, which runs for two weeks in July. Alongside other events, villagers build and display straw bears in their gardens to create a "Teddy Bear Trail". Since the start of the festival in 2004, around £50,000 has been raised for local good causes and charities.{{Cite web |title=Great Ellingham 2025 Teddy Bear Festival |url=https://www.teddyfestival.org/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Great Ellingham 2025 Teddy Bear Festival |language=en-GB}}

Governance

Great Ellingham is part of the electoral ward of All Saints & Wayland 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 Ellingham's war memorial is built into the wall of St. James' Churchtower and lists the following names for the First World War:{{Cite web |title=Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Great Ellingham |url=https://roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/GreatEllingham.html |access-date=2025-04-01 |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=2025-04-01 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Name

!Unit

!Date of Death

!Burial/Commemoration

POSt.

|Edward W. J. Hannan

|HMS Black Prince

|31 May 1916

|Portsmouth Memorial

Sgt.