Kimberley, Norfolk

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|52.595909|1.057301|display=inline,title}}

| os_grid_reference = TG071041

| official_name = Kimberley

| population =

| population_ref =

| area_total_km2 =

| shire_district = South Norfolk

| shire_county = Norfolk

| region = East of England

| civil_parish = Kimberley and Carleton Forehoe

| constituency_westminster = Mid Norfolk

| postcode_district = NR18

| postcode_area = NR

| post_town = WYMONDHAM

| dial_code = 01362

| london_distance =

| static_image = File:Kimberley village sign - geograph.org.uk - 6804323.jpg

| static_image_width = 240px

| static_image_caption = Kimberley Village Sign

}}Kimberley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Kimberley and Carleton Forehoe in the English county of Norfolk.

Kimberly is located {{convert|3|mi}} north-west of Wymondham and {{Convert|10|mi|km}} west of Norwich.

History

Kimberley's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Cyneburg's wood clearing.{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Kimberley |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}

In the Domesday Book, Kimberley is listed as a settlement of 31 households in the hundred of Forehoe. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of King William I.{{Cite web |title=Kimberley {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TG0704/kimberley/ |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=opendomesday.org}}

Kimberley Hall was built in the late Sixteenth Century as the residence of the Wodehouse family who had strong links to Kimberley. The gardens of the hall were sculpted by Capability Brown.{{Cite web |title=MNF8918 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}

Kimberley Park Railway Station opened in 1847 on the Norfolk Railway between Wymondham and Dereham. The station closed in 1969 but re-opened in 2004 as a stop on the Mid-Norfolk Railway.

The parish absorbed the parish of Carleton Forehoe on the 1 April 1935.{{cite web |title=Relationships and changes Kimberley AP/CP through time |url=http://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10123847 |access-date=16 June 2018 |publisher=Vision of Britain}}

Geography

In 1931 the parish of Kimberley had a population of 163,{{cite web |title=Population statistics Kimberley CP/AP through time |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10123847/cube/TOT_POP |accessdate=2 August 2024 |publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time}} this was the last time separate population statistics were collected for Kimberley as in 1935 the parish was merged.

The River Tiffey flows through the village. As do both the B1108, between Carbrooke and Ipswich, and the B1135, between Toftwood and Bracon Ash.

St. Peter's Church

Kimberley's former parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter and dates from the Fifteenth Century. St. Peter's is located on 'The Green' and has been Grade II listed since 1959.{{Cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST PETER, Kimberley and Carleton Forehoe - 1050747 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1050747 |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} The church is open for Sunday service once a month and is part of the Upper Yare Benefice.{{Cite web |date=2025-06-08 |title=Kimberley: St Peter |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/6779/service-and-events/events-all/ |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=www.achurchnearyou.com |language=en}}

St. Peter's holds a stained-glass window depicting Saint Frances, Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget of Ireland which was designed by Clayton and Bell as well as various memorial windows to members of the Wodehouse family.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Churches |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/kimberley/kimberley.htm |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}

Notable Residents

Roger Woodhouse MP- (1541-1588) politician, born in Kimberley.
Sir Thomas Wodehouse, 2nd Baronet- (1585-1658) politician, born in Kimberley.
John Jenkins- (1592-1678) composer, lived and died in Kimberley.
Sir Philip Wodehouse, 1st Baronet- (d.1623) soldier and politician, born in Kimberley.
Alice Sutcliffe- (d.1634) religious writer, born in Kimberley.
Sir John Wodehouse, 4th Baronet- (1669-1754) politician, born in Kimberley.
William Wodehouse- (1706-1737) politician, born in Kimberley.
Henry Wodehouse- (1799-1834) MCC cricketer, born in Kimberley.
Ernest Raikes OBE- (1863-1931) Norfolk cricketer and legal advocate, born in Kimberley.
James Hambro- (b.1949) banker and businessman, lives in Kimberley.

Governance

Kimberley is part of the electoral ward of Wicklewood for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative George Freeman since 2010.

War Memorial

Kimberley's war memorial is a wooden plaque in St. Peter's Church which lists the following names for the First World War:{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Ickburgh to Knapton :: War Memorials in Norfolk |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/War-Memorials-in-Norfolk/11#ickburgh-to-knapton |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Name

!Unit

!Date of Death

!Burial/Commemoration

2Lt.

|Edward Wodehouse

|16th The Queen's Lancers

|30 Mar. 1918

|Pozières Memorial

Pte.