West Dereham

West Dereham Abbey was an abbey in Norfolk, England. St Mary's Abbey, West Dereham, was founded in 1188 by Hubert Walter, Dean of York, at his birthplace. It was to be a daughter house of Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, for canons regular of the Premonstratensian order. The canons were to pray for the souls of the founder and his parents, his brothers and sisters and all his relatives and friends. It was surrounded by a moat and was to become one of the larger religious houses in Norfolk, with up to twenty six canons in the late 13th century, and was also quite wealthy, with extensive estates. The last recorded Bishop's visitation took place 10 August 1503. Bishop Redman of Ely found several insufficiently taught; therefore he recalled Brother Robert Watton from the university, to be joined in office with the prior, and diligently to teach his brethren. Thomas Fychele was removed from the subpriorship for his negligence in his duty; otherwise the condition and discipline of the house were good. Leading up to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Thomas Cromwell's agent Sir John Prise reported in 1536: the canons were all lacking self-restraint, and were ready to confess themselves as such, longing to marry, and believing that the king had been divinely sent on earth to bring this about. He then in 1538 petitioned Cromwell for the lands for himself. However, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, the site and associated lands were granted by Henry VIII to Thomas Dereham of Crimplesham. A house built on the site in the later 16th century was altered and extended in the 1690s by Thomas Dereham on his return from Italy, where he had been envoy to the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. This house was largely demolished in around 1810, the remaining part being converted to a farmhouse, the ruins of which were restored in the 1990s. The remains are Grade II* listed. Almost all the abbey buildings have been demolished, but buried foundations survive and can be seen as cropmarks on aerial photographs, as can other earthworks and fishponds.

Downham Rural District was a rural district in Norfolk, England from 1894 to 1974. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Downham rural sanitary district. It completely encircled Downham Market Urban District. In 1930 a new parish of Nordelph was created in Downham RD, taking land mostly out of the Marshland RD parish of Upwell. Several changes were made to its boundaries in 1935. In particular, it took in four large (in area terms) parishes from the disbanded Thetford Rural District. In 1974, the district was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, and became part of the West Norfolk district, renamed King's Lynn and West Norfolk in 1981.

Abbey and West Dereham railway station was a railway station on the line between Downham Market and Stoke Ferry. It served the village of West Dereham and the nearby St Mary's Abbey, in Norfolk, England. It was located south of the village on what is still called Station Road:

Crimplesham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of the small town of Downham Market, 12 miles (19 km) south of the larger town of King's Lynn, and 37 miles (60 km) west of the city of Norwich.[1]

Wissington in Norfolk is the site of British Sugar's largest sugar factory in the UK; it is also the largest in Europe. There has been a sugar factory there since 1925; however none of the rest of the village remains, other than the name. British Sugar has opened the UK's first bioethanol plant here.

Wereham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

Hilgay Heronry is a 1.8-hectare (4.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Downham Market in Norfolk. This small wood has a nationally important breeding colony of grey herons, with around forty nests each year in larch and ash trees. Nearby drainage dykes on The Fens provide feeding grounds. The site is private land with no public access.

Stradsett is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk The village is 40.8 miles (65.7 km) west of Norwich, 11.3 miles (18.2 km) south of King's Lynn and 96.4 miles (155.1 km) north of London. The nearest town is Downham Market which is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of the parish. The village is located on the A1122 which runs between Outwell and Swaffham. The A134 between King's Lynn and Colchester also passes through the parish. The nearest railway station is at Downham Market for the Fen Line which runs between King's Lynn and Cambridge. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish of Stradsett, in the 2001 census, has a population of 60. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Crimplesham.

Wretton SSSI is a 20.6-hectare (51-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Downham Market in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. This site exposes layer across the transition between the warm Ipswichian and the colder Devensian around 115,000 years ago. It has the richest assemblage of early Devensian vertebrate fossils in Britain, including arctic fox, bison and woolly rhinoceros. A footpath runs along the boundary of part of the site.

Ryston is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It once had its own railway station. The village's name means 'Brushwood farm/settlement'. It covers an area of 9.36 km2 (3.61 sq mi) and had a population of 93 in 34 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 178 at the 2011 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. St Michael's parish church dates from the 12th century and was restored in 1901. It is a Grade II* listed building. Ryston Hall is a Grade II* listed country house, built 1669-72 by the architect Sir Roger Pratt as his own home in 1669. It was later remodelled c.1780 by Sir John Soane and again by Anthony Salvin in 1867. The formal gardens and woodland walks are open to the public several times a year. Ryston railway station opened in 1882; it was closed to passengers in 1930.

The 1974 Norfolk mid-air collision happened on 9 August 1974 at Fordham Fen, Norfolk, England when a Royal Air Force McDonnell-Douglas F-4M Phantom FGR.2 of No. 41 Squadron RAF (41 Sqn) collided with a Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee crop spraying aircraft. All three aviators were killed: the pilot and navigator of the Phantom and the pilot of the Pawnee. The Phantom pilot was a Royal Air Force Group Captain and station commander of RAF Coningsby. It was the first collision between a civil aircraft and a military fast jet in the United Kingdom low flying military training system.

Wretton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 4.7 km2 (1.8 sq mi) and had a population of 392 in 155 households at the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. The villages name means "Crosswort/hellebore farm/settlement". It is situated 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Downham Market, 16 miles (26 km) south of King's Lynn and 40 miles (64 km) west of Norwich. Also 1.5 miles (2.4 km) North of the larger village of Stoke Ferry.