East Wretham Windmill

Stonebridge is a village in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A1075 road, some 6 miles (9.7 km) north east of the town of Thetford and 25 miles (40 km) south west of the city of Norwich. The village forms part of the civil parish of Wretham , which in turn falls within the district of Breckland.[1]

Wretham and Hockham railway station was a station in Norfolk serving the villages of Wretham and Hockham. It was on the Great Eastern Railway branch line between Swaffham and Thetford. The station was opened for goods traffic on 28 January 1869 and for passengers on 18 October 1869. It closed in 1964.

The Battle of Ringmere was fought on 5 May 1010. Between an East Anglian contingent led by Ulfcytel Snillingr and a danish army under Thorkell the Tall Norse sagas recorded a battle at Hringmaraheiðr; Old English Hringmere-hǣð, modern name Ringmere Heath. In his Víkingarvísur, the poet Sigvat records the victory of Saint Olaf, fighting alongside King Ethelred Yet again Óláfr caused a sword-assembly [BATTLE] to be held for the seventh time in Ulfcytel’s land, as I recount the tale. The offspring of Ælla [= Englishmen] stood over all Ringmere Heath; there was slaying of the army there, where the guardian of Haraldr’s inheritance [= Óláfr] caused exertion. John of Worcester records that the Danes defeated the Saxons. Over a three-month period the Danes wasted East Anglia, burning Thetford and Cambridge.

Great Eastern Pingo Trail is 9.2 kilometres (5.7 miles) long footpath along a disused railway line north of Thetford in Norfolk. It is a 4.2-hectare (10-acre) Local Nature Reserve, and it crosses three Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Thompson Water, Carr and Common, Breckland Forest and Cranberry Rough, Hockham. It also crosses Thompson Common, which is a nature reserve managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It further crosses Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation and Breckland Special Protection Area. This site has around 300 pingos, shallow pools formed when ice melted at the end of the last ice age. There is a mosaic of habitats with a large lake, Thompson Water, at the western end.

Thompson Water, Carr and Common is a 154.7-hectare (382-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Thetford in Norfolk. Most of it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust as Thompson Common. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. It is crossed by the Great Eastern Pingo Trail Local Nature Reserve. This grassland site in the valley of a tributary of the River Wissey has a number of pingos, damp and water filled depressions formed by the melting of ice at the end of the last glaciation. It also has a lake called Thompson Water which, together with its surrounding reedswamp, is important for breeding birds. The site is open to the public.

Cranberry Rough is an 81.1-hectare (200-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the parish of Hockham, east of Attleborough in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and the Great Eastern Pingo Trail, which is a Local Nature Reserve, goes through the site. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area. The area is the site of a former lake known as Hockham Mere, which was drained and dried up by the middle of the 18th century. It has swamp woodland, grassland, tall fen and a network of ditches and pools, with a diverse range of wetland plants and insects, especially butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. Large areas are covered with sphagnum mosses. Its biogenic sediments contain a late-Devensian & Holocene pollen record.

Illington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wretham in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. The village is 6.2 miles north east of Thetford, 24 miles west south west of Norwich and 92.3 miles north east of London. The nearest railway station is at Thetford for the Breckland Line which runs between Cambridge and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. In 1931 the parish had a population of 53. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished to form Wretham.

Great Hockham is a village in the English county of Norfolk within the civil parish of Hockham, though the distinction between village and parish may now be moot as there is evidence to suggest that the other village in the parish, Little Hockham, consists only of a farmhouse. The village lies 8 miles (13 km) north east of Thetford and 24 miles (39 km) by road south west from Norwich. It is served by Holy Trinity church in the Benefice of Wayland Group.

Hockham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 13.36 km2 (5.16 sq mi) and had a population of 620 in 252 households at the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland. The district's 2007/08 estimate suggests that the population had risen to 645. At the 2011 Census the population was measured at 603 only in 259 households. The parish is sometimes referred to as Great Hockham, the main village, though there is evidence that suggests that the village of Little Hockham is now deserted.

Roudham is a small settlement and former civil parish, now in the parish of Roudham and Larling, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It was once home to Roudham Junction railway station. There are remains of a medieval settlement. Today, East Harling is home to St George's Distillery, the oldest actual single malt whisky distillery in England. The parish is centred round the ruinous church remains of St Andrew's Church; the church was abandoned in 1736 after a destructive fire. Although it remains to this day with all the walls remaining at their original height, the structure of the building is very weak. The church remains a significant monument in the landscape, however due to its weak condition, it has had to be cordoned off due to the danger of it collapsing. Negotiations for the repair of the church are in progress.

Stow Bedon is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Stow Bedon and Breckles, in the Breckland district of the English county of Norfolk. Stow Bedon adjoins the hamlet of Lower Stow Bedon, although the two are often considered to be one village. In the south of the parish is the village of Breckles. In 2011 the merged parish had a population of 290. The village’s name means 'Place'. The village was held by John di Bidun in the 13th century. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions both Stow Bedon (together with Caston) and Breckles. The Inclosure Act mentions Stow Bedon as a 'Free Village' and mentions how the village "maintained an independent spirit". Further records show that during Queen Victoria's Jubilee, instead of the traditional roasting of an ox, Stow Bedon only roasted a pig. Kelly's Directory for 1883 records that Stow Bedon had a population of 324 with a total of 35 dwellings. It has been assumed in recent times, however, that the true number of houses during this period would have been greater. The village church dates from the 14th century and is dedicated to St Botolph; it is a Grade II* listed building. The south and west of the area is a separate ecclesiastical parish, and its church, St Margaret's at Breckles, is Grade I listed. A station at Stow Bedon, on the Thetford & Watton Railway, opened in October 1869 and closed with the line in June 1964. The Great Eastern Pingo Trail, a 13-kilometre circular walk, starts and finishes in the village. Parking is on the A1075, in the former railway station yard. The village fete is held annually in June, and St Botolph's church holds a flower festival. Stow Bedon is closely connected to the towns of Watton, Attleborough and Thetford.