Illington

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.

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.

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]

East Wretham Mill is a tower mill at East Wretham, Norfolk, England which has been converted to residential accommodation.

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.

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.

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.

The church of Breckles St Margaret is an Anglican church near Stow Bedon, Norfolk, England. It is one of 124 existent round-tower churches in Norfolk. The church is an active parish church in the Diocese of Norwich. It has been designated a Grade I listed building by English Heritage.

Roudham and Larling is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It includes the villages of Roudham and Larling. It covers an area of 15.20 km2 (5.87 sq mi) and had a population of 278 in 119 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 301 in 119 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland. River Thet flows next to Roudham and Larling.