Castle Acre

Castle Acre
Castle Acre Priory
Castle Acre Location within Norfolk
Area	13.18 km^2 (5.09 sq mi)
Population	862 (2021)
• Density	65/km^2 (170/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TF816151
• London	103 miles (166 km)
District	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KING'S LYNN
Postcode district	PE32
Dialling code	01760
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	North West Norfolk

Castle Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

The village is located on the course of the River Nar, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) north of Swaffham and 26 miles (42 km) west of Norwich.

History

Castle Acre's name is of Anglo-Saxon and Norman origin and derives from the Old English and Norman French for a castle close to cultivated land.[1]

The village is most famous for being the location of Castle Acre Castle which was built in 1085 by William de Warenne in order to enforce his control over his East Anglian lands. By the 12th century, the castle passed into the ownership of Hamelin Plantagenet who hosted both King Henry II and King Edward I in Castle Acre. By the 16th century, the castle lay mainly derelict yet had a procession of illustrious owners including Thomas Howard, Thomas Cecil and Sir Edward Coke. Today, the castle is maintained by English Heritage.[2]

In the Domesday Book, Castle Acre is listed with West Acre as a settlement of 130 households in the hundred of Freebridge. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of William de Warenne, St. Etheldreda's Abbey and Ralph de Tosny.[3]

Furthermore, Castle Acre is home to the ruins of Castle Acre Priory which was established in 1090 by William de Warenne for an order of Cluniac monks. The monastery fell into disrepair after Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. The priory is maintained by English Heritage.[4]

Geography

According to the 2021 census, the population of Castle Acre is 862 people which shows a slight increase from the 848 people listed in the 2011 census.[5]

The village is located on the course of the River Nar and close to the A1065, between Mildenhall and Fakenham.

Village sign in Castle Acre

St. James' Church

Castle Acre's parish church is dedicated to Saint James and dates to the Fourteenth Century. St. James' is located at the junction between High Street and South Acre and has been a Grade I listed building since 1960.[6] The churchtower was largely rebuilt in the Fifteenth Century in the Perpendicular style with a further restoration in the 1870s by Ewan Christian. The church boasts an ornate font cover and a painted pulpit with damage from firearms dating from the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.[7]

Within the church are memorials to Corporal Michael Brown of the Life Guards who was killed in an armoured car accident during the Cyprus Emergency, Lieutenant Alan E. Hudson who was killed serving aboard HMS Pearl and Clare S. Hudson who was killed serving aboard SS Tofua.[8]

Notable Residents

• William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey- (1035-1088) Norman nobleman, lived in Castle Acre.
• Gundred, Countess of Surrey- (???-1085) Flemish noblewoman, died in Castle Acre.
• William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey- (???-1138) Anglo-Norman nobleman, lived in Castle Acre.
• Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey- (1130-1202) Anglo-Angevin nobleman, lived in Castle Acre.
• Thomas Howard KG, 4th Duke of Norfolk- (1536-1572) nobleman and politician, lived in Castle Acre.
• Thomas Cecil KG, 1st Earl of Exeter- (1542-1623) politician, courtier and soldier, lived in Castle Acre.
• Sir Edward Coke- (1552-1634) barrister, judge and politician, lived in Castle Acre.

Governance

Castle Acre is part of the electoral ward of Massingham with Castle Acre for local elections and is part of the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is North West Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's James Wild MP since 2010.

War Memorial

Castle Acre's war memorial is shared with nearby Newton is a granite wheel-headed cross located in St. James' Churchyard which was unveiled in 1923.[9] The memorial lists the following names of individuals from Castle Acre for the First World War:[10][11]

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial
Capt.	Bernard Beck MC[a]	3rd Bn., King's Regiment	18 Aug. 1916	Mametz Copse Cemetery
Lt.	Reginald Porter[b]	Royal Army Medical Corps	26 Oct. 1914	Ploegsteert Memorial
CSM	Phillip Moore	1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment	27 Jul. 1916	Caterpillar Cemetery
Sgt.	Henry J. Askew DCM[c]	9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	15 Apr. 1918	Tyne Cot
LCpl.	Algier Buckenham	8th Bn., Border Regiment	5 Jul. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
LCpl.	W. Edgar S. Grimes	8th Bn., King's Royal Rifle Corps	28 Aug. 1917	Lijssenthoek Cemetery
LCpl.	Cyril J. Savage	1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment	27 Oct. 1917	Hooge Crater Cemetery
LCpl.	Albert E. Skeet	2nd Bn., Norfolk Regt.	11 May 1916	Amara War Cemetery
LCpl.	George Moore	7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	17 Jul. 1917	Canadian Cemetery No. 2
Pte.	Hugh T. Buxton	14th Bn., Argyll and Sutherland Hs.	8 Oct. 1918	Bandaghem Cemetery
Pte.	Thomas Skipper	7th Bn., Border Regiment	27 Jun. 1916	Citadel New Cemetery
Pte.	Walter Hamblin	8th Bn., Border Regt.	9 Jul. 1916	Le Cateau Cemetery
Pte.	Herbert Howard	8th Bn., Border Regt.	28 May 1916	Écoivres Cemetery
Pte.	Arthur J. Sculpher	3rd Bn., Coldstream Guards	12 Apr. 1918	Ploegsteert Memorial
Pte.	Ernest J. Archer	7th Bn., East Surrey Regiment	20 Nov. 1917	Cambrai Memorial
Pte.	William J. Green	1st Bn., Essex Regiment	6 Aug. 1915	Helles Memorial
Pte.	Thomas Hudson	1st Bn., Essex Regt.	22 Nov. 1916	Guards Cemetery
Pte.	Robert Skipper	1st Bn., Essex Regt.	11 Aug. 1915	Helles Memorial
Pte.	Arthur H. Meek	Royal Fusiliers	27 Nov. 1918	St. James' Churchyard
Pte.	G. William Ward	13th Bn., Royal Fus.	23 Apr. 1917	Arras Memorial
Pte.	C. Frederick Moore	1st Bn., King's Own Scottish Bords	1 Aug. 1915	Helles Memorial
Pte.	Robert W. Green	2nd Bn., K.O.S.B.	5 Feb. 1915	R.E. Farm Cemetery
Pte.	Alan W. Heywood	20th Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers	21 Aug. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Pte.	Lewis Hudson	5th Bn., Lincolnshire Regiment	14 Oct. 1916	Berles Position Cemetery
Pte.	Henry W. Skipper	2/5th Bn., Lincolnshire Regt.	21 Mar. 1918	Grévillers Cemetery
Pte.	Thomas E. Wright	35th Coy., Machine Gun Corps	30 Nov. 1917	Cambrai Memorial
Pte.	William T. Pember	4th Bn., Middlesex Regiment	14 Nov. 1914	Le Touret Memorial
Pte.	William Wicks	1/8th Bn., Middlesex Regt.	18 Sep. 1916	Euston Road Cemetery
Pte.	William R. Sillis	2nd Bn., Norfolk Regiment	4 Nov. 1915	Doiran Memorial
Pte.	Frederick Skeet	2nd Bn., Norfolk Regt.	20 May 1916	Amara War Cemetery
Pte.	John Dawes	1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	19 Apr. 1917	Jerusalem Memorial
Pte.	William W. Long	1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	6 Sep. 1915	Helles Memorial
Pte.	George Ellis	7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	5 Oct. 1915	Bethune Town Cemetery
Pte.	Ernest W. Mobbs	7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	13 Oct. 1915	Loos Memorial
Pte.	E. Stapleton	8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	5 Oct. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Pte.	John Blowers	9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	15 Sep. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Pte.	John W. Green	9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.	15 Sep. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Pte.	Sydney G. Buxton	2nd Bn., Northumberland Fusilers	10 Sep. 1916	Doiran Memorial
Pte.	William Willigress	8th Bn., Suffolk Regiment	13 Oct. 1915	Albert Cemetery
Pte.	Herbert T. Williamson	11th Bn., Suffolk Regt.	25 Oct. 1918	Delsaux Farm Cemetery

And: Lewis Green, Arthur J. Stapleton, James Stapleton and Charles Turner. And, the following for Second World War:

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial
Sgt.	Robert Vincent	1st Bn., Worcestershire Regiment	5 May 1941	Khartoum Memorial
A1C	Robert H. Overman	Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve	10 Feb. 1944	St. James' Churchyard
Cpl.	William D. Pightling	2nd Coy., Northamptonshire Yeo.	6 Mar. 1941	St. James' Churchyard
OS	Harold Barlow	HMS Prince of Wales	24 May 1941	Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Pte.	Thomas L. Hudson	1st Bn., Loyal Regiment	19 Feb. 1944	Anzio War Cemetery
Pte.	Kenneth Eggleton	5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment	15 Feb. 1942	Kranji War Cemetery
Pte.	Herbert J. Howard	6th Bn., Royal Norfolks.	21 Sep. 1944	Kranji War Memorial
Pte.	Ernest J. Nunn	1st Bn., Northamptonshire Regiment	5 Jan. 1945	Taukkyan War Cemetery
Pte.	Ernest A. Turvey	7th Bn., Ox and Bucks Light Infantry	6 Dec. 1943	Cassino War Cemetery
Pte.	Arthur Harbour	Pioneer Corps	12 Mar. 1945	St. James' Churchyard
Tpr.	John J. Gore	49th (West Riding) Regt., R.A.C.	29 Nov. 1944	Maasbree RC Cemetery

References

1. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
2. "History of Castle Acre Castle and Bailey Gate". English Heritage. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
3. "[Castle and West] Acre | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
4. "Castle Acre: Castle Acre Priory". English Heritage. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
5. "Castle Acre (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
6. "CHURCH OF ST JAMES, Castle Acre - 1342386 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
7. "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
8. "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Castle Acre". www.roll-of-honour.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
9. "Castle Acre and Newton War Memorial, Castle Acre - 1440879 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
10. "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Castle Acre". www.roll-of-honour.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
11. "Geograph:: Caister to Croxton :: War Memorials in Norfolk". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2024.

Notes

1. MC citation not found.
2. Also has a separate memorial inside St. James' Church.
3. DCM citation not found.

External links