Cockley Cley Explained

Cockley Cley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village covers an area of 17.94km2 and falls within the district of Breckland.

History

The village's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a "clay hill shrouded in trees".^[2]

In the Domesday Book, Cockley Cley is recorded as a settlement of 32 households located in the hundred of South Greenhoe. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of King William I and William de Warenne.^[3]

Cockley Cley is the site of significant defensive infrastructure built during the Second World War, including a rare example of an "Allan Williams Turret" designed to mount a Lewis gun in an anti-aircraft role.^[4]

In August 1974, a decapitated corpse of a woman was discovered near the village. As of 2023, the woman has not been identified.

Between 1975 and 2004, Cockley Cley was home to a mock Iceni village visitor attraction. The site reopened briefly in 2014 as the Iceni Centre but was subsequently forced to close due to dwindling customer numbers.^[5]

Geography

In the 2011 census, Cockley Cley was recorded as having 232 residents living in 117 households.^[6]

The village falls within the constituency of Mid Norfolk and is represented at Parliament by George Freeman MP of the Conservative Party.

All Saints' Church

Cockley Cley's parish church is one of Norfolk's 124 existing Anglo-Saxon round-tower churches. The church was significantly remodelled in the nineteenth century by the architect Richard Phipson. The church tower collapsed on 29 August 1991 and has not been rebuilt.^[7]

War memorial

Cockley Cley's war memorial is a marble plaque located inside All Saints' Church which lists the following names for the First World War:

• Corporal William B. Root (1893–1916), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
• Corporal Frederick Atter (1896–1917), 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
• Lance-Corporal Wallace G. Rungary (d.1918), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
• Fireman Frederick W. Barker (1887–1915), S.S. Sailor Prince
• Private Henry Norman (1885–1916), 14th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
• Private Charles R. Wilding (1883–1915), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
• F. Draper
• E. Pedgrift

The following were added following the Second World War:

• Marine Sydney A. Holman (1924–1944), H.M. Landing Craft (Flack) 14
• Private Russell K. Pigg (1917–1940), 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment

References

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Cockley%20Clay

External links

• All Saints of the European Round Tower Churches Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Civil Parish population 2011. 1 August 2016. Office for National Statistics. Neighbourhood Statistics.
2. Web site: Key to English Place-names . 2024-10-16 . kepn.nottingham.ac.uk.
3. Web site: [Cockley] Cley Domesday Book ]. 2024-10-16 . opendomesday.org.
4. Web site: World-War-Two-Allan-Williams-Turret - Norfolk Heritage Explorer . 2024-10-16 . www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk.
5. Web site: 2014-07-15 . Iceni Centre, formerly the Iceni Village, closes despite attempted revival . 2024-10-16 . Eastern Daily Press . en.
6. Web site: Custom report - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics . 2024-10-16 . www.nomisweb.co.uk.
7. Web site: Norfolk Churches . 2024-10-16 . www.norfolkchurches.co.uk.