Hales

History

Hales' name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for nooks of land.

In the Domesday Book, Hales is listed as a settlement of 54 households in the hundred of Clavering. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of Roger Bigod, Godric the Steward, St Edmunds Abbey and Ralph Baynard.

Hales Hall was built in 1478 by Sir James Hobart, the Attorney General of King Henry VII. Hobart acquired the estate from Sir Roger de Hales, whose daughter had married the Duke of Norfolk. In 1666, the last Hales heiress was Lady Dionysia Williamson, who left her estate to her nephew, John Hoskins.

In 1957, two Gloster Meteors of No. 74 Squadron RAF crashed in Hales after a mid-air collision. Both pilots (FO W.R. Taylor of Cleethorpes and FO R.G. Baillie of Edinburgh) were killed.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Hales has a total population of 525 people which demonstrates an increase from the 469 people listed in the 2011 census.

Hales is located at the junction of the A146, between Norwich and Lowestoft, and the B1136, between Hales and Haddiscoe.

St Margaret's Church

Main article: St Margaret's Church, Hales

Hales' parish church is dedicated to Saint Margaret the Virgin and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining round-tower churches. St. Margaret's is located outside of the village on Church Lane and has been Grade I listed since 1960. The church is no longer open for Sunday services and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

St. Margaret's was lightly restored in the Victorian era by Herbert John Green and still hosts medieval wall paintings.

Governance

Hales is part of the electoral ward of Loddon & Chedgrave for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is South Norfolk which has been represented by the Labour's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

War Memorial

Hales War Memorial is shared with nearby Heckingham and is a rough-hewn Celtic cross on Yarmouth Road. The memorial was damaged in a car accident in 1999 and was subsequently restored. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:

The following names were added after the Second World War:

Footnotes

Notes

References

References

1. "Key to English Place-names".
2. "Hales {{!}} Domesday Book".
3. "The story of Hales Hall & the Great Barn {{!}} Heritage & History".
4. Ranter, Harro. "Mid-air collision Accident Gloster Meteor F Mk 8 WA879, Thursday 3 January 1957".
5. "Hales (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".
6. "CHURCH OF ST MARGARET, Hales - 1169239 {{!}} Historic England".
7. Trust, Churches Conservation. "St Margaret's Church, Hales, Norfolk".
8. "Norfolk Churches".
9. "Hales and Heckingham War Memorial, Hales - 1440678 {{!}} Historic England".
10. "Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Hales and Heckingham".
11. "Geograph:: Hackford to Hunworth :: War Memorials in Norfolk".