North Walsham

Demography

The civil parish has an area of 11.3 sqmi and in the 2011 census had a population of 12,829. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of North Norfolk.

Transport

The town is served by North Walsham railway station, on the Bittern Line between Norwich, Cromer and Sheringham. Services run generally hourly in both directions and are operated by Greater Anglia.

The main road through the town is the A149. The town is also located on the B1145, a route that runs between King's Lynn and Mundesley.

The town is on the North Walsham and Dilham Canal, which is privately owned by the North Walsham Canal Company. The canal ran from Antingham Mill, largely following the course of the River Ant to a point below Honing. A short branch canal leaves the main navigation near Honing and terminates at the village of Dilham.

History

The name Walsham derives from the Old English walhshām meaning 'Walh's village'.

North Walsham was involved in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The peasants' leaders were defeated at the Battle of North Walsham and the site is marked by a wayside stone near the town's water towers.

The Great Fire of North Walsham took place on 25 June 1600. It began at six o'clock in the morning from a house occupied by a person with the surname of Dowle. Dowle subsequently fled and was captured and placed in gaol. The fire was devastating and destroyed 118 homes, 70 shops, the market cross, and market stalls. Although the church caught fire in five places, the building was mostly undamaged. It provided shelter for people whilst the town was being rebuilt.

The English naval hero, Horatio Nelson, and his brother, William, were educated at Paston Grammar School in North Walsham, founded by Sir William Paston (of Paston Letters fame) in 1606. Nelson left the school to start his naval career at the age of eleven. The school became Paston College in 1984.

William Suffolk, who murdered one Mary Beck, was gibbeted on the outskirts of North Walsham after his execution on Castle Hill in Norwich in 1797, remaining there until the enclosure of the parish.

During World War II, a North Walsham man lost his life when his Royal Air Force training aeroplane crashed in the United States. Local residents living near the site, in the State of Oklahoma, erected a monument in 2000 honouring the lives of all four RAF fliers who perished. The residents, who include Choctaw Native American People, and the Choctaw Nation government, continue honouring the lives of all four on each anniversary of the crashes, which took place in February 1943.

As part of the millennium celebrations, ten mosaics were commissioned, showing scenes from local history, including the Peasants' Revolt and the Great Fire of North Walsham, and a picture of a Norfolk wherry – an allusion to the canal.

North Walsham Picturedrome opened in King Arms Street around 1912 and survived until around September 1931. In 1931 the Regal Cinema opened in New Road and was open until 1979. When the Regal closed, the building was turned into a Vauxhall car dealership and later a Plant hire business, but in 2018 was knocked down to make room for housing..

Oak tree sculpture

The town's park features an oak tree sculpture commemorating the Battle of the Peasants' Revolt at North Walsham in 1381, and the Agricultural Workers Union being founded in the town in 1906. It is constructed from a 120-year-old tree that was diseased and was due to be felled. The sculpture was unveiled in September 1999.

North Walsham High School and the Atrium

North Walsham High School is an academy school for pupils aged 11 to 16 located in the town. The school is administered by Enrich Learning Trust. The school converted from community school status in October 2019. The school includes a £5.3m arts and education development called the 'Atrium', which is open to the wider community, funded by the initial co-location funds of reanimating communities. The building belongs to North Walsham High School, but the theatre, cinema, workshop, and events programme is run by a registered charity (The Atrium North Norfolk Ltd). The charity was formed in early 2013 and operates as 'the Atrium'.******

Sport

North Walsham is home to a London 1 North rugby team. North Walsham R.F.C. narrowly missed out on promotion to National League 2 in 2005–06, losing a play-off to Nuneaton. It is also home to the North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club who train at the Victory Leisure Centre on Station Road. There is a North Walsham parkrun every Saturday morning which is a free, timed 5k event at 9am at North Walsham High School. England footballer Lauren Hemp was born in the town and played for the local team as a child.

Media

Regional local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from the Tacolneston TV transmitter and via a local relay transmitter in West Runton

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Norfolk on 95.6 FM, Heart East on 102.4 FM, Kiss on 106.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk (formerly North Norfolk Radio) on 96.2 FM and Poppyland Radio, a community radio station that broadcast online.

The town is served by these local newspapers:

• Eastern Daily Press
• North Norfolk News
• Eastern Evening News

Museum and heritage

North Walsham is home to the Norfolk Motorcycle Museum, a privately owned collection of around 80 motorcycles dating up to 1960. Toys are also on display, particularly die-cast toys.

North Walsham is home to the North Walsham Heritage Centre. The Heritage Centre displays information and artefacts on the whole range of the town's history.

Freedom of the Town

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of North Walsham.

People

• Lauren Hemp: 5 August 2022.

References

References

1. (8 April 2023). "North Walsham Details".
2. Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 – Norfolk Coast East''. {{ISBN. 0-319-21888-0.
3. "The Boy John Letters" by Sidney Grapes, letter dated April 7th, 1949, originally published in the "Eastern Daily Press". Published in book form in 2003, by Mousehold Press.
4. Grapes, S. "The Boy John Letters" (2003) The Mousehold Press.
5. https://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/norfolk_place_names.htm
6. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). ''[http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes] {{webarchive. link. (2017-02-11 ''. Retrieved 2 December 2005.)
7. County A to Z Atlas, Street & Road maps Norfolk, page 230 {{ISBN. 978-1-84348-614-5
8. http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/North%20Walsham
9. Whyte, Nicola. (2003-04-01). "The Deviant Dead in the Norfolk Landscape". Landscapes.
10. [[AT6 Monument]]
11. Hurrell, Alex. (2016-01-27). "Change of heart saves North Walsham's oak tree sculpture".
12. Whymark, Bethany. (2019-03-18). "North Walsham High School reveals academy conversion plans".
13. http://www.theatrium.org.uk/ {{Dead link. (August 2022)
14. (2024). "The North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club".
15. (1 May 2004). "Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter".
16. (1 May 2004). "Freeview Light on the West Runton (Norfolk, England) transmitter".
17. "Poppyland Radio".
18. "North Walsham - Regional Media".
19. [https://norfolk-motorcycle-museum.business.site/ the Norfolk Motorcycle Museum on the Visit Norfolk website]
20. [https://www.northwalshamheritage.org.uk/ the North Walsham Heritage Centre website]
21. Brown, Bruno. (5 August 2022). "Hundreds turn out to see Lionesses star Lauren Hemp given freedom of town".
22. (5 August 2022). "Euro 2022: Lioness Lauren Hemp welcomed home in North Walsham". BBC News.