Colkirk

[2] Details of the original moated manor house and buildings, which included a dovecote and private chapel and was situated near Long's Lane off Dereham Road, were described in a document of 1296.

One by one the small farmers who comprised the village population were becoming poor and sold their land to richer men.

All the land in the Parish was finally brought into use when the commons were enclosed and the big woods cut down about 150 years ago.

Since then, most of the houses on the right hand side of School Road were built as model cottages, by Canon Hoare, when he was Rector of Colkirk.

There was a Co-op in the village founded 120 years ago, having occupied three different sites in its time and finally situated in Dereham Road was closed in the 1960s.

[1] Census population figures for the village show little change during the latter part of the 19th century and at around 450 are about 100 fewer than the present day.

The church boasts a Twelfth Century tub font and numerous examples of stained-glass windows designed by William Wailes and Ward and Hughes.

The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.

1617 Map of the Village of Colkirk
1675 Map of the route from Newmarket to Wells-next-the-Sea by John Ogilby . The map shows the villages of Oxwick and Colkirk misspelled as Oxley and Cockham respectively (see about one third of the way up the fifth strip of map). The church, Raynham Hall and Beacon Hill are visible.
The Starre Pub in the 1920s
The Crown Pub in the 1920s. The pub is still open today.