Methwold

Methwold

Methwold

Human settlement in England

This article is about the Norfolk village. For the seventeenth-century English merchant, see William Methwold.

Methwold ("Middle forest"[1]) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, on the edge of the Norfolk Fens and Breckland. With an area of 49 km2 (19 sq mi) it is the second largest parish in Norfolk. It had a population of 1,502 in 591 households at the 2011 Census,[2] up by less than 2% from 1,476 at the 2001 census,[3] For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

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The parish also includes the hamlets of Methwold Hythe, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the town and on the edge of the fens, and Brookville to the north west.[4]

Its economy is based on agriculture with a little light industry. The village is situated about 20 miles (32 km) from King's Lynn and 15 miles (24 km) north west of Thetford (its postal town).

The Duchy of Lancaster Methwold CofE Primary School is in the parish, as are the secondary and sixth form departments of Iceni Academy, previously known as Methwold High School.

Methwold parish is the second largest parish in Norfolk in terms of land. The parish currently has approximately 20 farms ranging from about 60 acres (243,000 m2) up to 1,000 acres (4.0 km2). Farming in Methwold and the surrounding areas accounts for a vast majority of jobs in the fens. Even if people don't farm, much of the work is connected with the land.

Methwold became famous for its abundance and excellence of its rabbits which were sold by poulterers as "Muel Rabbits". According to John Marius Wilson, Methwold was formerly a market town.[4] A meal of Muel Rabbits was reputed to have pleased the king to such an extent that he granted the village a charter for the market to be held.

The village was struck by an F1/ T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, during the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.[5]

Notable residents

  • William Thorold M.Inst.C.E., millwright, architect and civil engineer was born in Methwold on 9 October 1798.
  • Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D., psychiatrist, author and philosopher was born in Methwold 18 March 1837.

References

  1. [1]
    "Methwold". English Place-Name Society database. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 14 October 2010.[permanent dead link]
  2. [2]
    "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  3. [3]
    Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  4. [4]
    Wilson, John Marius (1872). Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. (quoted online at: "Methwold Norfolk". A Vision of Britain Through Time. 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2010.)
  5. [5]
    "European Severe Weather Database".

Media related to Methwold at Wikimedia Commons
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