Village in Norfolk, England
Human settlement in England
Houghton
is a small village and a
civil parish
in the
English county
of
Norfolk
. It covers an area of 7.64 km
2
(2.95 sq mi) and had a population of 69 in 36 households at the
2001 census
.
[1]
At the
2011 census
the population of the parish was again below 100, and was therefore included in the civil parish of
West Rudham
.
For the purposes of local government, Houghton falls within the
district
of
King's Lynn and West Norfolk
. It is the location of
Houghton Hall
, a large
country house
built by
Robert Walpole
, the first
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
, who was born in the village in 1676.
History
[
edit
]
The village is listed as
Houtuna
in the
Domesday Book
of 1086.
[2]
It takes its name from the
Old English language
;
hoh
(hill-spur) plus
tun
(enclosure, settlement or farm). The old village of Houghton was demolished in 1722 to make way for the construction of Houghton Hall and the associated parkland. In 1729, the village was rebuilt on the edge of the estate and called
New Houghton
;
[3]
the 33 surviving houses are all now Grade II
listed buildings
. It is one of the locations claimed to be the inspiration for
Oliver Goldsmith
's poem
The Deserted Village
.
[4]
In 1872, the parish had 53 houses and 227 inhabitants. Other names for the village were Houghton-in-the-Brake and Houghton-Next-Harpley.
[5]
The
Church of St Martin at Tours
stands inside the park and dates from the 13th century, although it was heavily restored in the 18th century when the
Gothick
tower was added.
[6]
The first British
prime minister
,
Sir Robert Walpole
, (1676?1745), later 1st Earl of Orford,
[7]
and his son, the writer
Horace Walpole
, (1717?1797), are buried in St Martin's Church, which is a Grade I listed building.
[8]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes
. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^
The Domesday Book Online - Norfolk H-L - Houghton (near West Rudham)
- ^
Samuel Lewis,
A Popular Guide to Norfolk Place Names
, The Lark's Press, 1991
ISBN
0-948400-15-3
(p.25)
- ^
British Listed Buildings - 1, 2 and 3, the Street, Houghton
- ^
A vision of Britain Through Time - Houghton Norfolk
- ^
BBC Domesday Reloaded - St Martin's Church, Houghton
- ^
Courtney, William Prideaux
(1911).
"Orford, Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). pp. 254?256.
- ^
British Listed Buildings - Church of St Martin, Houghton
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Houghton, Norfolk
at Wikimedia Commons