Colney Explained

Country:England
Coordinates:52.6254°N 1.2217°W
Os Grid Reference:TG181079
Official Name:Colney
Population:215
Population Ref:(2021)
Area Total Km2:3.78
Static Image:Image:Colney-g2.jpg
Static Image Caption:St. Andrew's Church
Shire District:South Norfolk
Shire County:Norfolk
Region:East of England
Civil Parish:Colney
Constituency Westminster:South Norfolk
Postcode District:NR4
Postcode Area:NR
Post Town:NORWICH
Dial Code:01603

Colney [1] is a village in the western outskirts of Norwich in the English county of Norfolk.

Colney is located 2.8miles west of Norwich and 6.1miles north-east of Wymondham.

In local dialect Colney may be pronounced,[2] "Coney",[3] [4] or "Cõ-ney"[5]

History

Colney's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Cola's' island.[6]

Colney is listed in the Domesday Book as a settlement of 34 households in the hundred of Humbleyard. The village was divided between the estates of Roger Bigod, Godric the Steward and William d'Ecouis.[7]

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Colney has a population of 215 people which shows an increase from the 153 people recorded in the 2011 census.[8]

The A47, between Birmingham and Lowestoft, and the B1108, between Carbrooke and Ipswich, both run through the parish.

St. Andrew's Church

Colney's parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew and dates from the Eleventh Century, being one of Norfolk's remaining round-tower church. St. Andrew's is located on Watton Road and has been Grade II listed since 1959.[9]

St. Andrew's was heavily re-built in the Fourteenth Century and was further restored in the Victorian era. The church boasts a curious memorial to a John Fox who was killed in 1806 in an accident which warns carriage drivers to be careful when driving as well as a late-Medieval font. The church also holds memorials to members of the Barclay family, Cornet William Scott of the Bengal Light Infantry (d.1856) and to a local woman who was killed in the Boxing Day Tsunami.[10]

Amenities

Greenacres Memorial Park is located within the village which is a facility for natural burials, scattering of ashes and a Memorial Hall for the celebration for wakes and wedding receptions.[11] The funeral of TV presenter Caroline Flack took place there in 2020.[12]

The John Innes Centre and Quadram Institute, both parts of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital are located within the village.

Norwich City's Lotus Training Ground is located in Colney.

Governance

Claxton is part of the electoral ward of Cringleford 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

Colney's war memorial is located by the side of Old Watton Road and is a granite celtic cross.[13] The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:[14]

!Rank!Name!Unit!Date of death!Burial
Lt.David S. Barclay1st Bn., Scots Guards24 Apr. 1917St. Andrew's Churchyard
LCpl.Frederick Z. Goldsmith1st Bn., Border Regiment19 May 1917Arras Memorial
Pte.George S. Heaton MM11th Bn., Essex Regiment29 Oct. 1918Premont Cemetery
Pte.Donald W. Henning7th Bn., Norfolk Regiment20 Jun. 1917Southern Cemetery, Calais
And, the following for the Second World War:
!Rank!Name!Unit!Date of death!Burial
Sgt.Frederick W. BarrieNo. 199 Squadron RAF1 Dec. 1943Runnymede Memorial
Mne.Frederick EastwickRoyal Marinesc.1950Unknown

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Linguistic Notes on Norwich and Norfolk Place-names for Language and Communication Students. University of East Anglia. 31 July 2020.
  2. Web site: Linguistic Notes on Norwich and Norfolk Place-names for Language and Communication Students. University of East Anglia. 31 July 2020.
  3. "Looking at Norfolk" by Jane Hales & William Bennett (October 1971), Charles N Veal & Co.
  4. https://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/norfolk_place_names.htm
  5. https://friendsofnorfolkdialect.com/portfolio-items/norfolk-placenames/
  6. Web site: Key to English Place-names . 2024-11-15 . kepn.nottingham.ac.uk.
  7. Web site: Colney Domesday Book . 2024-11-15 . opendomesday.org.
  8. Web site: Colney (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location . 2024-12-14 . www.citypopulation.de.
  9. Web site: CHURCH OF ST. ANDREW, Colney - 1050754 Historic England . 2024-12-14 . historicengland.org.uk . en.
  10. Web site: Norfolk Churches . 2024-12-14 . www.norfolkchurches.co.uk.
  11. Web site: Colney Park . 2024-11-15 . GreenAcres Group . en-GB.
  12. News: Caroline Flack's mother shares details of presenter's private funeral . Bethany . Minelle . news.sky.com . 16 March 2020 . 25 June 2021.
  13. Web site: Colney War Memorial, Colney - 1442409 Historic England . 2024-12-14 . historicengland.org.uk . en.
  14. Web site: Geograph:: Caister to Croxton :: War Memorials in Norfolk . 2024-12-14 . www.geograph.org.uk.