Pentney
Pentney | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | KING'S LYNN | |
Postcode district | PE32 | |
Dialling code | 01760 | |
Police | Norfolk | |
Fire | Norfolk | |
Ambulance | East of England | |
Pentney is a village and
For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. It is in the valley of the River Nar, a tributary of the River Great Ouse.The age of the village is unknown, but it dates at least to the 3rd or 4th centuries CE, from which time there is evidence of a Romano-British local pottery industry.[3] A Roman road and settlement in Pentney ran close to the river Nar[4] The name suggests that Pentney was at one time an island: one theory for the etymology is Penta's / Penda's Island, from the Anglo-Saxon Pendan-ig, the ig being equivalent to Old Norse ey = island (Pentney is on drained waterlands).[5]
History
Augustinian Priory
About a mile west of the village, on the north bank of the River Nar, is the gatehouse, all that remains of the
The gatehouse itself – "the finest in Norfolk and a smaller copy of that at
A number of members of aristocratic families are known to have been buried at the Priory: Maud, wife of
Pentney Priory became the centre of a religious and political controversy in the 1160s when
In 1280, Archbishop
The Priory went in decline in the 15th century and consolidated with
Stone from the Priory has been used in Abbey Farm and Little Abbey Farm.[12] Many of the houses and outbuildings in Pentney also contain Barnack stone taken from the Abbey.[14]
Wayside Cross
Between the village and the Priory are the remains of a wayside cross; the cross having been broken off in historical times, only the plinth and pillar remain. A correspondent to Notes and Queries wrote of it: "We find the pedestal and shaft of what must have been, when perfect, a most handsome cross, it all seems in such perfect proportion. The shaft is remarkably slender, even for a wayside cross".[15]
Pentney Church
The church of St Mary Magdalene has stood on this site since Norman times and was originally built as a small chapel with an apse.[16] It was doubled in length in the 13th or 14th century.[17]
Pentney Treasure
In 1977, an East Dereham gravedigger, William King, found six silver Saxon brooches while digging a grave at the church. Not realising what they were, he handed them to the rector, who locked them in the vestry chest. Three years later the new rector, the Rev. John Wilson, recognised their significance, and they were subsequently identified by the British Museum as 9th century silver disc brooches of national importance, made of delicately cut and engraved sheet silver.
An inquest declared the items as treasure trove and the property of the Crown. Mr King was given the value of the brooches, £135,000. He donated £25,000 to Pentney church, and the brooches can now be viewed at the British Museum.[18][19]
Transport
Pentney was formerly served by the
The River Nar is not navigable but was temporarily made so in the 1750s. Authorised by an Act of 1751, the river was opened for barge traffic, with ten
Pentney Poacher
Pentney was the birthplace of the well-known 'King of the Norfolk Poachers'. The Pentney Poacher's story is told in the East Anglian classic I Walked by Night.[21] More recently a short documentary[22] follows the story and identity of the poacher, said to be Fred Rolfe who ended his life by suicide in Bungay, Suffolk.
Governance
Pentney is a parish of the
References
- ^ Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes Archived 11 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ISBN 0-300-09607-0
- ^ Aslet Clive, 2011, Villages of Britain, p263. Bloomsbury publishing.
- ISBN 0-8063-0171-6
- ^ "Pentney Priory Saved for the Nation | Historic England". 11 March 2014.
- ^ a b The Priory of Pentney, from A History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 2, ed. William Page, 1906: reprint at British History Online
- ^ ISBN 0-8337-1841-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-521-58131-1. Google Books
- ISBN 1-84383-284-4.
- ISBN 0-520-07175-1.
- ^ a b Pentney Priory[permanent dead link], English Heritage Pastscape site.
- ^ East Anglian Archaeology, Issue 45, Report (Chelmsford Archaeological Trust), Norfolk Archaeological Unit, Norwich Survey, pub. Norfolk Archaeological Unit, 1988
- ^ Pentney Little Abbey Farm information leaflet 2004.
- ^ GL Gomme, Notes and queries, Oxford University Press, 1880
- ^ The Post Office Directory of the Counties of Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk, ER Kelly, 1879
- ^ St Mary Magdalene, Pentney, A Church Near You, official Church of England site.
- ^ £135,000 for treasure finder, The Times, Friday, 17 October 1980.
- ^ Six disc brooches from the Pentney hoard, Highlights, British Museum online
- ^ Industrial archaeology, Volume 7, Newcomen Society (Great Britain), David and Charles, 1971
- ^ Lilias Rider Haggard, 1935, I Walked By Night, Ivor Nicholson & Watson, London.
- ^ DVD, Hodges & Paton, C, 2010, The truth behind I Walked by night, Broad Sky Publications.
External links
Media related to Pentney at Wikimedia Commons