Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Burgh Castle is located 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south-west of Great Yarmouth and 16 miles (26 km) east of Norwich. The parish was part of Suffolk until 1974.[1]
The Roman fort remains from aboveBurgh Castle walls, 1845 engraving
History
Burgh Castle was likely the site of a Neolithic settlement due to an abundance of flint and bronze axe-heads being discovered in the area.[2][3]
Burgh Castle is the location of a Roman fortification called Gariannonum which dates to the third century; the fort was part of system of coastal defence, the Saxon Shore, against Anglo-Saxon incursions on the East Anglian coast. The site is managed by the Norfolk Archaeological Trust and is open free of charge to the public.[4]
In the Domesday Book, Burgh Castle is recorded as a settlement of 15 households in the hundred of Lothingland. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Ralph the Bowman.[7]
Burgh Castle was also the site of a Norman castle.[8]
Other listed buildings in Burgh Castle include Church Farmhouse (c.1788),[9] the Old Rectory (c.1832)[10] and the Grange (Seventeenth Century).[11]
Geography
According to the 2021 census, Burgh Castle has a population of 1,323 people which shows an increase from the 1,150 people recorded in the 2011 census.[12]
Amenities within the village include two pubs (The Queen's Head[13] and The Fisherman's Inn[14]) as well as the Burgh Hall Bar & Restaurant[15] and Golden Fish (a Chinese Takeaway).[16]
St Peter and St Paul's Church
Burgh Castle's parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining round-tower churches. St. Peter and St. Paul's is located on Church Road and has been Grade II listed since 1954.[17] The church incorporates significant amounts of Roman brick in its foundations, almost certainly from the nearby Roman fort.[18]
Burgh Castle has two war memorials, both located inside St. Peter and St. Paul's Church. The memorial for the First World War is a metal embossed plaque whilst the memorial for the Second World War is a wooden plaque which was unveiled by Field Marshal Edmund Ironside GCB DSO in 1953. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:[19]
