Garvestone


Garvestone is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Garvestone, Reymerston and Thuxton, in the Breckland district, in the English county of Norfolk.
Garvestone is located south-east of Dereham and north-west of Wymondham, on the upper reaches of the River Yare.

History

Garveston's name is of Anglo-Saxon and Viking origin, and derives from an amalgamation of the Old English and Old Norse for ‘Geirulfr's settlement or farmstead’.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Garveston is listed as a settlement of 27 households in the hundred of Mitford. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of Henry de Ferrers.
Parts of RAF Shipdham stray into Garvestone. The airfield was used by the American Eighth and Twelfth Air Forces during the Second World War.
On 1 April 1935 the parishes of Reymerston and Thuxton were merged with Garveston, on 4 August 1999 the merged parish was renamed "Garvestone, Reymerston & Thuxton".

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Garvestone, Reymerston & Thuxton have a population of 743 people which shows an increase from the 660 people recorded in the 2011 census.
Garvestone is located along the course of the River Yare.

St. Margaret's Church

Garvestone's parish church is dedicated to Saint Margaret the Virgin and dates from the Fourteenth Century. St. Margaret's is located within the village on Dereham Road and has been Grade II listed since 1960. The church holds Sunday services once a month.
St. Margaret's was heavily restored in the Victorian era but still boasts a font from the Fifteenth Century.

Notable residents

  • Edward Wright- mathematician and cartographer, born in Garvestone.

    Governance

Garvestone is part of the electoral ward of Mattishall for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.
The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.

War memorial

Garvestone & Thuxton War Memorial is located in St. Margaret's Churchyard and lists the following names for the First World War:
RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/Commemoration
Sgt.Harry A. Newson59th Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery19 Jul. 1918Bienvillers Cemetery
LCpl.Willie Read9th Bn., East Lancashire Regiment27 Feb. 1917Doiran Memorial
LCpl.Sidney E. Jowlings7th Bn., Norfolk Regiment22 Nov. 1917Tincourt Cemetery
Gnr.Algernon H. P. Easlea99th Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery19 Jan. 1918Chocques Cemetery
Pnr.George E. Stocking8 Coy., Royal Engineers30 Sep. 1918Beuvry Cemetery
Pte.Colin L. Whitehand8th Bn., East Surrey Regiment20 Nov. 1918Old Garrison Cemetery
Pte.Jesse A. Ward13th Bn., Royal Fusiliers4 Oct. 1917Zantvoorde Cemetery
Pte.Percy Howard12th Bn., Suffolk Regiment13 Jul. 1918Tourcoing Cemetery

The following names were added after the Second World War:
RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/Commemoration
FSgt.Ernest W. GreenwoodNo. 83 Squadron RAF25 Apr. 1944Dürnbach Cemetery
Pte.Cyril G. Softley4th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment8 May 1943Kanchanaburi War Cemetery
Pte.William G. Richardson5th Bn., Royal Norfolks23 Jan. 1942Kranji War Cemetery
Pte.James Mann4th Bn., Seaforth Highlanders4 Jun. 1940Dunkirk Memorial