Caistor St. Edmund is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Caistor St. Edmund and Bixley, in the English county of Norfolk. Caistor St. Edmund is located 7.7 mi east of Wymondham and 2.5 mi south of Norwich. The village is located along the course of the River Tas

History

The remnants of the capital of the Iceni tribe, Venta Icenorum, are located nearby and are now in the care of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust. It is presumed that the Stone Street Roman road runs from Dunwich in Suffolk to Caistor St Edmund. Caistor St. Edmund's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Saint Edmund's Roman settlement. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Caistor St Edmund is recorded as a settlement of 26 households in the hundred of Henstead. The village was divided between Ralph de Beaufour and Bury St Edmunds Abbey. Caistor Old Hall was built in 1612 for Thomas Pettus, 1st Baronet and remained in the Pettus family until the Nineteenth Century when it passed to the Spurrells of Thurgarton. During the Second World War, two of the original Chain Home Radar pylons were erected in Caistor. As of 2013, one of the radar pylons is still standing. On 1 April 2019, the parish was merged with Bixley to form "Caistor St Edmund and Bixley". Listed buildings within Caistor include The Old Rectory (Eighteenth Century) and Queen Anne Cottage (c.1729).

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Caistor St. Edmund (including Bixley) has a population of 499 people which shows a slight increase from the 433 people recorded in the 2011 census. The River Tas runs through the parish as does the A47, between Birmingham and Lowestoft.

St. Edmund's Church

Caistor St. Edmund's parish church is dedicated to Saint Edmund and dates to the Fourteenth Century. St. Edmund's is located on Stoke Road and has been Grade II listed since 1959. The church has had many additions and repairs made to it over the years with stone from Venta Icenorum and also boasts a large, carved font.

Notable Residents

In popular culture

Steve Coogan's comedy character, Alan Partridge was married in St. Edmund's Church.

Governance

Caistor St. Edmund is part of the electoral ward of Poringland, Framinghams & Trowse 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

Caistor St. Edmund's war memorial is a limestone octagonal cross with a crucifix on its eastern front which was unveiled by Reverend J. C. Warren in 1922. The memorial is located beside Stoke Road and has been Grade II listed since 2017. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War: And, the following for the Second World War: