Cantley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cantley, Limpenhoe and Southwood, in the English county of Norfolk. Cantley is located 3.7 mi north of Loddon and 9.4 mi east of Norwich. The village is within the Broads Special Protection Area and lies on the north bank of the River Yare.

History

Cantley's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Canta's glade or meadow. In the Domesday Book, Cantley is recorded as a settlement of 58 households located in the hundred of Blofield. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of King William I. There are two historic manors, Cantley Netherhall and Cantley Uphall. Currently, the Lord of the manor of Cantley Netherhall is Franck Rallu resident in France. In April 1935, the parish absorbed Limpenhoe and Southwood into a larger parish. In 1931, the parish (prior to the merge) had a population of 291.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Cantley has a population of 511 people which shows a slight increase from the 504 people recorded in the 2011 census. Cantley is located along the course of the River Yare and is within the Norfolk Broads. The majority of local children attend Cantley Primary School and is part of the Coastal Together Federation of local primary schools. In 2021, the school was rated as 'Good' by Ofsted. Cantley is served by Cantley railway station which opened in 1844 on the Yarmouth & Norwich Railway. Today, the station lies on the Wherry Line with regular to Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Norwich.

St. Margaret's Church

Cantley's parish church is dedicated to Saint Margaret and dates from the Fourteenth Century. St. Margaret's is located on Church Road and has been Grade II listed since 1962. The church was significantly remodelled in the Nineteenth Century. Within St. Margaret's Churchyard there are two listed monuments including a tombstone with a stone coffin lid and a further coffin lid emblazoned with fleur-de-lys.

Cantley Sugar Factory

In 1912 the Cantley Sugar Factory was founded by the Dutch company Algemene Suikermaatschappij (ASMij). ASMij had been founded in 1908 to concentrate the Dutch beet sugar industry and remove surplus capacity. To achieve this, it also bought the already closed down Dordrecht Sugar Factory. The machinery of this factory was then shipped to England to become part of Cantley Sugar Factory. Cantley Sugar Factory was founded in 1912. It was not successful and closed down in 1916. After the English Beet Sugar Corporation was founded, Cantley Sugar Factory was reopened in 1920. The site is still in operation today by British Sugar, forming one of the four British sugar processing factories.

Notable Residents

Governance

Brandiston is part of the electoral ward of Brundall for local elections and is part of the district of Broadland. The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.

War Memorial

Cantley's war memorial is split across two marble plaques located inside St. Margaret's Church. The following men are listed for the First World War: And, the following for the Second World War: