East Rudham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 14 mi north-east of King's Lynn and 28 mi north-west of Norwich.

History

East Rudham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for 'Rudda's' homestead or village. Several Iron Age and Roman artefacts have been found close to East Rudham, and there is further evidence to suggest a small Roman settlement was based on the modern village. In the Domesday Book, East and West Rudham are recorded together as a settlement of 67 households in the hundred of Brothercross. In 1086, the village was divided between the East Anglian estates of Alan of Brittany, William de Warenne and Peter de Valognes. During the Second World War, a starfish site was created on nearby Coxford Heath designed to draw Luftwaffe bombers away from King's Lynn. In 2016, several test pits were dug by the University of Cambridge around the parish.

Geography

According to the 2011 Census, East Rudham, including Broomsthorpe, has a population of 541 residents living in 281 households. The parish covered an area of 6.93 mi2. East Rudham falls within the constituency of North West Norfolk and is represented at Parliament by James Wild MP of the Conservative Party. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

St. Mary's Church

East Rudham's church is dedicated to Saint Mary and was rebuilt in the mid-Nineteenth Century in the Perpendicular style after the tower collapsed into the Nave. St. Mary's font pre-dates the church and is dated 1852.

Transport

East Rudham railway station opened in 1880 as a stop on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway between South Lynn and Melton Constable. The station closed in 1959. The A148, between King's Lynn and Cromer, bisects the village.

War memorial

East and West Rudham's war memorial takes the form of an obelisk topped with a wheel cross, located beside the A148. It lists the following names from East Rudham for the First World War: And, the following for the Second World War: