****Garvestone (or Garveston) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of ****Garvestone, Reymerston and Thuxton, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located 3.8 mi south-east of Dereham and 7 mi 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.

Geography

According to the 2011 Census, the parish of Garvestone, Reymerston and Thuxton has a population of 660 residents living in 285 households. Furthermore, the parish has a total area of 5.61 mi2. Garvestone falls within the constituency of Mid Norfolk and is represented at Parliament by George Freeman MP of the Conservative Party. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Breckland.

St. Margaret's Church

Garvestone's church tower dates from the fourteenth century and is built in the Perpendicular style. The font dates from the sixteenth century. There is a stained-glass window depicting the crucifixion of Christ which dates from the 1890s.

Civil parish

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". In 1931 the parish of Garveston (prior to the merge) had a population of 265.

Notable residents

War memorial

The war memorial for Garvestone and Thuxton takes the form of a rough-hewn stone cross with a two-stepped plinth, located in St. Margaret's Churchyard. The memorial lists the following men for both villages for the First World War: And, the following for the Second World War: