Litcham

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Litcham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some 10 km north-east of the town of Swaffham and 40 km west of the city of Norwich.^[1]

The civil parish has an area of 7.89 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 592 in 257 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Breckland.^[2]

The Bull Inn a 17th century coaching Inn, with parts dating back to the 14th century, was the first change of horses on the Kings Lynn to Great Yarmouth coaching route.

Litcham is the location of Litcham High School, and Litcham Primary School.

Litcham is in the Launditch hundred of the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is almost equidistant from three major market towns; East Dereham, Fakenham and Swaffam. In 1831 it's population reached 771, more than a third of these were agricultural workers, today the population is just under 600. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Licham, Lecham or Leccham as 'a Market Town in the centre of Norfolk'. Other known spellings are Lucham, Lycham, Luychesham to mention but a few. In Elizabethan times the village was the centre of the local tanning industry. The Collinson and Hallcott families made considerable fortunes and became country squires. The Hallcott's were local benefactors, building almshouses and paying for a church bell. Mathew Hallcott is shown on the village sign with his tanning equipment.
Edward I granted Litcham the right to hold a weekly market, but it did not thrive and had ceased by 1836. However it has left it's mark on the layout of Litcham and is probably the reason why Church Street widens out so dramatically just below All Saints Church.
In 1977 it was designated a conservation village and boasts eleven listed buildings plus a Church and Priory that date back to the 12th century. The village sits astride a major crossroads of country lanes, the most important of which is the B1145 which stretches between King's Lynn and Norwich and was once the King's Lynn - Norwich - Great Yarmouth stagecoach route. Horses would have been changed at the 17th century Bull Inn, which also served as the local law court until the late 18th century. On the green in front of the Bull there once stood a row of old cottages and a chapel which were demolished in 1968. As you leave the village on the B1145 towards Mileham you pass 'Fourways' a toll-house until 1912 and now home to the village museum run by 'The Litcham Historical Society'. Today the village has all the necessary amenities such as a Post Office, a General Store, a Butcher, a Fish & Chip shop, a Primary and a High School, a Health Centre and, of course, the Bull Inn.

All Saints Church with its square tower was was largely rebuilt in the early 15th century. The unusual red and green painted rood screen was completed in 1536 and shows twenty-two painted images of saints. There is also a Methodist Chapel, built in 1909, on Front Street.

Litcham Common is situated the south of the village and is a managed Nature Reserve consisting of 28 hectares of lowland heath and mixed woodlands. The Nar Valley Way long distance footpath run through across the common and offers a great variety of scenery along the country lanes and tracks, and you are never far from the river. The path follows farm tracks through Lexham Estate by kind permission of the landowner, and at each end you pass through commons managed as Nature Reserves at Litcham and Castle Acre. A bronze age burial mound has been discovered on the common and Roman settlements and roads have been found just outside the village. An extensive collection of coinage and artefacts is housed in the local museum.

Current population 590 - Census 2001 Electors 471 (Electoral Register December 2005) Area 789 hectares.
for further information visit Village Website.
Submitted by: John Relph, Parish Clerk August 2006