Keswick, South Norfolk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keswick is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, situated some 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south of the city of Norwich. It should not be mistaken for the coastal settlement of Keswick (near Bacton), which is also in Norfolk.^[1]

The civil parish has an area of 5.52 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 431 in 248 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of South Norfolk.^[2]

Keswick All Saints

The church of Keswick All Saints is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk. There was a small early church here, but it was ruinated c 1598 to use the materials to repair Intwood’s round-tower church, when the two parishes were consolidated. The original east wall of the chancel still stands to the east of the existing church, and part of the tower could also be Saxon, although it was much repaired in 1893. At that time the short nave was added to the tower to make a mortuary chapel. In 1934 church services were authorised, but the apse was not added until some decades later. It had been hoped to utilise the flints of the ruined chancel for the apse, but the mortar defied demolition. This must be one of the smallest parish churches in the country, let alone in the county. The front pews fold down to assist the movement of coffins.^[3]

[edit] References

^ Ordnance Survey (1999). OS Explorer Map 237 - Norwich. ISBN 0-319-21868-6.
^ Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Retrieved December 2, 2005.
^ The Round Tower Churches of Norfolk by Lyn Stilgoe, illustrated by Dorothy Shreeve, 2001, Canterbury Press, Norwich; ISBN 1-85311-448-0