Thorpe St Andrew

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Thorpe St Andrew is a small town and suburb of Norwich in Norfolk, England. It is situated about two miles east of the city centre, outside the city boundary in the district of Broadland. It constitutes a civil parish which had a population of 13,762 according to the 2001 census, and is also the administrative headquarters of the Broadland district council.

Thorpe is in the Domesday Book, in which it is spelt ‘Torp’, which is a Scandinavian word meaning village. It is thought that the Danes were in East Anglia as early as 870 AD and in 1004 Sweyn and his ships came up the river to Norwich.

There is also evidence that Thorpe was occupied by the Romans with the discovery of various remains. The earliest references found that relate to the parish are under the names of ‘Thorpe Episcopi’ and ‘Thorpe-next-Norwich’. In later years it has been known as ‘Thorpe St Andrew’.^[1]

There are numerous leisure facilities, groups and organisations including the County Arts Club on Plumstead Road, Thorpe Kite Flyers, Starlight Express Majorettes and the Oasis Sports and Leisure Centre on Pound Lane. Religious groups of many denominations meet regularly all over Thorpe.

Parts of the original village can still be seen along the Yarmouth Road leading out of Norwich. Features here include St Andrews parish church, the former parish infants school, the Rivergarden public house and the multi-gabled Buck public house.

In recent years, Thorpe St Andrew has expanded eastwards in the shape of the Dussindale housing development and Broadland business park.

Thorpe St Andrew is the home of Thorpe Players amateur dramatics group who meet and perform at the Roxley Hall, on Yarmouth Road. The Players have their own website at www.thorpe-players.co.uk

Thorpe St Andrew is also the home of Norwich's new radio station: 99.9FM Radio Norwich. The studios are based near Thorpe River Green and the station started broadcasting on 29 June 2006.

[edit] References

Thorpe Players have their own website at www.thorpe-players.co.uk One of the local schools in the area is Thorpe St Andrew High School, along with many others. It has been around for at least 50 years.