# Denver, Norfolk

Denver is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Denver is located 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Downham Market and 37 miles (60 km) west of Norwich. The village is located along the course of the River Great Ouse.

## History

Denver's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a passage or crossing used by the Danes.
Denver acted as the terminus for the Roman road the Fen Causeway, which began in Peterborough.
In the Domesday Book, Denver is listed as a settlement of 43 households in the hundred of Clackclose. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of William de Warenne.
Denver Sluice controls the water levels between the tidal and non-tidal Great Ouse. In 1651, the first sluice to help with the drainage of The Fens was built by the Dutch architect Cornelius Vermuyden. The sluice was rebuilt after bursting in 1713. John Rennie the Younger built a sluice and bridge in 1834. It was enlarged in 1923 and the flood gates have been replaced several times. The four-arched bridge has its piers extended to form two locks. It is Grade II listed.
Denver Windmill was built in the mid-nineteenth century and today not in use due to removal of the sails in 2017.
Denver Railway Station opened in 1847 as a stop on the Great Eastern Railway between King's Lynn and Cambridge. The station was closed to passengers in 1930.
In October, 1942 a Short Stirling bomber aircraft crashed in the parish killing all eleven crewmen on-board.

## Geography

According to the 2021 census, Denver has a population of 912 people which shows an increase from the 890 people listed in the 2011 census.
Denver is located along the course of the River Great Ouse and at the junction of the A10, between London and King's Lynn, and the A1122, between Outwell and Swaffham.

## St Mary's Church

Denver's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and dates from the Thirteenth Century. St Mary's is located on Ryston Road and has been Grade II listed since 1951.
St Mary's is largely built from carrstone and was heavily restored in the 1870s. The church features stained-glass installed by Ian Pace and a Victorian font.

## Famous residents

* Robert Brady (1627-1700) academic and historian, born in Denver.
* George William Manby (1765-1854) author and inventor, born in Denver.
* Peter Sharpe (b.1944) Norfolk cricketer, born in Denver.
* Andy English (b.1956) wood-engraver and educator, born in Denver.

## In popular culture

In the novels of Dorothy L. Sayers, the fictional Duke of Denver's family seat is supposedly based on the village.

## Governance

Denver an electoral ward for local elections and is part of the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
The village's national constituency is South West Norfolk which has been represented by the Labour Party's Terry Jermy MP.

## War memorial

Denver shares a war memorial with the nearby villages of Fordham, Ryston and Bexwell located on the village green taking the form of hexagonal stone column topped with a crucifix. The memorial lists the following names for Denver for the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial |
| QMS | Frederick Armsby | 8th Bn, Norfolk Regiment | 4 Dec. 1917 | St Mary's churchyard |
| Sgt. | William Dack | Y Coy., Army Service Corps | 22 Mar. 1919 | St Mary's churchyard |
| Sgt. | George R. Day | 1st Bn, Norfolk Regiment | 25 Oct. 1914 | Le Touret Memorial |
| Sgt. | Arthur Day | 2nd Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps | 31 Oct. 1914 | Menin Gate |
| St1C | George Beck | HMS Queen Mary | 31 May 1916 | Portsmouth Memorial |
| St1C | Harry Paul | HMS Queen Mary | 31 May 1916 | Portsmouth Memorial |
| A/Cpl. | William Hassack DCM | 6th (City Rifles) Bn, London Regt. | 15 Sep. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| LCpl. | Charles H. Holliday | Coldstream Guards | 15 Sep. 1916 | Unknown |
| LCpl. | Frederick H. Scarboro | 9th Bn, Norfolk Regiment | 28 Apr. 1917 | Loos Memorial |
| LCpl. | Reginald P. H. Howlett | 1st Bn, Queen's West Kent Regiment | 27 Sep. 1918 | Gouzeaucourt Cem. |
| Pte. | John Garrod | 6th Bn, Border Regiment | 3 Aug. 1917 | Mendinghem Cemetery |
| Pte. | Arthur Hilling | 1st Bn, Coldstream Guards | 15 Sep. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pte. | George Akred | 1/4th Bn, East Yorkshire Regiment | 29 Nov. 1917 | Haringhe Cemetery |
| Pte. | John W. Hall | 1st Bn, Essex Regiment | 18 Nov. 1918 | St Sever Cemetery |
| Pte. | James W. Rodwell | 2/6th Bn, Manchester Regiment | 13 May 1918 | St Mary's churchyard |
| Pte. | Robert Fountain | 2nd Bn, Norfolk Regiment | 14 Apr. 1915 | Basra War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Horace Allcock | 3rd Bn, Norfolk Regt. | 30 Dec. 1917 | Shatby Memorial |
| Pte. | Francis H. Holliday | 8th Bn, Norfolk Regt. | 21 Oct. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pte. | Harold Monk | Norfolk Regt. | 13 Dec. 1914 | St Mary's churchyard |
| Pte. | William E. Fendick | 2nd Bn, Suffolk Regiment | 3 Mar. 1915 | Menin Gate |
| Pte. | H. Hurrell | 2nd Bn, Suffolk Regt. | 28 Nov. 1919 | St Mary's churchyard |
| Pte. | Ernest R. B. Chapman | 1st Bn, Queen's West Kent Regiment | 24 Apr. 1917 | Orchard Dump Cem. |
| Pte. | Horace Sutlefe | 9th Bn, Royal Welch Fusiliers | 8 Jun. 1917 | Klein Cemetery |
| Pte. | Thomas Redcar | 1st Bn, Wiltshire Regiment | 1 Nov. 1918 | South-West Cemetery |
| Pte. | William H. Holliday | 1st Bn, Yorkshire Regiment | 29 Oct. 1918 | India Gate |