# Ellingham, Norfolk

Ellingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
The village is located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) north-east of Bungay and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Norwich, along the River Waveney. The majority of the population lies in the east of the parish in Kirby Row.

## History

Ellingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for either Ella's homestead or village or a settlement with an abundance of eels.
Archaeological evidence suggests that Ellingham was the site of several roughly five Roman kilns, one of the kilns was operated by Regalis, who moved to the parish from Camulodunum.
In the Domesday Book, Ellingham is listed as a settlement of 31 households in the hundred of Clavering. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of King William I.
Ellingham Mill was in operation from the Twelfth Century to 1964, grinding crops into either flour or animal feed. The mill still stands today and is awaiting a conservation plan from Norfolk Heritage. In the late Nineteenth Century, Ellingham Mill was the site of the grim discovery of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Harlev of Beccles in the River Waveney, the official inquest ruled that the deaths were the result of suicide. Furthermore, the mill was owned and operated by Hovis from 1947 to 1949.
Ellingham railway station opened in 1863 as a stop on the Waveney Valley Line between Tivetshall and Beccles.
Ellingham was also the site of the discovery of mid-Seventeenth Century firearm with a pillbox being installed on the bridge crossing the River Waveney during the Second World War.

## Geography

According to the 2021 census, Ellingham has a total population of 602 people which demonstrates an increase from the 554 people listed in the 2011 census.
Ellingham is bisected by the A143 between Great Yarmouth and Haverhill.

## St. Mary's Church

Ellingham's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and dates from the Nineteenth Century. St. Mary's is located on Geldeston Road and has been Grade I listed since 1960.
St. Mary's has good examples of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century stained glass depicting the Annunciation, Christ the Shepherd and the Parable of the Sower with St. Mary's tower in the background, installed by Reginald Bell with further depictions of the Adoration of the Magi by Charles Eamer Kempe and Naomi and Ruth by Ward and Hughes.

## Ellingham Hall

Ellingham Hall is an Eighteenth Century manor house built in the Georgian style and was first inhabited Rev. William Johnson. Today, the hall operates as an organic farm, wedding venue and shooting venue. Today, the hall is owned by Vaughan Smith who infamously offered refuge to Julian Assange between 2010 and 2011.

## Notable Residents

* Vaughan Smith- (born 1963) soldier, farmer and journalist, lived in Ellingham Hall.
* Julian Assange- (born 1971) Australian publisher and activist, lived in Ellingham Hall.

## Governance

Easton is part of the electoral ward of Ditchingham & Earsham for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.
The village's national constituency is South Norfolk which has been represented by the Labour's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

## War Memorial

Ellingham War Memorial is a stone Latin-cross in St. Mary's Churchyard. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial/Commemoration |
| LSgt. | Leonard A. Watson | 9th Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 24 Mar. 1918 | Étaples Military Cemetery |
| LCpl. | George W. Norman | 6th Bn., Royal Dublin Fusiliers | 8 Oct. 1918 | Templeux-le-Guérard Cem. |
| LCpl. | Samuel J. Cossey | Royal Marines att. HMS Lion | 31 May 1916 | Plymouth Naval Memorial |
| LCpl. | Nelson V. Cossey | 3rd Bn., Rifle Brigade | 24 Feb. 1916 | Étaples Military Cemetery |
| LCpl. | Albert E. Hood | 7th Bn., Suffolk Regiment | 15 Oct. 1916 | Heilly Station Cemetery |
| Gnr. | K. William Ward | C Bty., Royal Horse Artillery | 10 Oct. 1918 | Highland Cemetery |
| Pte. | Edgar C. Cossey | 2nd Bn., Coldstream Guards | 25 Aug. 1918 | St. Hilaire Cemetery |
| Pte. | George Baldry | 1/7th Bn., Middlesex Regiment | 31 Aug. 1918 | Vis-en-Artois Memorial |
| Pte. | George A. Shawl | 7th Bn., Suffolk Regiment | 22 Mar. 1916 | Vermelles British Cemetery |
| Pte. | Leonard Everett | 10th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment | 3 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
The memorial also lists the following for the Second World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial/Commemoration |
| Dvr. | L. Stanley Rumsey | Royal Army Service Corps | 21 Feb. 1947 | St. Mary's Churchyard |
| Pte. | Alice M. Curtis | Auxiliary Territorial Service | 6 Dec. 1941 | St. Mary's Churchyard |
| Pte. | Raymond E. G. Burcham | 4th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment | 6 Aug. 1943 | Sai Wan War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Edward H. Church | 244th Coy., Royal Pioneer Corps | 2 Dec. 1944 | Schoonselhof Cemetery |
| Skpr. | Royal Arthur J. W. Page | H.M. Trawler Fir | 3 Dec. 1942 | Normanston Dv. Cemetery |