# Billingford, South Norfolk

Billingford or Pirleston is a village and in the civil parish of Scole, in the South Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England.
Billingford is located 19.4 miles (31.2 km) south-west of Norwich and 2.9 miles (4.7 km) south-east of Diss.

## History

The origin of the name 'Billingford' is uncertain, although it is certainly of Anglo-Saxon origin. It derives from Old English, either a ford at the ridge or the ford of the hill people.
Billingford is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as consisting of 21 households in the hundred of Earsham. At the time, Billingford was divided between the estates of the Abbey of St. Etheldreda, Ely and Roger of Rames.
Within the village is Billingford Windmill, which dates from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries and is in full working order. This structure is Grade II listed and has been since 1951.
Lt. Gordon Flowerdew was born within the village and was an Anglo-Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Flowerdew was killed directing a cavalry charge of C Squadron of Lord Strathcona's Horse on the Western Front of the First World War on 31 March 1918.
In 1931, the parish had a population of 150. On 1 April 1935, Billingford parish was merged with Scole.

## Geography

Billingford village is located on the A143 which runs from Great Yarmouth to Haverhill and is close to the banks of the River Waveney.
Amenities within the village include the Horseshoes Pub & Hotel.

## St. Leonard's Church

Billingford's parish church is dedicated to Saint Leonard and lays on a small hill to the north of the village. The church was constructed in early Sixteenth Century, with its construction being interrupted and changed during the English Reformation. The church contains a Medieval font and poppyhead with further additions to the church being made in the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries.

## Governance

Billingford is part of the electoral ward of Beck Vale, Dickleburgh and Scole for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.
Billingford's national constituency is Waveney Valley which has been represented by the Green's Adrian Ramsay since 2024.

## War Memorial

St. Leonard's Church also holds the village's war memorial. This takes the form of a marble plaque which commemorates the following eight men who died during the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Other Commemoration/Burial |
| Lieutenant | Gordon M. Flowerdew VC | C Squadron, Lord Strathcona's Horse | 31 March 1918 | Namps-au-Vaul British Cemetery, Amiens |
| First Class Steward | Arthur Nunn | HMS Conquest | 25 April 1916 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
| Corporal | Herbert Race | 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment | 1 April 1917 | Philosophe British Cemetery |
| Lance Corporal | Charles W. Thrower | 15th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment | 18 September 1918 | Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery |
| Acting Bombardier | Walter Race | 94th Battery, Royal Field Artillery | 11 August 1917 | Huts Cemetery, Dikkebus |
| Private | George F. Punt | 7th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry | 6 October 1918 | British Cemetery, Houchin |
| Private | John L. Whiting | 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment | 9 May 1917 | Kirkee War Cemetery |
| Private | Allan Fox MM | 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolks | 21 March 1918 | Arras Memorial |
As well as the following individual from the Second World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Other Commemoration/Burial |
| Corporal | Stanley W. A. Hill | No. 653 (Air Observation) Squadron, RAF | 21 November 1944 | St. Leonard's Churchyard, Billingford |