# Broome, Norfolk

Broome is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Broome is located 1.6 miles (2.6 km) north-east of Bungay in Suffolk and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Norwich.

## History

Broome's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a bush of broom.
In the Domesday Book, Broome is recorded as a settlement of 41 households in the hundred of Henstead. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of St. Edmund's Abbey.
'The Wilderness', a Seventeenth Century house, is located within Broome.
Broome's local pub, The Artichoke, closed in January 2024.

## Geography

According to the 2021 census, Broome has a population of 486 people which shows a slight increase from the 458 people recorded in the 2011 census.
The A143, between Gorleston-on-Sea and Haverhill bisects the parish whilst the River Waveney marks the southern border of the parish.
The nearby Broome Pits are a series of four former gravel pits which now form fishing lakes in which carp, northern pike, tench and bream can be caught.

## St. Michael's Church

Broome's parish church is dedicated to Saint Michael and dates from the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. St. Michael's is located well outside of the village close to 'Rectory Road' and has been Grade I listed since 1960. The church was significantly remodelled in the Nineteenth Century and boasts a font from this period.

## Notable Residents

* Thomas Manning- (1772-1840) sinologist, born in Broome.
* Henry Jollye- (1841-1902) cricketer, educator and clergyman, born in Broome.
* Dave Deacon- (1929-1990) Ipswich Town footballer, born in Broome.
* Joe Lewis- (b.1987) Peterborough United and Aberdeen footballer, link to Broome not known.

## Governance

Broome 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 Waveney Valley which has been represented by the Green Party's Adrian Ramsay since 2024.

## War Memorial

Broome's war memorial is located in St. Michael's Churchyard and is a weathered stone block listing the following names for the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Other Commemoration / Burial |
| AS | William Taylor | HMS Defence | 19 Aug. 1915 | Plymouth Naval Memorial |
| Bdr. | William Pulford | 115th (Siege) Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery | 21 Mar. 1915 | Pozières Memorial |
| LCpl. | Thomas Clarke | 1st Bn., Suffolk Regiment | 25 Feb. 1917 | Struma Cemetery, Kalokastro |
| Dvr. | William E. Lawes | 487th (Heavy Transport) Company, Army Service Corps | 2 Jun. 1917 | St. Michael's Churchyard, Broome |
| Pte. | E. Charles Walker | 17th Bn., Duke of Cambridge's Own Regiment | 28 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Pte. | Ernest E. Fish | 2nd (City of London) Bn., London Regiment | 18 Aug. 1918 | Vis-en-Artois Memorial |
| Pte. | Charles C. Spalding | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 2 Nov. 1917 | Gaza War Cemetery |
| Pte. | John P. Sparkes | 8th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 22 Oct. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pte. | Herbert A. Youngs | 8th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 11 Aug. 1917 | Menin Gate |
| Pte. | Wilfred M. Bale | 9th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 15 Sep. 1916 | Guillemont Road Cemetery, Guillemont |
| Pte. | Philip T. Cole | 9th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 30 Jul. 1916 | White House Cemetery, Ypres |
| Pte. | William King | 6th Bn., Queen's Own Regiment | 23 Oct. 1918 | Cabaret-Rouge Cemetery, Souchez |
| Pte. | Frederick C. Walker | 2nd Bn., Suffolk Regiment | 26 Apr. 1917 | Faubourg Cemetery, Amiens |
| Pte. | Frederick Harrod | 5th Bn., Suffolk Rgt. | 5 Dec. 1917 | Jerusalem Memorial |
| Pte. | Arthur Smith | 11th Bn., Suffolk Rgt. | 6 Sep. 1916 | Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck |
| Pte. | John Howlett | 12th Bn., Suffolk Rgt. | 25 Mar. 1918 | Arras Memorial |
| Pte. | Charles G. P. Ellis | 9th Bn., Royal Sussex Regiment | 22 Jun. 1917 | Railway Dugouts Burial Ground |
| Dhd. | Archibald H. Baker | H.M. Drifter Kent County | 8 Dec. 1916 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
And, the following for the Second World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Other Commemoration / Burial |
| FSgt. | Henry K. Bartlett | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve | 8 Sep. 1943 | Runnymede Memorial |