# Earsham

Earsham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Earsham is located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) west of Bungay and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Norwich. The village is located close to the border between Norfolk and Suffolk, and the River Waveney.

## History

Earsham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the homestead or settlement of an earl or built around a hill.
Earsham Mill has stood in some form in the village since the time of the Anglo-Saxons, using the River Waveney to grind wheat into flour. The mill building still exists today.
In the Domesday Book, Earsham is listed as a settlement of 69 households in its own hundred. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of King William I.
Earsham Hall was built in the Eighteenth Century by John Buxton and was first inhabited by Lt-Col. William Windham. The hall was remodelled in the Georgian style by Sir John Soane and exists today as a venue for wedding receptions and antiques dealing.
During the First World War, parts of Earsham parish were used as a landing strip for airplanes of the Royal Flying Corps. During the Second World War, parts of the abandoned airfield and Earsham Hall were used as bomb storage for the United States Army Air Forces.

## Geography

According to the 2021 census, Earsham has a total population of 935 people which demonstrates an increase from the 882 people listed in the 2011 census.
Earsham is located along the course of the River Waveney and the A143, between Gorleston-on-Sea and Haverhill.

## All Saints' Church

Earsham's parish church is located on Mill Road, dates from the Fourteenth Century and has been Grade I listed since 1959.
All Saints' is a rarity for an East Anglian church as its tower is topped by a spire. Inside the church, is a Medieval font depicting the seven sacraments and the crucifixion of Jesus as well as stained-glass from Europe and roundels from the workshops of Robert Allen and Samuel Yarrington.

## Amenities

Earsham's Queen's Head has operated as a coaching inn since the mid-19th century, the pub remains open to this day.

## Transport

Earsham railway station opened in 1860 as a stop on the Waveney Valley Line connecting Tivetshall to Beccles. The station was closed in 1953.

## Notable residents

* Lt-Col. William Windham (1674–1730)- British Army officer and politician.
* William Windham (1706–1789)- British landowner and politician.

## Governance

Earsham 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 MP since 2024.

## War Memorial

Earsham's War Memorial is a stone memorial topped with a celtic cross on the village green. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial/Commemoration |
| Lt. | Robert P. Meade | 13th Bn., Rifle Brigade | 11 Jun. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Sgt. | Albert Clarke | 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 27 Jul. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Cpl. | Harvey J. Holland | 1054th Coy., Army Service Corps | 10 Dec. 1919 | Tehran War Cemetery |
| Cpl. | Hennes R. Bedwell | 8th Bn., East Lancashire Regiment | 15 Jul. 1916 | Pozières Cemetery |
| Cpl. | Sidney W. Threadgold | Royal Air Force | 2 Sep. 1918 | All Saints' Churchyard |
| Cpl. | William R. Barber | Royal Field Artillery | 9 Nov. 1918 | Annœullin Cemetery |
| Dvr. | William Page | Salonika Depot, Army Service Corps | 2 Jun. 1917 | Chatby Memorial |
| Gnr. | Harry Runicles | 86th Bde., Royal Field Artillery | 9 Jul. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Gnr. | William Jolly | 38th Coy., Royal Garrison Artillery | 6 Jul. 1918 | All Saints' Churchyard |
| Pte. | Edward J. Gooch | 1st Bn., Cheshire Regiment | 24 Aug. 1914 | La Ferté Memorial |
| Pte. | Leonard W. Saunders | 9th Bn., East Surrey Regiment | 27 Mar. 1918 | Pozières Memorial |
| Pte. | William H. Howell | 5th Bn., Middlesex Regiment | 14 May 1919 | St. Alban's Churchyard |
| Pte. | William Wilby | 2nd Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 30 Sep. 1916 | North Gate Cemetery |
| Pte. | Edgar G. Prime | 8th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 19 Feb. 1917 | Dernancourt Cemetery |
| Pte. | Herbert G. Houghton | 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 8 Oct. 1918 | Vis-en-Artois Memorial |
| Pte. | John K. High | 2nd Bn., Ox and Bucks Light Infantry | 28 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Pte. | Charles W. Hood | 1/5th Bn., Suffolk Regiment | 2 Nov. 1917 | Gaza War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Victor J. Remblance | 6th Bn., Suffolk Regt. | 16 Aug. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pte. | Albert G. Threadgold | 9th Bn., Suffolk Regt. | 19 Oct. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pte. | Arthur Smith | 11th Bn., Suffolk Regt. | 6 Sep. 1916 | Trois Arbres Cemetery |
| Pte. | Samuel Barnes | 9th Bn., Worcestershire Regiment | 19 Jun. 1916 | Basra War Cemetery |
| Tpt. | Arthur T. Tibbenham | 1/1st Bn., Essex Yeomanry | 11 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Ymn. | Bernard S. Banham | HMS Shark | 31 May 1916 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
| Dhd. | James E. Howlett | H.M. Drifter Enterprise II | 8 May 1916 | Bari War Cemetery |
| Dhd. | William W. Remblance | H.M. Drifter Kent County | 8 Dec. 1916 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
And, the following from the Second World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial/Commemoration |
| CPO | Alfred L. Lewis | HMS Niger | 6 Jul. 1942 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
| AS | Ronald T. Gilham | HMS Cornwall | 5 Apr. 1942 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
| Gdsm. | Frederick C. Gooch | 2nd Bn., Coldstream Guards | 1 Jun. 1940 | Dunkirk Memorial |
| Gnr. | Frederick J. Howell | 14 (Anti-tank) Regt., Royal Artillery | 13 Apr. 1943 | Béja War Cemetery |
| Mne. | Thomas E. Southgate | Royal Marines att. HMS Hood | 24 May 1941 | Portsmouth Memorial |
| Pte. | E. William Longshaw | 4th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment | 29 Nov. 1944 | Kanchanaburi Cemetery |
| Pte. | Victor R. Canham | 7th Bn., Royal Norfolks. | 12 Jun. 1940 | Grandcourt War Cemetery |