East Harling
The Church of St Peter and St Paul
East Harling is located in Norfolk
East Harling
East Harling
Location within Norfolk
OS grid referenceTL 993 865
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNORWICH
Postcode districtNR16
Dialling code01953
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Norfolk
52°26′24″N 0°55′51″E / 52.44011°N 0.93076°E / 52.44011; 0.93076

East Harling is a village in the civil parish of Harling, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is the principal settlement in the parish of Harling, and is located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) east of Thetford and 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-west of the city of Norwich[1] on the banks of the River Thet.

History

East Harling's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the eastern part of the settlement of 'Herela's' people.[2]

From 1808 to 1814, East Harling hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain connecting the Admiralty in London to the fleet in Great Yarmouth.[3]

In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 900.[4] On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with West Harling to form "Harling".[5]

Geography

East Harling falls within the constituency of South West Norfolk, represented at Parliament by Liz Truss of the Conservative Party. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Breckland.

Church of St Peter and St Paul

Main article: St Peter and St Paul, East Harling

East Harling's parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul and was built in its current glory on the site of an earlier church during the 15th century from the fortune of Anne Harling, an orphan of the Hundred Years War. The church is Grade I listed and has a magnificent hammerbeam roof which rises to a height of 45 feet above the floor. The building contains many other medieval survivals such as the panels of the chancel screen, an older screen surrounding the Lady Chapel with intricate carvings in its spandrels, choir stalls in the chancel, remains of a mural and the octagonal font. There are also a number of interesting tombs. The most noteworthy feature of the church, however, is the magnificent east window which was donated to the church by Lady Anne Herling and her second husband, Sir Robert Wingfield, in around 1460. The glass was removed and hidden in the since demolished East Harling Hall for fear of destruction by Puritan iconoclasts. The glass was restored in 1736 under the direction of Thomas Wright and has stood in its current position since, excepting during the Second World War.[6]

Transport

Harling Road railway station opened in 1845 as a stop on the Norwich & Brandon Railway, the station remains open to this day on the Breckland Line between Cambridge and Norwich.

War memorial

East Harling's war memorial takes the form of a stone obelisk featuring a sword of sacrifice upon a Celtic cross at the junction between Cheese Hill, Market Street and White Hart Street. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:

And, the following for the Second World War:

References

  1. ^ Ordnance Survey (1999). OS Explorer Map 230 - Diss & Harleston. ISBN 0-319-21862-7.
  2. ^ University of Nottingham. (2022). Retrieved December 26, 2022. http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/East%20Harling
  3. ^ Wilson, Geoffrey (1976). The Old Telegraphs. London: Phillimore. p. 29. ISBN 0 900592 79 6.
  4. ^ "Population statistics East Harling CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Relationships and changes East Harling CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  6. ^ Knott, S. (2022). Retrieved December 26, 2022. http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/eastharling/eastharling.htm

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to East Harling.
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