The name Elveden seems to come from Old English *ælfa-dene 'elves' valley': the name appears, translated into Latin, as vallis nympharum 'valley of nymphs' in the mid-12th-century Miracula sancte Wihtburge.[3] During the 17th and 18th centuries, the village was often referred to as Elden.[4]
The Elveden War Memorial is a war memorial initially erected to the First World War dead. It is situated at the meeting of the three parishes of Eriswell, Icklingham and Elveden to which the monument honours. The names of the dead of each parish are listed separately on three of the sides of the column's base. To the original First World War listings there are also Second World War additions. The fourth (NW) side has a locked door that is used to access the inside of the column and via a spiral staircase to get to the upper parts of the monument. Small slits in the column's sides are used to light its interior and can be easily seen from the outside.
It is a Corinthian column 127 feet (39 m) tall, made of Weldon Stone and surmounted by an urn of Portland stone. Edward Cecil Guinness, owner of Elveden, commissioned the architect Clyde Francis Young to design and build the column, which took 2 years to erect and was completed in 1921. It was listed in 1954 and is now a Grade II* listed structure.[5]
War monuments of this type and height are rare, and it is thought that the design was inspired by the 120 feet (37 m) Coke Column or Leicester Monument which is located at the relatively close Holkham estate in Norfolk. Perhaps in an act of one-up-manship, the Thetford monument is slightly taller than its close-by companion, but out of tact is shorter than Nelson's Column in London (144 feet (44 m) )[5]
It is close to the A11, where there is a lay-by which can be used to visit the site.
Name appropriation
Graves of Maharaja Duleep Singh along with the grave of his wife Maharani Bamba, and his son Prince Edward Albert Duleep Singh at Elveden Church
