Little Whelnetham

Little Whelnetham
St Mary Magdalene Church
Little Whelnetham is located in Suffolk
Little Whelnetham
Little Whelnetham
Location within Suffolk
Population180 (2005)[1]
188 (2011)[2]
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBury St Edmunds
Postcode districtIP30
PoliceSuffolk
FireSuffolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Suffolk
52°12′22″N 0°45′47″E / 52.206°N 0.763°E / 52.206; 0.763

Little Whelnetham (well-NEE-thum) (sometimes Little Welnetham[3]) is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around two miles south of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 180.[1]

The parish also contains part of the village of Sicklesmere, with which sister village Great Whelnetham is contiguous. Until the Beeching Axe, the area was served by Welnetham railway station on the Long Melford-Bury St Edmunds branch line.

Church

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The parish church of St Mary Magdalene is a medieval church whose origins are not precisely known. The tower seems typical of 14th century, and Pevsner dated it as such, but it may well be substantially older, with parts perhaps dating to the 12th century.[4]

To the east of the church is four-metre structure of flint and rubble, almost certainly part of a circular tower and perhaps part of an earlier church.[4]

Priory

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The area was formerly the site of the Priory of the Holy Cross, a monastic priory dedicated to Thomas Becket founded in 1274 and dissolved in 1538, though there is some doubt as to whether it was in Little Whelnetham or Great Whelnetham. A Tudor house in Little Whelnetham, The Crutched Friars, is believed to have been part of the priory and is now a private residence.[5]

Demography

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According to the Office for National Statistics, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Little Whelnetham had a population of 188 with 76 households.[6]

Population change

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Population growth in Little Whelnetham from 1801 to 1891
Year 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1881 1891
Population 142 127 176 180 206 178 156 174
Source: A Vision of Britain Through Time[7]
Population growth in Little Whelnetham from 1901 to 2001
Year 1901 1911 1921 1931 1951 1961 2001 2011
Population 138 118 123 137 138 111 184 188
Source: A Vision of Britain Through Time[7]

Location grid

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References

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  1. ^ a b Estimates of Total Population of Areas in Suffolk Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Suffolk County Council
  2. ^ "Civil Pasrish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  3. ^ Ordnance Survey: Explorer 211. Shows the civil parish as "Little Whelnetham" but the village as "Little Welnetham". Village signs all show "Little Whelnetham".
  4. ^ a b "Little Whelnetham". Suffolk Churches. October 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Parish History: Little Whelnetham" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Suffolk County Council - 2001 Census Profiles" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  7. ^ a b "A Vision of Britain Through Time". University of Portsmouth & others. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
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Media related to Little Whelnetham at Wikimedia Commons