Welcome to Kenninghall Parish Council's website
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KENNINGHALL'S VILLAGE WEBSITE HAS NOW MOVED. PLEASE VISIT:
https://kenninghall.norfolkparishes.gov.uk/
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KENNINGHALL PARISH LOCAL ELECTIONS 4th MAY 2023
See NEWS pages for information
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Kenninghall is a small but dynamic village situated in the South of Norfolk, not far from the Suffolk border, in the triangle between the market towns of Attleborough, Diss and Thetford.
Approximately 950 people live in the parish and over the past decade more than 50 new houses have been built in the village. We have a thriving village primary school that caters for the village's children and we are blessed with a large playing field and hard-surface multi-games area for children of all ages to enjoy. There are many footpaths and walks around the village, including in and around our very own wood.
The village has two pubs, the Red Lion and The White Horse, both offering bed & breakfast accommodation and food, a village shop and post-office, a GP surgery and a coffee shop. All manner of interesting people live in the village, some of whom are well known in their field of interest.
Kenninghall Parish Council meets on the first Tuesday of each month when its 11 councillors debate and decide on policy and action in the best interests of the village's people.
Kenninghall's church is St Mary's, a fine example of a Norfolk village church. Information about, it together with some fine photos of its different aspects, can be found here: http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/kenninghall/kenninghall.htm
Some history of Kenninghall: http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/kenninghall.htm
Some more information: http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/k/kenninghall/white1845.shtml
Yet more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenninghall
Kenninghall Village Sign
The unusual wrought iron village sign of Kenninghall in Norfolk was a gift from the Womens Institute in 1972. It was designed by a former stage designer, a Mr. P. MacNamara of Quidenham, and made by Mr. Eric Stevenson of Wroxham. Historical research for the sign was carried out by Mr Michael and Mrs Estelle Serpell of Kenninghall. The shields were painted by Mr. A. Thirtle of Norwich. On the apex of the sign is a representation of the ‘Kenninghall brooch’, a type of ornament like one found in the Anglo-Saxon burial ground excavated at the Butts in 1869, near where the sign stands. Below the name is depicted the legendary crown and coat of arms of King Edward ‘the Confessor’ to whom Kenninghall belonged as a royal manor. The two shields below are, left, the coat of arms of the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, who built Kenninghall House and, right, the Earl of Mowbray. The fourth shield belongs to the Earl of Albermarle.
Note: The paintwork on the sign was restored in October 2013 by Wendy Slade of Acanthus Gilding and Restoration.
The photo was taken by Anthony Harwood of Kenninghall in January 2014.
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Kenninghall like this:
KENNINGHALL, a village, a parish, and a subdistrict, in Guiltcross district, Norfolk. The village stands 4 miles ESE of East Harling r. station, and 6 S by W of Attleborough; was the seat of Boadicea and the East Anglian kings; took thence the name of Cheninkhala or Cyninghalla, signifying "king's house, " and modernized into Kenninghall: retains vestiges of the royal castle in mounds, which are now called Kenning hall Place; and has a post office under Thetford, a hotel, a weekly cattle market on Monday, and sheep and cattle fairs on 18 July and 30 Sept. ...
The parish comprises 3, 600 acres. Real property, £7, 810. Pop. in 1851, 1, 648; in 1861, 1, 405. Houses, 280. The property is much subdivided. The chief landowners are the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Albemarle. The manor was held by the De Albinis; passed to the Monaltos, the Mowbrays. and the Howards; and belongs now to the Duke of Norfolk. A palace, on the site of the royal castle, and in the form of the letter H, went to the Crown on the attainder of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk; was, for some time, the residence of Queen Mary; was used by Queen Elizabeth, as a summer seat; and was taken down about 1650. The Guiltcross workhouse stands 1½ mile S of the village; and, at the census of 1861, had 194 inmates. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £250.* Patron, the Bishop of Norwich. The church is large and good; has a tower of flint and stone; and bears, on the buttresses of its S side, the crest of the Norfolk family. There are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans, and charities £67.—The sub-district contains also twelve other parishes. Acres, 25, 904. Pop., 6, 025. Houses, 1, 336.