Great Whelnetham

Summary

Great Whelnetham (sometimes Great 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 820.[1]

Great Whelnetham
Church of St Thomas à Becket
Great Whelnetham is located in Suffolk
Great Whelnetham
Great Whelnetham
Location within Suffolk
Population820 (2005)[1]
849 (2011)[2]
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBury St Edmunds
Postcode districtIP30
PoliceSuffolk
FireSuffolk
AmbulanceEast of England
List of places
UK
England
Suffolk
52°12′22″N 0°45′04″E / 52.206°N 0.751°E / 52.206; 0.751

The parish also contains the hamlet of Cocks Green, and the village of Sicklesmere, with which 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.

In 2019, an excavation of an 4th-century Roman cemetery in Great Whelnetham uncovered unusual burial practices. Of 52 skeletons found, up to 40% had been decapitated, which archaeologists claimed gave new insight into Roman traditions. The burial ground includes the remains of men, women and children who likely lived in a nearby settlement. The decapitated skeletons represent "quite a rare find".[4]

History edit

Demography edit

According to the Office for National Statistics, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Great Whelnetham had a population of 830 with 349 households,[5] increasing to 849 in 348 households at the 2011 Census.

Population change edit

Population change in Great Whelnetham from 1801 to 2011
Year 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1881 1891
Population 222 266 399 422 514 552 440 362
Year 1901 1911 1921 1931 1951 1961 2001 2011
Population 357 366 359 315 442 444 830 849
Source: A Vision of Britain Through Time[6]

Location grid edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Estimates of Total Population of Areas in Suffolk Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Suffolk County Council
  2. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  3. ^ Ordnance Survey: Explorer 211. Shows the civil parish as "Great Whelnetham" but the village as "Great Welnetham". Village signs all show "Great Whelnetham".
  4. ^ "Decapitated bodies found in Roman cemetery in Great Whelnetham". BBC News. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Suffolk County Council - 2001 Census Profiles" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  6. ^ "A Vision of Britain Through Time". University of Portsmouth & others. Retrieved 22 February 2011.

External links edit

  Media related to Great Whelnetham at Wikimedia Commons