Fakenham
Fakenham is a
town and
civil parish in
Norfolk,
England. It situated on the
River Wensum, some
30 km north-east of the larger town of
King's Lynn,
30 km south-west of the seaside resort of
Cromer, and
40 km north-west of the city of
Norwich.
[Ordnance Survey (2002). OS Explorer Map 251 - Norfolk Coast Central. ISBN 0319218872.]The civil parish has an area of
9.04 km² and in the
2001 census had a population of 7357 in 3292 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the
district of
North Norfolk.
[Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Retrieved December 2, 2005.]The name
Fakenham is
Saxon, possibly meaning
Fair Place or
Place on a Fair River.
In 1086 it had only 150 residents.
Hempton, on the other side of the river, was the larger community and had an abbey which played host to pilgrims on their way to
Walsingham. Fakenham became the dominant centre when the abbey was abolished by
Henry VIII.
Its major industry in the 19th and 20th centuries was
printing, but the printworks has now closed. A large number of printing blocks have been set into the surface of the market place as a memorial to this lost industry.
Railways
Historically, Fakenham had two railway stations. Fakenham West station was on the
Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, and closed in
1959. The site is now a builders depot, although 20 feet of the platform has been preserved. Fakenham East station was on the
Great Eastern Railway and closed in the 1960s, although freight carried on until the 1980s. This station site is now sheltered housing. Although now without a railway, the
Mid-Norfolk Railway plan to return trains to the town, and intend to build a new station near the gas Works. The line would link Fakenham to
Dereham,
Wymondham and
Norwich. Another scheme, the
Norfolk Orbital Railway plans to link the town to the coast at
Sheringham.
In the late 1990's the town was listed on the knowhere guide by a contributor as "the most boring place on Earth"
["Inside Information in Fakenham" from The Knowhere Guide]. The contributon was specifically referring to Wednesday afternoon which is
early closing in Fakenham. This comment, made by an individual to the guide was taken and quoted out of context as "
voted the most boring place on Earth" and very rapidly the story was running in national newspapers with the town council defending the town and spending considerable time, money and effort trying to prove that this was not the case.
Recently the town has seen investment with the town centre being rennovated and pedestrianised. The town now enjoys an excellent
Farmers Market on the morning of the 4th Saturday of each Month.
The town was the base for North Norfolks very first independent commercial radio station (albeit temporary) in August 1997 (
106.9 FTR FM). Other temporary services followed, between November 1998 and May 2001, including FCR 107.2 and Central Norfolk Radio.
[Radio Authority/Office Of Communications (OFCOM)]Attractions in the town include a well respected
national hunt racecourse, the Museum of Gas and Local History, a small
Cinema, a vibrant
Flea market held every Thursday and a
Farmers Market held monthly. The town is well placed to act as a base for exploring North Norfolk being approximatley 15 kilometres from the coast at
Wells-next-the-Sea and 30 kilometres from
Kings Lynn.
Famous people from Fakenham include
Henry Buckenham, a
Primitive Methodist missionary in
South Africa,
Thomas Miller, who set up the printing press,
Edmund Peckover, a Cromwellian Puritan who established the first bank in the town,
John Garrood, who improved the
Penny Farthing bicycle, farm workers leader, and later local MP, Sir George Edwards and
Sir Robert Seppings, a shipwright who was knighted on the
Royal Yacht in
1819.
Other notable people from the town include footballers Ryan and Rossi Jarvis of Norwich City.
*
List of closed railway stations in Britain* for Fakenham.
*
Information from Genuki Norfolk on Fakenham.
*
Fakenham Town Council*
Towns 1st Radio Station
