Whitlingham

Whitlingham is a small churchless parish, 3 miles (5 km) east of Norwich, on the south bank of the River Yare, reached from Trowse along Whitlingham Lane.

Church

The Church (St. Andrew) was dilapidated about 1630, and now forms a picturesque ruin, near the verge of a lofty precipice, overlooking the river. The tower collapsed in 1940. See [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/whitlingham/whitlingham.htm Whitlingham Church] for more details.

Broads and Country Park

The Great Broad at Whitlingham Park has been created through the process of gravel extraction. The extraction work at Whitlingham began in 1990 with the creation of the Little Broad. In 1995 work began on the Great Broad, with the quarry removing around 220,000 tonnes of material a year.

Gravel from Whitlingham has been used to build projects in the city such as the Castle Mall, The Forum and more recently, the redevelopment of the old Nestlé site into a major new shopping facility Chapelfield.

An Outdoor Education Centre has now been built on the South bank of the Great Broad 'offering a wide range of land and water based activities', see [http://www.nccoutdooreducation.co.uk/thecentre.php Whitlingham Outdoor Education Centre] .

The Little Broad has a beach and swimming is permitted in the designated area.

The Wherryman's Way long distance footpath passes through the park. [ [http://www.wherrymansway.net/wherrymans_files/Walk%201%20-%20Whitlingham.pdf Wherryman's Way- Whitlingham walk] Retrieved July 29 2008]

The park was visited by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in July 2008, at the start of his East Anglian holiday. [ [http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/storyrss.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=NOED26%20Jul%202008%2018%3A12%3A25%3A340 EDP news item] Retrieved July 28 2008]

Woods

Situated at the lower end of the country park, this area has a history of mining, including flint-knapping from 4000BC, up to the 18th century. Archaeologists have found a number of artefacts in this area, including humanly struck flint flakes and part of a chipped flint axe-head from the Neolithic period, along with an iron-stained flint blade dating back to the Paleolithic period (500000 BC to 10001 BC). From the 18th century until the early 20th century the area produced chalk and lime, the deep chalk pits are still present though overgrown and a Lime kiln is reached by a signed footpath from Whitlingham Lane. Since the then this area has been developing from open landscape to the woodland of today.

Railway station

Whitlingham railway station is situated to the north of the River Yare close to Thorpe St Andrew. It used to be served by trains out of Norwich, but is now closed.

External Links from www.bbc.co.uk

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/nature/wtt/walk2 Whitlingham Nature Walk]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/nature/wtt/index.shtml Whitlingham History Walk]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/nature/wtt/whitlingham_video_tour.shtml Video Tour]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/funstuff/360/whitlingham_park.shtml 360° view of Whitlingham Great Broad]

References