[edit]
A map of Dereham from 1946
Early history[edit]
Dereham's name derives from the Old English word "deor" meaning "deer" or "wild animal" with the very common "-ham" ("village", "homestead", or to denote land that is closed in by water or other geographical features), so perhaps it referred to a place where deer or other animals were kept or grazed.
According to local tradition, Saint Wihtburh (aka Withburga), claimed to be the daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, founded a monastery there in the seventh century after seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary, although the Venerable Bede does not mention her, or her monastery, in his writings, despite reporting the story of her more famous sister Æthelthryth /Etheldreda of Ely. Apart from reference to it in the eleventh-century hagiography of Wihtburh, little is known of her foundation and no evidence survives today.
An archaeological report by Norfolk County Council indicates that the first "documentary evidence" of a settlement in this area is a reference in one of the versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to the exhumation of the remains of St Wihtburh in AD 798, said to be 55 years after her death. But that reference is an eleventh-century addition to the Chronicle. Nonetheless, there is evidence for an early ecclesiastical site at Dereham. The Domesday Book of 1086 states that in the eleventh century, "St Etheldreda held Dereham that was already an important market centre with three mills". The report adds that the growing community was centred around St. Nicholas Church, from the Norman era; the structure was altered during the 1200s, 1300s and 1400s. Because numerous medieval buildings were destroyed in fires during 1581 and 1679, the town appears to have a Georgian aspect.
A Neolithic polished greenstone axe head was found near the town in 1986, with a Neolithic axe head, flint scraper and other tools and worked flints also found in local fields during the 1980s. There is evidence that the area was occupied during the Bronze Age, with burnt flints from a pot boiler site being found in 1976 and another burnt mound site located in 1987.
In 2000, an enamelled bridle bit dating from the Iron Age was discovered, with pottery sherds also being found by field walkers in 1983. The town is believed to be on the Roman Road linking the Brampton with the major east-west Roman Road of the Fen Causeway. Some pottery and furniture remains have been found in local fields.
In 2004, the largest number of Roman coins found in Norfolk was discovered in Dereham, over 1000 from the third century. A dig provided no evidence of Roman occupation, however.
Edmund Bonner, later to become the infamous 'burning bishop', was the Rector for Dereham from 1534 to 1538. Many of the town's ancient buildings were destroyed in the serious fires that took place in 1581 and 1659. Notable buildings that survived the fire include the Church of Saint Nicholas and the nearby Bishop Bonner's cottage. Dereham was administered by the Abbots, then the Bishops of Ely, until the parish was taken from the church by Queen Elizabeth I.
Napoleonic conflict[edit]
In the late 1700s, Dereham church's bell tower was used as a prison for French prisoners of war being transferred from Great Yarmouth to Norman Cross under the charge of the East Norfolk Militia. On 6 October 1799, a French officer, Jean de Narde, managed to escape from the tower and, being unable to escape from the church yard due to guards being present, hid in a tree. The Frenchman was spotted and shot when he refused to come down and surrender. Jean is buried in the churchyard and his grave is marked by a memorial stone erected in 1858, which includes the following statement: "Once our foes but now our allies and brethren." This story is told in the documentary, The Shooting of Jean DeNarde. Jean de Narde's link with Dereham is commemorated by a road named for him just off the B1146 as one approaches the town from the north.
One of the windmills built during this era, the Grade II Listed East Dereham Windmill (built in 1836) was known as the Norwich Road Mill or Fendick's Mill; it was constructed by James Hardy for Michael Hardy who owned a smock mill at Bittering. The windmill continued to use wind power until 1922 when it was converted to use engine power. The facility closed in 1937. It was restored and reopened as an exhibition centre in 2013.
Dereham Rifle Volunteer Corps[edit]
In June 1859, a public meeting was held at the Corn Exchange for the formation of a Dereham Rifle Volunteer Corps. The Reverend Armstrong made a short speech urging people to join; around thirty men did, the eldest was an elderly fat banker of 70 years and the youngest a seventeen-year-old. They were kitted out in a grey uniform. The Corps met regularly for drill and exercise. When the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Queen of Denmark arrived at the town's railway station, the Dereham Rifles attended to form a guard of honour.
William Earle G. Lytton Bulwer, formerly a lieutenant and captain in the Scots Fusilier Guards, was commanding the Dereham Corps in 1861. Dereham became the headquarters of 1st Administrative Battalion, Norfolk Rifle Volunteers in 1866. The Quebec Street drill hall opened that year, and the Right Hon. Lord Suffield was appointed Honorary Colonel on 18 May 1866.
First World War[edit]
At the outbreak of war, the 5th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, kept their HQ in Quebec Street but were based in the Corn Exchange, and used the Masonic Hall on Norwich Road as a store, with the Assembly Rooms being used for medical inspections.
Dereham suffered damage during a Zeppelin air raid during the night of 8 September 1915. Damaged buildings included the headquarters of the 5th Norfolk Regiment at their premises on the corner of Church Street and Quebec Street. The raid also hit The White Lion public house on Church Street, seriously injuring two customers. The roof was destroyed and The White Lion never reopened as a public house. The old Vicarage was used as a Red Cross hospital.
Locals view the damage after the 1915 Zeppelin raid on Dereham, Norfolk
In December 1915, Zeppelin L14 dropped bombs between Bylaugh Park and Dereham. Seventy-five bombs were dropped on Dereham, with several houses destroyed and eight or nine bombs dropped onto the Red Cross hospital established in the vicarage, although these failed to detonate. Another bomb hit the guildhall and destroyed windows in the church. Four people were killed and six injured during the raid, with the coroner's report stating that the deaths were caused by bombs "unlawfully dropped from a Zeppelin aircraft."
World War II[edit]
Dereham was declared a Nodal Point during the Second World War and was partially fortified to slow down any German invasion of the country. Several defensive structures were built. One surviving pill box, in the railway station yard, is preserved as a memorial by the Royal British Legion; several others were built but are no longer visible. Additional Air Ministry sidings were laid in the town in 1943.
A Cold War-era bunker was built underground near the Guild Hall.
1969 Phantom air incident[edit]
On 25 March 1969 a USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II (F4-C) suffered a flight control system failure at 15,000 ft. The flight controls were now jammed, and the aircraft entered a steep dive.
The WSO, Captain Mike Hinnebusch, ejected at 5,000 ft, but the pilot ejected later, when the aircraft was now at supersonic speed. The pilot's parachute opened two seconds before the aircraft hit the ground. The pilot, Captain Kristian Michael Mineau, born 26 November 1941 from Worcester, Massachusetts, survived but the supersonic ejection caused all of his four limbs to be shattered. Supersonic ejection is not always survivable. The pilot was taken by helicopter to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, and the less-injured WSO was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Captain Mineau died on 5 September 2022; his son David A. Mineau is (January 2026) in command of the Twelfth Air Force.
The aircraft was from the 78th Tactical Fighter Squadron at RAF Bentwaters. The aircraft caused a 50 ft deep crater, with some components being found at 75 feet depth.
Railways[edit]
Main article: Dereham railway station
The railway arrived in Dereham in 1847, when a single track line to Wymondham opened. A second line was opened, in 1848, to King's Lynn. A line from Dereham to Fakenham was opened in 1849; this line being extended to the coastal town of Wells-next-the-Sea by 1857. The town's railways became part of the Great Eastern Railway in 1862. Dereham had its own railway depot and a large complex of sidings, serving local industry. The line between Dereham and Wymondham was doubled, in 1882, to allow for the increasing levels of traffic.
Trains at Dereham Station
Passenger services between Dereham and Wells were withdrawn in 1964 and the track between Fakenham and Wells was lifted soon after. The line from Dereham to Wymondham was returned to single track in 1965, with a passing loop at Hardingham. The line to King's Lynn was closed in 1968 and the last passenger train on the Dereham-to-Wymondham line ran in 1969, although the railway remained open for freight until 1989.
Dereham labels itself "The Heart of Norfolk" owing to its central location in the county, the Tesco car park being cited as the exact centre. In the spring of 1978, the "Heart" was given the seven-mile £5m part-dual-carriageway A47 bypass. A section of this road, between Scarning and Wendling, was built along the former railway line towards Swaffham and King's Lynn. This section of railway had been used as a location for the filming of Dad's Army, where Captain Mainwaring is left dangling from a railway bridge after a flight on a barrage balloon. Dereham railway station was also a filming location for the opening scene of the BBC's 2018 series Bodyguard.
