East Winch is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
The village is located south-east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich.
History East Winch's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the eastern pasture farmstead.
In the Domesday Book, East Winch is listed as a settlement of 51 households in the hundred of Freebridge. In 1086, the village formed part of the East Anglian estates of King William I, Roger Bigod, Ralph de Tosny, Hermer de Ferrers and a freeman by the name of Rainer.East Winch, Open Domesday. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
Crancourt Manor was a medieval residence of the Howard family, built as a fortified manor house. By the mid-nineteenth century, the manor was ruined apart from a single chimney stack, which remains the case today.
In May 1944, a de Havilland Mosquito of No. 23 Squadron RAF crashed within the parish after technical difficulties on a test flight from RAF Little Snoring. Both crew members (FO Charles J. Preece and FO Frederick H. Ruffle DFC) were killed.
Geography According to the 2021 census, East Winch has a population of 853 people which shows an increase from the 779 people listed in the 2011 census.
East Winch is bisected by the A47, between Birmingham and Lowestoft.
All Saints' Church East Winch's parish church was built in the Perpendicular style in the late-Fourteenth Century under the leadership of the Howard family, by the Eighteenth Century the church had largely fallen into disrepair until it was repaired under the oversight of George Gilbert Scott. All Saints' is located within the village on Church Lane and has been Grade II listed since 1960.
All Saints' features good examples of Nineteenth Century stained glass installed by Clayton and Bell depicting Christ as a shepherd and the Parable of the Good Samaritan, with a further depiction of the Resurrection by Ward and Hughes.
Amenities East Winch airfield was founded in 1986 by Colin and Peter Burman, initially for crop dusting. After this was banned in 2009 the airfield was repurposed for leisure use.
Transport East Winch railway station opened in 1846 as a stop on the Lynn and Dereham Railway between King's Lynn and Dereham. The station closed in 1968.
Notable residents Sir William Howard (1225–1308)- English lawyer and justice Sir John Howard ( – 1437)- English landowner, soldier and courtier Sir Osbert Lancaster (1908–1986)- English cartoonist, historian and author
Governance East Winch is part of the electoral ward of Gayton & Grimston for local elections and is part of the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
The village's national constituency is North West Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's James Wild MP since 2010.
War Memorial East Winch's war memorial is a marble plaque in All Saints' Church which lists the following names for the First World War: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/CommemorationSt1CRobert B. WestonHMS Queen Mary31 May 1916Portsmouth Naval MemorialPte.Albert E. Reeve7th Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment25 Oct. 1916Thiepval MemorialPte.Albert Berry1st Bn., Essex Regiment13 Aug. 1915Helles MemorialPte.Bertie T. Edwards1st Bn., Essex Regt.31 May 1917Villers-Faucon CemeteryPte.James Reeve8th Bn., Norfolk Regiment1 Jul. 1916Thiepval MemorialPte.William J. Brown9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.21 Mar. 1918Arras Memorial And, the following for the Second World War: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/CommemorationFSgt.Sidney A. BerryNo. 10 Squadron RAF20 Dec. 1943Rheinberg War CemeteryPte.Frederick E. J. Craske2nd Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment25 May 1940Dunkirk Memorial
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