Great Whelnetham

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 Location within Suffolk
Population	820 (2005)[1] 849 (2011)[2]
District	West Suffolk
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Bury St Edmunds
Postcode district	IP30
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
List of places UK England Suffolk 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

Demography

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

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

References

1. 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

Media related to Great Whelnetham at Wikimedia Commons