User:EdN90/Wymondham

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 * There is also a Wymondham, Leicestershire

Wymondham (pronounced ) is a historic market town and civil parish (population 12539) in Norfolk to the south west of the City of Norwich, and along the main road to Thetford and Cambridge.

Religion
Wymondham has three churches. Wymondham Abbey is the largest church. It was founded in 1107 by William D'Albini as a priory of the Benedictine Monastery of St Albans, and raised to Abbey status in 1448. In 1538 it was surpressed by Henry VIII and became the Parish Church, and is now named "The Abbey Church of St. Mary and St. Thomas of Canterbury". There was once a Saxon Church on the site of the Abbey.

There is a more recent Methodist Church, built in the second half of the 19th Century. Regular services are held.

The most recent of the three Churches is the Roman Catholic Church. As well as a Church, there is a hall which is used for some community events.

There was a Chapel, known as Becket's Chapel, founded by William D'Albini (Son of the Priory's founder) in 1174 that served as a Guild Chapel in the Middle Ages. In 1559 it was converted for the use of a Grammar School. The building was then used as a coal store in the 1800s, when the school moved, and is now used as the town library.

The majority of residents identify themselves as Christian (75.46% ).

Demographics


Wymondham has a population of 12539, with 5477 households. There is a mean of 2.29 people per household. The male:female ratio is 1:1.08, with 6037 males and 6502 females.

The age distribution, as shown in the graph to the right, is fairly uniform. There is a large dip of 18-26-year-olds, however, illustrating a shortage in affordable housing in Wymondham today.

The population of Wymondham consists of a lot of commuters, with 30% of people in employment travelling over 10 kilometres to work. A lot of commuters living in Wymondham commute to Norwich, the closest city to Wymondham, 9 miles away.

Current
Wymondham has five schools currently operating in the Parish, from Nursery to Sixth Form. Although the name suggests otherwise, Wymondham College is in fact 3 miles away from Wymondham, and is generally not counted as one of Wymondham's schools.

Browick Road Infant School is one of the oldest schools still operating in Wymondham. It was founded in 1876 as the town school, and is currently an Infant School providing for children aged 4-7. Ashleigh Infant and Nursery school was founded in 1972, to provide the town with a second infant school. The nursery school has 52 pupils on roll, with the Infant School offering a further 180 places.

Spooner Row Primary School is the oldest school still operating in Wymondham. It was founded in 1875 and built at the cost of £1063, 10s.

Robert Kett Junior School is the local Junior School, it is named after Robert Kett. There are 550 Pupils on Roll. Most pupils leaving Robert Kett Junior School go to Wymondham High School - the local high school, with 1400 pupils on roll. Ofsted have identified it as one of the "best of the best".

Historical
The earliest centre of education in Wymondham was the Benedictine Priory, later to become Abbey. This was open only to Monks, however. After the Abbey was dissolved in 1538, a free Grammar School was founded in Becket's Chapel. In the 19th century the school moved to new premises, and the school closed down in 1903.

In the 19th century efforts were made to give some sort of education to the working class. The Vicar of Wymondham set up a schoolroom in Church Street, and by 1834 about 200 children were receiving a basic education. This building, the Abbey Schoolroom, still survives today and is used for offices, and as a Sunday School.

In 1874 Spooner Row Primary School was constructed by the Wymondham School Board. Two years later, Browick Road Infant School was founded. Both remain as successful state schools today.

The Great Fire of Wymondham 1615
The Great Fire of Wymondham broke out on Sunday 11th June 1615. Two areas of the town were affected implying there were two separate fires. One area was in Vicar Street and Middleton Street and the other in the Market Place, including Bridewell Street and Fairland Street. About 300 properties were destroyed in the fire.

Important buildings destroyed included the Market Cross, dating from 1286; the vicarage in Vicar Street; the 'Town Hall' on the corner of Middleton Street and Vicar Street; and the schoolhouse. However many buildings such as the Green Dragon pub did survive and many of the houses in Damgate Street date back to 1400, although this is now masked by later brickwork.

The fire was started by three gypsies, William Flodder, John Flodder and Ellen Pendleton (Flodder) and a local person, Margaret Bix (Elvyn). The register of St Andrew's Church in Norwich records that John Flodder and others were executed on 2nd December 1615 for the burning of Wymondham.

Rebuilding of the destroyed buildings was quick in some cases and slower in others. A new Market Cross, the one we see today, was started and completed by 1617. However by 1621 there were still about 15 properties not yet rebuilt. Economic conditions in the 1620s could have been a contributory factor to the delay in rebuilding.