Banham, Norfolk


Banham is an English village and civil parish in the county of Norfolk. The village is about 7 miles north of Diss, 12 miles east of Thetford and 20 miles south-west of Norwich. It is home to Banham Zoo, a private collection open to the public for more than 40 years which houses over 2000 animals. The Church of England parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and is a Grade I listed building.

Population and governance

The civil parish has an area of 16.17 km2 and in the 2001 census had a population of 1,443 in 573 households, including for census purposes the neighbouring village of Fersfield. This increased to a population of 1,481 in 603 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Breckland. Since 2015, the parish has formed part of The Buckenhams and Banham ward, which returns one councillor to the district council.

Schools

Acorn Park School is a registered children's home and school for children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders and is part of the Acorn Care and Education Group.
Banham Marshalls College, an independent school in the village, was subject to Norfolk's biggest ever child-cruelty investigation, along with another school in Banham which was known as The Old Rectory School.
As a result of the investigation into the schools, which were for children with special needs and ostensibly specialised in Emotional and Behaviourial Disorders, the proprietor of each and former head teacher, George Robson, received a two-year suspended prison sentence. George Robson died the day after his sentencing.
The charges were brought by ex-pupils of the school dating as far back as 1976. Most of the charges related to The Old Rectory School, although some children from Banham Marshalls College had made complaints, some of which resulted in the conviction of David Clarke. Robson's brother, Anthony, was also sentenced for crimes committed at The Old Rectory School.
Robert Wilson, a teacher and later principal, was likewise convicted of acts of cruelty involving vulnerable children but was cleared on appeal on the basis that the judge had made an error in his summing-up. Given that the evidence was not consistent and the judge had misled the jury, the conviction was deemed to be unsafe.
Banham Marshalls College was closed down by the DfES in 2003. The site is now occupied by Acorn Park School, which has no connection with the former Banham Marshalls College.

Notable people

The village was the birthplace on 17 April 1795 of the schoolteacher, writer, poet and hymn writer Emily Taylor.
The Rev. Edward Thomas Daniell of the Norwich School of painters, also a talented amateur etcher, was curate of St Mary's for 18 months from 1832.