Reepham is a small market town in the English county of Norfolk, situated on the B1145 road between the Bure and Wensum valleys. The town is northwest of Norwich. At the time of the 2001 census the civil parish had a population of 2,455 residents in 970 households, occupying an area of. increasing to a population of 2,709 in 1,169 househoids at the 2011 census.
History
The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, in which it is listed as Refham meaning the bailiff's or reeve's manor from the Old Englishgerafa and ham. Reepham has had market town status since 1277; a sign to mark this has recently been erected. The town has undergone significant development throughout its life, with the housing in the area showing a mix of vintages, styles and purposes.
Today
Recent housing developments have mostly been on brownfield land so have not significantly expanded the perimeter of the town. The town has both a secondary school Reepham High School and College, which achieved the highest grade—Outstanding—in every category in its 2008 Ofsted inspection, and a primary school. The Reepham Society is a registered charity, set up in 1976 to stimulate public interest in Reepham, Hackford, Kerdiston, Salle and Whitwell. The town was one of the filming locations of Agatha Christie's Poirot episode The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor.
Religion
Twin churches
Reepham is one of only two places in Europe to have three churches on the same site. Reepham's church of St. Mary is joined by its choir vestry to St. Michael’s, Whitwell. The third church belonged to Hackford but burned down in 1543 and now only a fragment of the tower wall remains on the left of the path leading towards the market place. The three churches were built on their parish boundaries. Reepham church contains the fine tomb of Sir Roger de Kerdiston, 1337; Whitwell church has a Jacobean pulpit.
In medieval times, Reepham Church was an important place of pilgrimage. Although it was less famous than the shrine at Walsingham, people came on pilgrimage to Reepham to visit the image of Our Lady of Reepham, which had many miracles attributed to it. What form this image took is unknown. It may have been a statue, or perhaps a wood carving. There is evidence to suggest its importance and it is mentioned in the 15th-century will of Alice Cook of Horstead, who wrote that after her death, in order to smooth her passage from this world to the next, she would "Have a man goo a pilgrimage to our Lady of Reifham".
Town sign
The town sign was designed by the localhigh school and installed in 1992. Carved by the then head of Craft Design & Technology Mr. Geldard, and painted by male student Kerry Daniels, it depicts three of each of the following elements: churches, villagers, farm labourers, sheep, lambs and "sisters" and refers to a myth that three sisters were each responsible for building a church. In fact, the three churches were built over several generations.
