Banham is an English village and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, about 7 miles (11 km) north of Diss, 12 miles (19 km) east of Thetford and 20 miles (32 km) south-west of Norwich.[2] 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, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, is a Grade I listed building.[3] The name of the village derives from "Bean homestead/village", or perhaps "hemmed-in land where beans grow".
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 local government, the parish lies in the district of Breckland.[4] 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.[5]
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 Behavioural Disorders, the proprietor of each and former head teacher, George Robson, received a two-year suspended prison sentence.[6] George Robson died the day after his sentencing.[7]
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.[8] Robson's brother, Anthony, was also sentenced for crimes committed at The Old Rectory School.[9]
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.[10]
Banham Marshalls College was closed down by the government Department of Education 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.[11]
Banham's War Memorial is located on the Village Green and holds the names of forty eight of the fallen and it was unveiled in 1920 by the Earl of Albemarle, then Honorary Colonel of the 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment. It holds the following names for the First World War:
Company Sergeant-Major Daniel J. Bowen (1889–1917), 4th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
Lance-Sergeant Harrold G. Hunt (1886–1914), 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
Lance-Corporal Richard Chapman (1884–1916), 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment
