Coltishall

Coltishall's name is of Old English origin and first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the forms Cokereshala and Coketeshala. From 1200 onwards, it is attested in the contracted form Couteshal(e), in which form it has more or less remained to the present day (the l in the modern spelling is due to hypercorrection). The second part of the name is thought to derive from the Old English word halh ('nook') but the origin of the first part is uncertain; one guess is that it was an otherwise unattested personal name Coccede or Cohhede, and thus meant 'Coccede's nook'.^[1] But The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names concludes that "the recorded forms are too few and contradictory for satisfactory explanation".^[2]

In the Domesday Book, Coltishall is recorded as a settlement of 16 households in the hundred of South Erpingham. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of William de Warenne and Roger de Poitou.^[3]

In 1231, Coltishall was made a 'free-town' by King Henry III.^{[citation needed]}

Furthermore, from the mid-Eighteenth Century, Coltishall was a centre for the malting industry with many wherries being built in the village.^[4]

In the late-Eighteenth Century, parts of the Bure Navigational Canal were dug in the parish to make the River Bure more easily navigable for watercraft.^[5]

In 1939, RAF Coltishall was opened as a base for the Hawker Hurricanes of No. 242 Squadron RAF, with the famous fighter ace Douglas Bader being based in Coltishall during the Second World War. RAF Coltishall continue to be used by the Royal Air Force until its closure in November 2006 following a Ministry of Defence review.^[6] The site is today operated as HM Prison Bure, which houses male prisoners convicted of sex offences.^[7]

Horstead Watermill, close to the village, was one of the most photographed mills in Britain until it burned down in 1963.^[8]

According to the 2021 census, Coltishall has a population of 1,446 people which shows a decrease from the 1,503 people recorded in the 2011 census.^[9]

Coltishall is located on the River Bure and within the Norfolk Broads. The village is also located at the junction of the B1150, between Norwich and North Walsham, and the B1354, between Thursford and Hoveton.

Coltishall's parish churches is dedicated John the Baptist and dates at its earliest to the Fifteenth Century. St. John's is located on Church Street and has been Grade I listed since 1984.^[10]

The church was largely re-built in 1865 and boasts a Twelfth Century font made from Purbeck Marble. In addition, there is a good collection of stained-glass windows including some from the workshops of James Powell and Sons (depicting the Risen Christ) and memorial glass by Alfred Wilkinson.^[11]

Within the parish there is a ruined church dedicated to Saint Theobald of Provins which was built in the Eleventh Century and was abandoned in the Nineteenth Century.^[12]

• Reverend John Alen- (1476-1534) priest and church lawyer, born in Coltishall.
• Sir John Alan- (1500-1561) statesman and Irish Lord Chancellor, born in Coltishall.
• Doctor John Smith- (1711-1795) academic and astronomer, born in Coltishall.
• Thomas Holloway- (1748-1827) painter and engraver, lived & died in Coltishall.
• Chaplain William Addison VC- (1883-1962) Church of England priest and army chaplain, Rector of Coltishall from 1938-1958.
• Gwyneth Johnstone- (1915-2010) painter, born & died in Coltishall.
• Robin Huggins- (b.1947) Norfolk cricketer, born in Coltishall.

Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).^[13]

Coltishall is an electoral ward for local elections and is part of the district of Broadland.

The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.

Coltishall's war memorial is a stone cross on the High Street which is shared with the nearby village of Great Hautbois. The memorial was unveiled in August of 1920^[15] and lists the following names for the First World War:^[16]

And, the following for the Second World War: