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{{short description|Town in Norfolk, England}}
{{About|the town in Norfolk|Swaffham Bulbeck in Cambridgeshire|Swaffham Bulbeck|Swaffham Prior in Cambridgeshire|Swaffham Prior}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox UK place 
 | official_name=         Swaffham
 | country=               England
 | region=                East of England
 | shire_county=          [[Norfolk]]
 |civil_parish= Swaffham<ref>{{cite web|title=About Us|url=http://www.swaffhamtowncouncil.gov.uk/community/swaffham-town-council-12923/about-us|publisher=Swaffham Town Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409024817/http://www.swaffhamtowncouncil.gov.uk/community/swaffham-town-council-12923/about-us|archive-date=9 April 2017}}</ref>
 | shire_district=        [[Breckland (district)|Breckland]]
 | constituency_westminster= [[South West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|South West Norfolk]]
 | static_image_name  = File:Rotunda Swaffham.jpg
 | static_image_caption = The [[Buttercross]] Swaffham market place
 | population=            8,434
 | population_ref=        ([[2011 UK census|2021]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11129340&c=Swaffham&d=16&e=62&g=6448102&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1471025693391&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=12 August 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
 | area_total_km2       = 29.6
 | os_grid_reference=     TF815095
 | coordinates = {{coord|52.652893|0.684285|display=inline,title}}
 | post_town=             SWAFFHAM
 | postcode_area=         PE
 | postcode_district=     PE37
 | dial_code=             01760
 | website           = {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040915191144/http://www.swaffhamtowncouncil.co.uk/ Town council]}}
}}

'''Swaffham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|w|ɒ|f|əm}}) is a [[market town]] and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[Breckland District]] and [[England|English]] county of [[Norfolk]]. It is situated {{convert|12|mi|abbr=off}} east of [[King's Lynn]] and {{convert|31|mi|abbr=off}} west of [[Norwich]].

The [[civil parish]] has an area of {{convert|11.42|mi2|abbr=on}} and in the [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 census]] had a population of 6,935 in 3,130 households, which increased to 7,258, in 3,258 households, at the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]]. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the [[Non-metropolitan district|district]] of [[Breckland (district)|Breckland]].<ref>Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170211032229/https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes]''. Retrieved 2 December 2005.</ref>

==Correct pronunciation==
"Swoffum"<ref>https://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/norfolk_place_names.htm</ref>

==History==
[[File:Swaffham Town Hall.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Swaffham Town Hall]]]]
The name of the town derives from the [[Old English language|Old English]] ''Swǣfa hām'' = "the homestead of the [[Swabia]]ns"; some of them presumably came with the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] and [[Saxons]].<ref>http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Swaffham</ref>

By the 14th and 15th centuries Swaffham had an emerging sheep and [[wool]] industry.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5ckDwAAQBAJ&q=Swaffham+wool+industry&pg=PT100|title=50 Gems of Norfolk: The History & Heritage of the Most Iconic Places|last=Goodrum|first=Pete|date=2017-05-15|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-5728-8|language=en}}</ref> As a result of this prosperity, the town has a large market place. The market cross here was built by George Walpole, 3rd [[Baron Walpole|Earl of Orford]] and presented to the town in 1783.<ref>Ripper, B. (1979) ''Ribbons from the Pedlar's Pack'' p126 {{ISBN|0-9506728-0-7}}</ref> On the top is the statue of [[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]], the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] goddess of the harvest. The former Corn Hall, which was designed by Mathias Goggs, was completed in 1858.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Former Corn Hall|num= 1269617|access-date=1 July 2023}}</ref>

About [[1 E3 m|8&nbsp;km]] to the north of Swaffham can be found the ruins of the formerly important [[Castle Acre Priory]] and [[Castle Acre Castle]].

On the west side of Swaffham Market Place are several old buildings which for many years housed the historic Hamond's [[Grammar School]], as a plaque on the wall of the main building explains. The Hamond's Grammar School building latterly came to serve as the [[sixth form]] for the [[The Nicholas Hamond Academy|Hamond's High School]], but that use has since ceased. Harry Carter, the grammar school's art teacher of the 1960s, was responsible for a great number of the carved [[village sign]]s that are now found in many of Norfolk's towns and villages, including Swaffham's own sign commemorating the legendary [[Pedlar of Swaffham]],<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/meft/meft21.htm The Pedlar of Swaffham.] ''More English Fairy Tales by [[Joseph Jacobs]] (1894)''. Retrieved on 27 March 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.oldcity.org.uk/norwich/names/pedlar.php The Pedlar of Swaffham.] ''Old City – Names and Legends''. Retrieved on 27 March 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.aniboom.com/video/298688/The%20Pedlar%20of%20Swaffham/?ref=/Scoreboard/aniBoom_Awards_2008 Animation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025103428/http://www.aniboom.com/video/298688/The%20Pedlar%20of%20Swaffham/?ref=%2FScoreboard%2FaniBoom_Awards_2008 |date=25 October 2008 }}</ref> which is in the corner of the market place just opposite the old school's gates.<ref>[http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/swaffham.htm Literary Norfolk] Retrieved 22 July 2011.</ref> Carter was a distant cousin of the [[archaeologist]] and [[egyptologist]] [[Howard Carter]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AyK0_weGa20C&dq=harry+carter+swaffham&pg=PA4 Google books] Retrieved 22 July 2011.</ref> who spent much of his childhood in the town.<ref>[http://www.atlantisring.com/howard_carter.aspx Howard Carter] Retrieved 22 July 2011.</ref>

The [[Swaffham Museum]] is a small, independent social history museum for Swaffham and the surrounding villages in Norfolk from the [[Stone Age]] to the modern. It has five galleries exhibiting local history and local geology as well as an [[Egyptology]] room about [[Howard Carter]] and the [[Ancient Egyptians]], celebrating the centenary year of Howard Carter discovering the [[Tomb of Tutankhamun]] in 1922.<ref>[https://www.swaffhammuseum.co.uk/ Swaffham Museum] Retrieved 22 July 2011.</ref>

Swaffham was struck by a tornado measuring F1 on the [[Fujita scale]] and T2 on the [[TORRO scale]] on 23 November 1981 during the [[1981 United Kingdom tornado outbreak]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eswd.eu/cgi-bin/eswd.cgi|title = European Severe Weather Database}}</ref>

==Folklore==
[[File:Swaffham map1946.png|thumb|A map of Swaffham from 1946]]
Swaffham is one of the many locations for ''The Man Who Became Rich through a Dream'' folk tale ([[Aarne-Thompson classification system|Aarne-Thompson]] type 1645). The tale tells of a [[Pedlar of Swaffham|pedlar from Swaffham]] who dreamed for several consecutive nights that if he waited on [[London Bridge]] he would eventually hear good news. He travelled to London, and waited for several days on the bridge. Eventually a [[shopkeeper]] asked him why he was waiting, and the man told of his dream. The shopkeeper laughed, and replied that he often dreamed that if he went to a certain [[orchard]] in Swaffham and started digging, he would find [[buried treasure]]. The pedlar returned to Swaffham, and found the treasure.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ashliman |first=D. L. |title=The Man Who Became Rich through a Dream: Folktales of Type 1645 |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type1645.html#swaffham |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]] |access-date=22 August 2014 }}</ref>

In medieval folklore, a black, hairy dog called the [[Black Shuck]] was rumoured to have wandered the three settlements of Swaffham, [[Castle Acre]], and [[Great Cressingham]], ambushing merchants who were on their way to large towns to sell their goods. There are still rumours of a puma-like black cat wandering around [[Norfolk]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Long|first=Jessica|date=2016-08-27|title=Is this the infamous Norfolk panther prowling near Saxlingham Nethergate?|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/is-this-the-infamous-norfolk-panther-prowling-near-saxlingham-nethergate-893884|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Eastern Daily Press|language=en-UK}}</ref> and [[Cambridgeshire]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Raymond|date=2019-05-18|title='Big cat map' reveals police reports of Fen Tiger sightings near you|url=https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/fen-tiger-sightings-shepreth-wildlifepark-16292389|access-date=2021-10-01|website=CambridgeshireLive|language=en}}</ref>

==Parish church==
The church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is one of only a few churches that have angels carved in wood instead of stone around the top of the walls. The current building, dating from 1454, is built on the foundation of the original church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Norfolk Churches|url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/swaffham/swaffham.htm|publisher=norfolkchurches|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> A wood carving of the "Pedlar of Swaffham" is also in the church.

==Transport==
[[File:Swaffham 6 63548 1 copy.jpg|thumb|left|Swaffham railway station, when part of the [[Eastern Region of British Rail]]]]

The nearest railway stations to Swaffham are at {{rws|King's Lynn}} and {{rws|Downham Market}}, on the [[Fen line]]. There are regular services to {{rws|Ely}}, {{rws|Cambridge}} and {{rws|London King's Cross}}, operated by [[Great Northern route|Great Northern]].

Until 1968, the town was served by [[Swaffham railway station]] on the [[Great Eastern Railway]] line from King's Lynn. Just after Swaffham, the line split into two: one branch headed south to {{rws|Thetford}} and the other east towards {{rws|Dereham}}. The lines were all closed as part of the [[Beeching cuts]], though the possibility of rebuilding a direct rail link from Norwich to King's Lynn, via Swaffham, is raised occasionally.

The east–west [[A47 road|A47 Birmingham to Great Yarmouth road]] now bypasses the town, using a northerly bypass opened in 1981. The [[A1065 road|A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road]] still passes through the centre of the town on its north–south route, intersecting with the A47 at a [[grade separated]] junction north of the town.<ref>Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 236 – King's Lynn, Downham Market & Swaffham''. {{ISBN|0-319-21867-8}}.</ref>

[[First Bus East of England|First Eastern Counties]]' [[Excel (bus route)|Excel bus routes]] provide a regular public transport link through Swaffham between [[Dereham]] and King's Lynn.<ref>{{Cite web |title=excel - Norwich - Dereham - Swaffham - Kings Lynn - Wisbech - Peterborough {{!}} First Bus |url=https://www.firstbus.co.uk/norfolk-suffolk/routes-and-maps/excel-norwich-dereham-swaffham-kings-lynn-wisbech-peterborough |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=www.firstbus.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> Most services continue east to Norwich and west to Peterborough.

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC East]] and [[ITV Anglia]]. Television signals are received from either the [[Tacolneston transmitting station|Tacolneston]] or [[Sandy Heath transmitting station|Sandy Heath]] TV transmitters<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Tacolneston|title= Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=1 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Sandy_Heath|title=Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=3 December 2023}}</ref>

Local radio stations are [[BBC Radio Norfolk]] on 104.4 FM, [[Heart East]] on 102.4 FM, [[Greatest Hits Radio East|Greatest Hits Radio Norfolk & North Suffolk]] on 96.7 FM, Amber Radio, Radio West Norfolk and KL1 Radio. 

The town's local newspaper is the ''Watton and Swaffham Times''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-eang/watton-swaffham-times/|title=Watton and Swaffham Times|date=29 October 2013|website=British Papers|accessdate=1 November 2023}}</ref>

==Sport and leisure==
Swaffham has a [[Non-League football]] club, [[Swaffham Town F.C.|Swaffham Town]], which plays at Shoemakers Lane.

[[Swaffham Raceway]], a former [[greyhound racing|greyhound]] track, hosts [[stock car racing]].

== Wind turbines and Green Britain Centre ==
[[File:Swaffham.JPG|thumb|upright|The Green Britain Centre in 2006]]
Today the town is known for the presence of two large [[Enercon]] E-66 [[wind turbine]]s. The first of these began operation in 1999<ref>{{cite web|website=Ecotricity|title=The Green Britain Centre, Norfolk|url=https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/our-green-electricity/from-the-wind/wind-parks-gallery/green-britain-centre|access-date=28 July 2020}}</ref> and the second in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|website=Ecotricity|title=Swaffham, Norfolk|url=https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/our-green-electricity/from-the-wind/wind-parks-gallery/swaffham|access-date=28 July 2020}}</ref> Together they generate more than three [[megawatt]]s.<ref>Ecotricity. ''[https://archive.today/20120910111734/http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/projects/op_ecotech.html Swaffham-I] '' and ''[http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/projects/op_swaffhamII.html Swaffham-II]''. Retrieved 10 February 2006.</ref> The first of the wind turbines to be constructed was an Enercon E66/1500 with 1.5 MW generation capacity, 67 metres [[nacelle]] height and 66 metres rotor diameter.<ref name="thewindpower">{{cite web|url=http://www.thewindpower.net/wind-farm-1403.php|publisher=thewindpower.net|title=Eco Tech Centre (United-Kingdom) - Wind farms - Online access - The Wind Power |access-date=29 December 2016}}</ref> It was also built with an [[Unconventional wind turbines#Observation deck|observation deck]] just below the nacelle which was open for the public to climb during the 2000s and 2010s, the only wind turbine in the world to have such a facility. These two turbines have since been joined by an independent development of a further eight turbines at the village of [[North Pickenham]], three miles from Swaffham.

The turbines were originally associated with the EcoTech Centre, a visitor centre which was opened in 1999.<ref name=Faulkner/> The centre hosted the 2008 British [[BASE jumping]] championships; contestants jumped from the roof of the observation deck.<ref name="bbc_basejump">{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7643085.stm | title=Turbine hosts base jumping | date=29 September 2008 | work=BBC News | access-date = 26 January 2011}}</ref> In 2008 the energy company [[Ecotricity]] took over the management of the site<ref name=Chapman>{{cite news|title=Swap deal could breathe new life into vacant visitor attraction|url=https://www.wattonandswaffhamtimes.co.uk/news/green-britain-centre-swaffham-swap-deal-1-6376664|date=15 November 2019|first=Thomas|last=Chapman|newspaper=Watton and Swaffham Times}}</ref> and in 2012 the visitor centre was renamed the Green Britain Centre. The centre provided a venue for school trips and event hire, and had educational displays focussing on sustainability in food, energy and transport.<ref name=Faulkner>{{cite news|title=Businesses and schools left in the lurch as Swaffham's Green Britain Centre closes suddenly|url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/swaffham-green-britain-centre-closes-dale-vince-1-5559330|newspaper=Eastern Daily Press|author=Doug Faulkner|date=13 June 2018}}</ref> The height of the attraction's popularity was in 2016, when 22,000 people visited the centre and 8,000 climbed the turbine.<ref name=Vickers>{{cite news|title=What does the future hold for Swaffham's Green Britain Centre?|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/what-next-for-swaffhams-green-britain-centre-8199160|newspaper=Eastern Daily Press|date=8 August 2021|first=Noah|last=Vickers}}</ref>

In June 2018 it was announced that the centre had closed for financial reasons and that Ecotricity intended to hand the building back to [[Breckland District]] Council (BDC).<ref name=Faulkner/> The council subsequently put it up for rent or sale and discussed exchanging it with Swaffham Town Council in return for {{convert|5|acres|ha}} of building land.<ref name=Chapman/> A proposal to convert the building into a leisure centre was considered by BDC but ultimately abandoned.<ref>{{cite news|title=Environmental centre was 'too difficult' to convert into leisure facility, says council|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/swaffham-green-britain-centre-too-difficult-to-convert-6902882|newspaper=Eastern Daily Press|date=18 January 2021|first=Abigail|last=Nicholson}}</ref> In 2021 the building was sold to manufacturer Flexion Global for use as their headquarters.<ref>{{cite news|title=International firm to move global HQ to Norfolk town|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/business/green-britain-centre-in-swaffham-bought-8136316|newspaper=Eastern Daily Press|date=12 July 2021|first=Daniel|last=Moxon}}</ref> Shortly after the sale, Swaffham Town Council gave BCD a parcel of land next to the centre on which BDC intends to build a leisure centre.<ref name=Vickers/>

==Climate==

As with the rest of the [[British Isles]] and East Anglia, Swaffham experiences a [[maritime climate]] with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest [[Met Office]] weather station to provide local climate data is [[RAF Marham]], about {{convert|5+1/2|mi|0}} west of the town centre. Temperature extremes in the Swaffham-Marham area range from  {{convert|34.8|C|F}} in August 1990, down to {{convert|-16.7|C|F}} during February 1956.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = [[Eastern Daily Press|EDP]] | url= http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/behind_the_scenes_at_the_marham_weather_station_1_526795 | title = Marham temperature extremes}}</ref> The highest and lowest temperatures reported in the past decade are {{convert|34.6|C|F}} during August 2003,<ref>{{Cite web | publisher = Tutiempo weather| url= http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/Marham/10-08-2003/34820.htm | title = Marham temperature 2003}}</ref> and {{convert|-10.3|C|F}} during January 2010.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = [[Eastern Daily Press|EDP]] | url= http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/Marham/06-01-2010/34820.htm | title = Marham temperature 2010}}</ref>
{{Marham weatherbox}}

== ''Kingdom'' (TV series) ==

In the summer of 2006, location filming was done in the town for the [[ITV1]] series ''[[Kingdom (British TV series)|Kingdom]]'', starring [[Stephen Fry]]. In ''Kingdom'' the town is called Market Shipborough. The pub the ''Startled Duck'' in the TV series is better known as the ''Greyhound Inn'', in which the [[Earl of Orford]] created the first [[hare coursing|coursing]] club open to the public, in 1776.<ref name="gulfcoastgreyhounds">{{cite web|url=http://www.gulfcoastgreyhounds.org/hist-18-19-cent.html|publisher=gulfcoastgreyhounds.org|title=History of Greyhounds: 18th and 19th Centuries |access-date=29 December 2016}}</ref> Peter Kingdom's office is Oakleigh House, near the town square (formerly the house of the Head Master of Hamond's Grammar School), with the coastal scenes filmed at [[Wells-next-the-Sea]] on the north Norfolk coast.

== Notable people ==
*[[Dominic Byrne]], newsreader on ''[[The Chris Moyles Show]]''
*[[Michael Carroll (lottery winner)|Michael Carroll]], lottery winner
*[[Howard Carter]], archaeologist who discovered the tomb of [[Tutankhamun]]
*[[Christopher Dawes (author)|Christopher Dawes]], author of ''[[Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail]]''
*[[Stephen Fry]], actor and writer
*[[W. E. Johns]], author of the ''"[[Biggles]]"'' books
*[[William Methwold]] (1590–1653), born [[South Pickenham]], [[East India Company]] merchant
*[[John Dugmore of Swaffham]] (1793–1871), draughtsman and grand-tourist<ref>The Dugmore of Swaffham family archives are filed by the [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=153-mc386&cid=17#17 UK National Archives]</ref>
*[[Hilda Plowright]] (1890-1973), actress
*[[Phyllis Broughton]] (1860–1926) actress, spent her childhood here.<ref>{{Citation |last=Innes |first=Eilidh |title=Broughton [real name Phyllis Harriet Wright; married name Thomson], Phyllis (1860–1926), dancer and actress |date=2023-11-09 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-62580 |access-date=2024-02-09 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.62580 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
*Sir [[Arthur Knyvet Wilson]], (1842–1921), [[First Sea Lord]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Swaffham}}
{{Commons category|Swaffham}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Swaffham |volume=26 |short=x}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040915191144/http://www.swaffhamtowncouncil.co.uk/ Swaffham Town Council]}}
*[http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/s/swaffham/ Information from Genuki Norfolk on Swaffham]

{{Norfolk}}

{{Civil Parishes of Breckland}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Swaffham| ]]
[[Category:Breckland District]]
[[Category:Market towns in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Wind farms in England]]
[[Category:Towns in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Norfolk]]