Leziate

Leziate
The Village sign, Leziate, Norfolk
Leziate Location within Norfolk
Area	11.37 km2 (4.39 sq mi)
Population	592 (2011 census)
• Density	52/km2 (130/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TF6719
• London	106 miles (171 km)
Civil parish	Leziate
District	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KING'S LYNN
Postcode district	PE32
Dialling code	01553
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	South West Norfolk

Leziate is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 44 miles (71 km) west of Norwich, 5.7 miles (9.2 km) east of King's Lynn and 106 miles (171 km) north-north-east of London. The Village is located a small distance south of the B1145 a route which runs between King's Lynn and Mundesley. The nearest railway station is at King's Lynn for the Fen Line which runs between King's Lynn and Cambridge. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish of Leziate in the 2001 census, has a population of 581, including Ashwicken and increasing to 592 at the 2011 census.

History

This large parish is in the west of the county located east of the town of King's Lynn. The parish is bordered with Grimston to the north, East Winch to the south, Bawsey to the west and Gayton to the east. There are two hamlets within the parish and they are Leziate and Ashwicken, both these settlements are described as a shrunken village. During the medieval period the village of Leziate was much larger, but the village had shrunk sufficiently by the late 15th century for the parish of Leziate to be united with Ashwicken. The name Leziate comes from the Old English meaning meadow gate, while the name Ashwicken is also derived from Old English and means either place at the dwellings or buildings or place at the ash trees.

Between 1846 and 1968, the village was served by Middleton Towers railway station. This was on the Lynn and Dereham Railway, which ran between King's Lynn and Dereham. When the railway opened, the station was known at Middleton, but it was renamed as Middleton Towers on 1 November 1924. Following the publication of Dr Richard Beeching's report in 1963, closure of Norfolk's railways began in earnest, with Middleton Towers becoming an unstaffed halt in 1966, and the final passenger trains running on 7 September 1968. The station building is actually in the adjacent parish of Middleton, although the railway to the east and west of the buildings lies in Leziate.

Soon after the opening of the line, extraction of high grade silica sand began from pits to the north of the railway. It was used for the manufacture of glass. A siding was constructed to the west of the level crossing in 1881, allowing a Mr Bagge to trade in sand and coal. Sand from the pit at Old Carr, around 0.25 miles (0.40 km) to the north, was conveyed to the railway by a separate mineral railway, probably of 2 ft (610 mm)-gauge. The operation had ceased by the early 1900s, and Old Carr was used for forestry. However, a new siding to the east of the station was approved on 1 March 1904, for the use of J Boam & Sons, again for sand traffic. Sand was being extracted form an area of 520 acres (210 ha), and a large industrial plant developed to the north of the station, with standard gauge railway sidings and narrow gauge tramways used to transport the sand to the works. A 20-ton weighbridge was installed in 1907, and the railway minutes quote 3,000 wagons of sand per year, but are unclear as to whether this was the projected or actual traffic. After closure of the line to Dereham, the section between Middleton Towers and King's Lynn remained open for the sand traffic and a new run-round loop was constructed to the east of the station buildings. British Industrial Sand took over Boam's siding on 23 March 1981, and shortly afterwards, the railway sidings and tramway were replaced by conveyors.

The extraction of silica sand has continued, although by 2015 the operation was owned by Sibelco. Around 800,000 tonnes of sand are extracted each year, of which three-quarters is transported away by rail. Trains normally consist of over 30 wagons, into which 1,000 tonnes of sand are loaded from a gantry which straddles the track. Two trains each day take sand to three glass factories, at Barnsley, Doncaster and Goole, although more trains are run when hot weather or major sproting events increase the volume of glass needed.

Governance

Leziate is a parish of the Kings Lynn and West Norfolk district council, which is responsible for the most local services. Norfolk County Council is responsible for roads, some schools, and social services. For Westminster elections it forms part of the North West Norfolk constituency, represented by James Wild (Conservative).

The deserted village of Holt

During the medieval period there was another settlement within the parish. It was called Holt. The village was demolished when the landlord, the notorious Thomas Thursby, enclosed the land and converted it to pasture for his sheep. Holt was the only Norfolk village recorded in the Commission of Inquiry in 1517 as being totally depopulated in this way.

References

Bibliography

• Bishop, Chris (4 May 2015). "Meet the woman who helps stop our fridges running out of beer". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kilday, Glen (11 September 2018). "Middleton Towers". Disused Stations. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)