Visit Docking, Norfolk Places

Welcome to Visit Docking, Norfolk Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Docking, Norfolk

  

Docking, Norfolk Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Docking, Norfolk

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Docking, Norfolk history

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Overview

Docking has been a farming community for its entire history, and has experienced no noteworthy historical events peculiar to itself. Archaeological finds in the parish have been numerous, but unfortunately these have mostly been loose artefacts.

Stone Age

Mesolithic (10 000 to 4 000 BCE) flints have been found north-east of Summerfield (TF754 391) The “Norfolk Heritage Explorer” online database lists fourteen Neolithic flint axes found individually in Docking parish.

Bronze Age

A Bronze Age metalwork was found in a field north-east of the village by a metal detector in 2013. This had been disturbed by ploughing, and items had already been recovered on the surface. The total number of items is now at Lynn Museum.

Romans

A very high-status 3rd century gold openwork ring set with garnet, green glass and pale sapphire was found in an unrecorded location in the Fifties. Its present whereabouts are unknown.

Early Middle Ages

The name is Old English, meaning docce innung (newly enclosed land with dock plants) The first documentary reference to the village is in the will of Aelfric bishop of North Elmham, who bequeathed it to Bury St Edmunds Abbey in 1038.

Docking Priory

There is currently a village archaeological project to locate the site of a lost priory believed to have been in the area during the 13th and 14th centuries. The existence of this presently (2019) relies on documentary evidence only, which describes an alien priory belonging to the abbey of Notre Dame d’Ivry at Ivry-la-Bataille in France.

Later Middle Ages

The Lovell family acquired the manor at Docking in the reign of King Henry I and held it for most of the Middle Ages. To the north-west is the hamlet of Summerfield, which used to be the village of Southmere with its own parish church dedicated to St Andrew. The name of “Docking with Southmere” was then used for the latter until the 20th century.

Post-medieval

The manor house was rebuilt in 1612, to become Docking Hall. Part of the village was appropriated for its grounds, and earthworks belonging to this are still visible. The hall grounds were extended to form a deer-park in about 1750.

19th century

In the early 19th century, Docking was hosting a magistrates’ court or Petty Sessions on the last Monday of the month at the Hare Inn. The Hare Inn was also the centre of horse-drawn public transport for the village. The village lock-up, a tiny windowless prison, survives from the same period and is at the west end of Chequers Street.

Earlier 20th century

Thirty-one local men were listed on a carved grey granite Celtic cross war memorial in the churchyard. The workhouse was sold by its Board of guardians in 1920 to the Rural District Council, which converted it into twelve council houses. The United Automobile Services, a geographically sprawling bus company, established its route 31 in the Twenties.

RAF Docking

RAF Docking was a satellite airfield of RAF Coastal Command during the Second World War. During the war it was home to several Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons. Richard Burton, Robert Hardy, Warren Mitchell and footballer Danny Blanchflower were based at Docking Hall.

Recent times

Mechanisation of the parish’s farmland has meant the loss of many hedgerows and the grubbing out of small 18th century woods since the Second World War. In 1952, Terence Rowland Wagg, as the chairman of T R Wagg (The Baker) Ltd, built a large bakery in the village. His firm was the only Docking business which made an impact outside the village, as he established a chain of bakery shops with attached coffee houses in west Norfolk towns.

You can visit Docking, Norfolk places with Walkfo Docking, Norfolk to hear history at Docking, Norfolk’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Docking, Norfolk has 7 places to visit in our interactive Docking, Norfolk map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Docking, Norfolk, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Docking, Norfolk places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Docking, Norfolk & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 7 audio facts unique to Docking, Norfolk places in an interactive Docking, Norfolk map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Docking, Norfolk Places Map
7 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Docking, Norfolk historic spots	Docking, Norfolk tourist destinations	Docking, Norfolk plaques	Docking, Norfolk geographic features
Walkfo Docking, Norfolk tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Docking, Norfolk

  

Best Docking, Norfolk places to visit

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Docking, Norfolk has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Docking, Norfolk’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Docking, Norfolk’s information audio spots:

Visit Docking, Norfolk plaques