Reepham Benefice
Mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086 (our oldest government record), under its
Latin name, Dallinga, the entry shows the major land owners were William de Warenne,
Walter Giffard and Peter de Valognes. Prior to the Norman Conquest the manor was
held by a Saxon freeman named Fist who was deprived of all his titles by the Norman
warlords. The church itself is not mentioned in the 
Doomsday Book; that record was
purely an inventory of Lay property. Wood Dalling however had extensive former glebe,
indicative that a church existed before the conquest.
The present building, dedicated to St. Andrew, the oldest part of which is 13th century, has two porches, the most impressive being on the south side which could indicate that in medieval times the bulk of the village was on that side of the church. A theory is that when badly affected by plague the houses were burnt to the ground and the population moved to an uninfected part of the village.
Although the church might appear to be perpendicular throughout, it has in fact been
evolving over nearly a millennium, and a closer inspection reveals a willingness
to adapt and re-use the fabric and furniture rather than to destroy and replace it.
It was described in 1910 as ‘a fine building with chancel, clerestory, and nave with
aisles, west porch and lofty west tower’. The early architecture of 
the building
is interesting with massive columns at the west end and at the entrance to the chancel,
yet there is delicate and accomplished carving on many finials and corbels. The fifteenth
century tower is 98 feet high and took over 100 years to build. The interior of the
church is light and airy, with empty side aisles and almost no stained glass.
During the past few years, a considerable amount of money has been spent on repairs and restoration of the fabric of the church. In 2003/4, approximately £300,000 was spent on repairing the flint work to the tower, some of which had collapsed, and on the lead roof of the tower. More recently, between October 2007 and April 2008, almost £100,000 has been spent on re-leading the north aisle roof and repairing 7 windows. Shortly after this last project was commenced, death watch beetle was discovered in the south aisle roof and further major repairs will therefore have to be carried out in the near future.
The village boasts a thriving community, a modernised Village Hall, which is available
for functions, a general store incorporating a Post Office and an energetic Parish
Council, which publishes a monthly Newsletter containing reports on village functions
and forth coming events along with interesting articles. The main industry is agriculture
but there are various small businesses spread through the parish.
Although a small community, some 198 inhabitants, the village spreads over a wide area linked by twenty six and a half miles of public highway.
Visitors passing through Wood Dalling today would never guess that it once boasted two public houses, three smithies, three village shops, a shoemaker, a butcher and a dress making business. This was over one hundred years ago. The passage of time and less demand on all these facilities has evoked a slow but remorseless change, which has seen the dwindling of a population of over five hundred to that of today.
Return to Wood Dalling homepage>
We welcome visitors throughout the week. Click the following link to find directions more>
Wood Dalling Church is a wonderfully light and spacious church - explore the church in our online photo tour more>
Evening Prayer Recording
Evening Prayer is said at Wood Dalling at least once a week. Listen to The Rector’s introduction and Evening Prayer said at Wood Dalling more>
