Bixley

{{Short description|Former civil parish in Norfolk, England}} {{About|the parish in Norfolk|the place in Suffolk|Bixley Ward, Ipswich}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Use British English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | coordinates = {{coord|52.603|1.329|display=inline,title}} | os_grid_reference = TG254059 | official_name = Bixley | population = 144 |population_ref = (2001) | area_total_km2 = 5.42 | static_image_name = St.Wandregesilius.jpg | static_image_caption = The former St Wandregesilius church, Bixley | shire_district = South Norfolk | shire_county = Norfolk | region = East of England | civil_parish = Caistor St Edmund and Bixley | constituency_westminster = South Norfolk | postcode_district = NR14 | postcode_area = NR | post_town = NORWICH | dial_code = 01603 | london_distance = | hide_services = true }}

'''Bixley''' is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Caistor St Edmund and Bixley, in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It is {{convert|3|mi}} south-east of the city of Norwich.

At the 2001 census the parish consisted of 60 households and had a population of 144,<ref>[http://www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/democracy/bixley_parish.asp Bixley parish information], South Norfolk Council. {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120805132606/http://www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/democracy/bixley_parish.asp |date=2012-08-05 }}</ref> including the village of Arminghall. On 1 April 2019 the parish was merged with Caistor St Edmund to form Caistor St Edmund and Bixley.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/Eastern/Norfolk/South%20Norfolk/CGR/South%20Norfolk%20DC%20(ROCG)%20Order%202018.pdf|title=South Norfolk District Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2018|publisher=Local Government Boundary Commission for England|accessdate=18 May 2019|archive-date=6 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806224709/http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/Eastern/Norfolk/South%20Norfolk/CGR/South%20Norfolk%20DC%20(ROCG)%20Order%202018.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The origin the name of Bixley is 'clearing in bushy land'.<ref>Keith Briggs: Bixley, Journal of the English Place-name Society, volume 43 (2011), 43–54</ref> The name of Bixley near Ipswich has the same origin.

The parish church of St Wandregesilius dates from 1272. Wandregesilius is a Latinised form of Wandrille and it is the only church in England dedicated to this 7th-century Frankish abbot. In May 2004 it was set on fire by arsonists and gutted. The church had no electricity and used gas cylinders for heating which it is believed were used by vandals to start the fire. A decision was made to not rebuild the church but to use the money from the insurance claim to support other church in the diocese.<ref>[http://www.accessunderwriting.co.uk/news/Church_Insurance_Claims.html Church Insurance UK Claims], Access Underwriting. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20070624220223/http://www.accessunderwriting.co.uk/news/Church_Insurance_Claims.html Archived version]. Archived 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2025-10-04.)</ref><ref>Knott S (2021) [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bixley/bixley.htm St Wandregesilius, Bixley], Norfolk Churches. Retrieved 2025-10-04.</ref> Near the church is Bixley medieval settlement, the site of a deserted medieval village.<ref>[http://www.invisibleworks.co.uk/bixley-the-lost-village/ Bixley Deserted medieval village Norfolk] Retrieved 2018-03-05.</ref>

Sir Timothy Colman lived at Bixley Manor,<ref>Grimmer D (2022) [https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/housing/20618739.colman-family-treasures-fetch-200-000-auction/ Colman family treasures fetch £200,000 at auction], ''Eastern Daily Press'', 15 June 2022. Retrieved 2025-10-04.</ref> in the grounds of which is the seven-storey stump of Bixley Tower mill, dating from 1838. At eleven storeys this was once the tallest windmill in Norfolk and possibly the tallest in Britain. It was reduced to its current height in 1872.<ref>[http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/WindmillsN/bixley-towermill.html Bixley towermill], Norfolk Mills. Retrieved 2025-10-04.</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Bixley}} *[http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/b/bixley/white1845.shtml Bixley] on Genuki

Category:Former civil parishes in Norfolk Category:Deserted medieval villages in Norfolk Category:South Norfolk