Swardeston is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 four miles (6 km) south of Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

 in Norfolk, England, on high ground above the Tas

River Tas

The River Tas is a river which flows northwards through South Norfolk in England - towards Norwich. The area is named the Tas Valley after the river. The origin of the name of the river is uncertain - it may have taken it from the village of Tasburgh or vice versa.Tributaries which have their...

 valley. It covers an area of 3.95 km² (1.5 sq mi) and had a population of 540 in 246 households as of the 2001 census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

.

History

One of the earliest mentions of this place is in the Domesday book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 where it is mentioned amongst the lands given to Roger Bigod

Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk

Roger Bigod was a Norman knight who came to England in the Norman Conquest. He held great power in East Anglia, and five of his descendants were Earl of Norfolk. He was also known as Roger Bigot, appearing as such as a witness to the Charter of Liberties of Henry I of England.-Biography:Roger came...

 by the King

William I of England

William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...

. The manor given to Roger included 45 acres (182,108.7 m²) of land and 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of meadow.

Its church, dedicated to Benjamin the Bearded, has a 15th century tower, but two arched windows indicate that its origins are Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 and Norman

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

.

Notable residents

Swardeston is the birth place of Edith Cavell

Edith Cavell

Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse and spy. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested...

, whose father, the Reverend Frederick Cavell, was vicar for 45 years.

Sport

Swardeston's cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 team were the 2007 champions of the Gibbs Denley ECB East Anglian Premier League. Norwich CEYMS

Norwich CEYMS F.C.

Norwich CEYMS F.C. is an English football club based in Swardeston, Norfolk. They currently play in Division One of the Anglian Combination, having previously played in the Eastern Counties League...

 of the Anglian Combination

Anglian Combination

The Anglian Combination Football League is an English football league that operates in the East Anglia area. The league specifically covers Norfolk and northern Suffolk and is also known as the Dolphin Autos Anglian Combination Football League after its principal sponsor...

also play in the village.