High Kelling Village
High Kelling is a quite recent creation! The village of Kelling – a couple of miles away on the North Sea coast – is an historic settlement, but High Kelling was virtually non-existent until the early 1900’s.
A few residences grew around the TB Hospital that now is the core of Kelling Hospital and development accelerated just before and especially after the Second World War.
The present civil Parish was created from parts of Holt, Bodham and Kelling in 1987.
The population of High Kelling is around 525 in about 250 households. There is a high proportion of pensioners – around 45% are 65+ against the figure for the whole of the East of England of 16.5%. About 10% are children aged up to 15. Over 90% of the households are owner-occupied. These figures are based on the 2001 Census, so are not bang up-to-date!
High Kelling’s Church of England Church – All Saints – was originally the chapel to Bramblewood Sanatorium (which cared for TB patients) and was also used by the Children’s Sanatorium (now Pineheath Care Home). It was acquired by the parishioners in 1955 and is now incorporated into the ecclesiastical parish of Holt with High Kelling.
The Village is in Norfolk (Norfolk County Council and North Norfolk District Council) and lies on the A148 road between Holt and Cromer in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Poppy Line Heritage Railway terminus Holt Station is on the boundary between High Kelling Parish and Holt.
One remarkable building, Voewood, is well worth mentioning. Now licenced for weddings, there is more about this architectural gem in our Photos pages.
More details can be found in the book ‘The Birth of a Village’ – available (inter alia) from High Kelling Post Office. This tells of the development of the village, and describes, for example, the creation of the Social Centre.
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