About Barnham

Barham is a breckland village close to the A134, which was recorded in Domesday as "Bernham", the same name appearing on John Speed's 1610 map. The 1838 OS map shows the village as "Barnham St Gregory".

An Admiralty shutter station stood close to South Dukes Ride, adjacent to the A134 (at TL 872 776). It was part of a chain of such stations relaying signals between the Admiralty in London and the fleet based at Great Yarmouth, during the Napoleonic wars.

Nine parish boundaries converge at the remains of Rymer mere. Thousands of flint flakes provide evidence of early human activity in the area, whilst nearby Euston hall was visited by Elizabeth I though much of the current building dates from the 1750s with rebuilding in 1912 after a fire. A boundary cross still stands on the border with Thetford.

Many ancient settlements have been found around Barnham. In the far north-east of the parish, near Euston, an Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement has been unearthed as has another Romano-British settlement. Basil Brown found a Neolithic settlement in the area too. To the west, near the Icknield Way, a Bronze Age settlement was found in 1991 during pipeline works, and in the north near Thetford, an Iron Age settlement has been found.

Near Mill lane stand the remains of a tower mill, built in 1821 and closed in 1930. It has been incorporated into a home.

A site off the Elveden Road, now used as a light industrial unit, was used from the early 1950s until 1963 as an atomic bomb store.

Barnham Station was on the Thetford to Bury St Edmunds line. The line closed in 1953; we assume that's when the station closed as well. Theatre director Peter Hall was born in the village; his father was the station master.