Hockering – History, Church and Hockering Wood

Hockering brings together several historical themes relevant to travellers interested in local history and architecture. These include St Michael’s Church, the earthworks in Hockering Wood and the wood’s military use during the Second World War. Details on the church’s west tower and the Manor House also give the village an architectural focus. In this way, building styles from different periods meet a clearly defined history of the wood.

St Michael’s Church and its architecture

St Michael’s Church dates from the 13th to the 15th century and is a medieval parish church that was later altered. Its west tower is particularly distinctive: it is vertically divided, has diagonal buttresses and features chequerboard flushwork. Buttresses are supporting elements, arranged diagonally here; flushwork refers to decorative masonry made from contrastingly set stone and flint. Three different design elements can therefore be distinguished on one part of the building: the vertical divisions, the diagonal supports and the geometric surface pattern. This gives you a concrete point of reference when interpreting Hockering’s historic architecture.

Gable details at the Manor House

At the Manor House, stepped gables and rectangular hood mouldings above the gable windows are defining features. A stepped gable forms the edge of the roof in steps; a hood moulding is an architectural frame above a window. Together, these forms draw the eye to the outline of the gable and the window details. Compared with St Michael’s Church, this offers a useful distinction: at the church, the focus is on the west tower, buttresses and flushwork; at the Manor House, it is on the gable shape and window framing.

Hockering Wood: medieval traces and wartime history

Hockering Wood brings together traces from different periods of history. The older ones include the earthworks of a medieval water moat and traces of an outer enclosure. The water moat and the outer enclosure refer to two different features: the moat itself and a boundary outside it. Another use dates to the Second World War: the Royal Air Force requisitioned the wood to store bombs. About five miles of concrete roads and around 250 bomb-storage hardstands were built for this purpose. The approximate figures convey the scale of this construction. The medieval earthworks and the wartime installation belong to different periods; those interpreting Hockering Wood’s history can thus distinguish the older landscape features from its later military use.

Getting oriented and planning your visit

The village of Hockering lies beside the A47. If you are arriving by car, this road location can help with general orientation. Parking is available along the road on the small side road by St Michael’s Church. Before visiting St Michael’s Church, check the current visiting arrangements. The “Morning Worship” listing gives a time for Sunday, 5 July, at 9 am. Check before travelling whether it fits your stay dates.

Discover more destinations: Sharrington, Thursford, Horsford, Great Massingham, East Runton, Norwich, Belton, Reedham.

For the broader travel overview: Norfolk.