Fordham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a village or homestead close to a ford, likely across the River Great Ouse.[1]
The Parish of Fordham has been the site of discovery for several significant Bronze Age artefacts, including a hammer, a decorated sword and a socketed axehead.[2]
Snore Hall dates from the Medieval period and was originally built as a timber-framed, fortified manor-house. The building that stands today was built in early sixteenth century, with extensions made in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. The hall has a good example of a sixteenth-century priest hole, and was the site of a council convened by King Charles I during the English Civil War.[4]
Geography
According to the 2001 Census, Fordham has a population of 71 residents living in 29 households. The parish has a total area of 3.45 square miles (8.9 km2).[5]
The Church of England parish church, St Mary's, is now redundant and in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches.[6] The church is a Grade II* listed building.[7] The church was largely built in the nineteenth century, with the chancel the only surviving feature from the Medieval period. The nave collapsed in the eighteenth century and the tower fell some time after.[8]
War memorial
Fordham shares a war memorial with the nearby villages of Denver, Ryston and Bexwell. The memorial takes the form of a stone cross atop an octagonal plinth, located on Denver's village green. The memorial lists the following Fordham men who died during the First World War:
