Babingley
| Babingley | |
|---|---|
 Ruin of St Felix's parish church |
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 Babingley
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| Babingley shown within Norfolk | |
| OS grid reference | TF607253 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | King's Lynn |
| Postcode district | PE30 |
| Dialling code | 01485 |
| Police | Norfolk |
| Fire | Norfolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Babingley is a hamlet and abandoned village in Norfolk, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of Castle Rising and 5 1⁄2 miles (9 km) north-north-east of King's Lynn.
It was a separate parish but is now part of the civil parish of Sandringham. The modern hamlet is a small group of houses along the A149 road linking King's Lynn and Hunstanton. The site of the abandoned village is in fields west of the main road, marked by the ruin of St Felix's parish church.
Babingley is said to be where St Felix of Burgundy, Apostle to the East Angles, landed in Britain in about AD 615. The Wuffingas, the East Anglian royal family, invited Felix to evangelise their kingdom. Babingley is remote from the former royal capital at Rendlesham, but Felix is said to have arrived here via the River Babingley after his ship took shelter from a violent storm. He made his way to Canterbury where Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury, ordained him as a bishop at the request of King Sigebert of East Anglia in about 630. St Felix made his cathedral on the other side of the kingdom at Dummoc, the modern Walton.
A legend claims that Felix was shipwrecked on the River Babingley but a colony of beavers saved him from drowning, so in gratitude Felix consecrated the chief beaver as a bishop. The village sign records the legend, showing St Felix is handing a bishop's mitre to the beaver.
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Wikipedia