Downham West

Downham West is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk The parish is 47.6mi west of Norwich, 16.3mi south-south-west of King's Lynn and 96.2mi north of London. The nearest town is Downham Market which is 2.5mi north east of the parish. The nearest railway station is at Downham Market for the Fen Line which runs between King's Lynn and Cambridge. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish of Downham West, in the 2001 census, has a population of 285, rising marginally to 286 at the Census 2011. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.DescriptionThe parish of West Downham is a small Fenland parish in the west of the county of Norfolk. There is no village called West Downham within the parish, only a small Hamlet which is called Salter's Lode. The hamlet is strung out along the A1122 road that hugs the drains and the course of the river Great Ouse, and consist of a few isolated farms standing out in the Fen. The name of Downham comes from the Old English meaning homestead on a hill, and West designation from the direction from near-by of Downham Market. Salter's Lode derives its name the Old English meaning place where salt is kept, and watercourse or drainage channel.