Hougham comes from the Old English ‘hām’ meaning a ‘village, an estate, homestead’
combined with a warlord’s name; therefore, ‘Huhha’s homestead/village’. The Domesday
Book records Hougham as Hicham and Huham.
Hougham parish church is a Grade: I listed building, dedicated to Saint Lawrence.
The Normans built it in the 12th century, with the north aisle added in the following
100 years. In 1800, Edward Hasted described St Lawrence’s church as an ‘ancient building,
but small, consisting of two small isles and a chancel, having neither tower nor
steeple, but it has a place for three small bells’. In 1866, J Messenger carried
out restoration work.
