Thetford is a market town in Norfolk, England. It was an important tribal center for the Iceni Britons, and it became the principal center of the eastern Heptarchy during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain; the Anglo-Saxons named the town Theodford, meaning "people's ford". Thetford was a regular battle site between the local Saxons and invading Vikings during the Viking invasions of England, and a monastery was built in 1020, 944 free burgesses lived in Thetford under King Edward the Confessor, and Thetford came to have 4,500 people by 1086, making it the sixth-largest town in Britain at the time. From 1067 to 1069, Thetford Castle was built by the Normans. During the Tudor period, Thetford had fallen into great ruin and decay, and it was struck hard by the Dissolution of the Monasteries, which ended the traffic of pilgrims coming to Thetford. From 1819 to 1838, failed efforts were made to transform Thetford into a spa town. It remained a small town until after World War II, when the London County Council doubled Thetford's population by relocating several Londoners and businesses to the town, spurring its revitalization. By the 1980s, Thetford had 21,000 people, making it the fastest-growing town in Norfolk. In 2011, Thetford had a population of 24,340 people, and Thetford and the surrounding area were Conservative Party strongholds from 1964 on.
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