Coordinates: 52°33′30″N 0°23′23″E / 52.55839°N 0.38978°E
Hilgay is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, 4 miles (6.4 km) outside of Downham Market. It covers an area of 33.38 km2 (12.89 sq mi) and had a population of 1,174 in 500 households as of the 2001 census, increasing to 1,341 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
Other places nearby are Fordham, Ryston, Southery and Denver.
Hilgay village sits on a raised isle, some 66 feet (20 m) above the surrounding fenland. Its elevation has become more pronounced as the draining of the fenland has caused the ground to shrink. It was notable in Saxon and early Norman times for the large numbers of fish and eels found there. Hilgay Old Bridge still crosses the river, but the newer A10 road bypass crosses just below it.
A journalist describes Hilgay like this:
The scholar and poet Phineas Fletcher (1580 -1650) became chaplain to Sir Henry Willoughby, who presented him in 1621 to the rectory of Hilgay, Norfolk, where he married and spent the rest of his life.