Elsing is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The village is located north-east of

Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40& ...

and north-west of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, close to the

River Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. The Wensum is ...

History

Elsing's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for the settlement of Elesa's people. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

, Elsing is listed as a settlement of 20 households in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Eynesford. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of William de Warenne. Elsing Hall was built in the late-Fifteenth Century as a fortified manor house for the Hastings family of

Gressenhall Gressenhall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The villages name origin is uncertain possibly 'Grassy nook of land' or 'gravelly nook of land'. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,008 in 443 households ...

. The agricultural land surrounding the hall has yielded many Medieval artefacts including a pilgrim's badge, a French

jeton Jetons or jettons are tokens or coin-like medals produced across Europe from the 13th through the 18th centuries. They were produced as counters for use in calculation on a counting board, a lined board similar to an abacus. They also found use ...

and parts of a crossbow, with a good example of a Sixteenth Century

priest hole A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built into many of the principal Catholic houses of England, Wales and Ireland during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, there were se ...

inside. The hall was heavily restored in the mid-Nineteenth Century by

Thomas Jeckyll Thomas Jeckyll (1827 Wymondham, Norfolk – 1881 Norwich) (baptised on 20 June 1827) was an English architect who excelled in the creation of metalwork and furniture strongly influenced by Japanese design, and is best known for his planning i ...

. Some sources suggest that Medieval Elsing had a large population with its own marketplace and guildhall. Elsing Mill was first built in 1809 and operated as a paper mill until 1818. The mill subsequently reopened in 1854 as a grain mill and remained open until 1970. Today, the mill is a private residence.

Geography

In the 2011 Census, Elsing has a population of 244 residents living in 125 households. Furthermore, the parish has a total area of . Elsing falls within the constituency of Mid Norfolk and is represented at

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

by George Freeman MP of the Conservative Party. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of Breckland.

St. Mary's Church

Elsing's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and was built in the Fourteenth Century, largely as a mausoleum for Sir Hugh Hastings, who is depicted in the stained-glass of St. Mary's alongside

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

and

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...

Amenities

The Mermaid Inn

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

dates from the mid-Sixteenth Century and is now closed.

Notable Residents

* Bob Simpson (1944-2006)- BBC journalist

War Memorial

Elsing's war memorial takes the form of stone column topped with a Celtic cross with the names of the fallen inscribed on a small plinth below, located inside St. Mary's Churchyard. The memorial was unveiled in August 1921 by a party of local dignitaries led by Bertram Pollock, Bishop of Norwich and lists the following names for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: * Rgt-Sgt.Maj. Harry J. Mason (1872-1918),

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

* Sgt. Donald W. Kerrison (d.1918), 7th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment * Cpl. Charles Candy (d.1917), 50th Company,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks ...

* L-Cpl. John W. Kendall (1893-1917), 8th Battalion,

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service i ...

* Pvt. Walter G. Isbell (1896-1917), 10th Battalion,

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

* Pvt. S. William Rix (1898-1918), 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers * Pvt. John C. Dack (d.1916), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Pvt. Benjamin R. Wire (1894-1916), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Pvt. Matthew E. Bowes (d.1918), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Pvt. George Rix (1885-1916), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Pvt. E. William Dack (d.1917), 7th Battalion,

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's O ...

* Harry Lawrence And, the following for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

: * Sgt. Keith S. Bushell (1919-1940), No. 206 Squadron RAF * Pvt. Gordon R. Isbell (1920-1944), East Surrey RegimentSmith, L. (2003). Retrieved December 28, 2022. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/Elsing.html

References

External links

*
Elsing Mill
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk Breckland District