Brandiston is a small 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. Brandiston is located south-east of Reepham and north-west of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. Brandiston's civil parish also includes the small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Guton.

History

Brandiston's name is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin and derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for Brant's farmstead or settlement. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, Brandiston is recorded as a settlement of 4 households in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Eynesford. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of King William I. Brandiston Hall was built in the seventeenth century on the grounds of a medieval hospital, the hall was later expanded in the nineteenth century. The still stands and has been Grade II listed since 1952. In the 1850s, four

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable organization, charitable public housing, housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the povert ...

were built for the benefit of the parishioners. These were funded by the generous donations of a William Gurney almost three-hundred years earlier. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Brandiston was home to RAF Swannington. Throughout the war, Brandiston was home to the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

of No. 85 Squadron RAF and the

Mosquitos Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...

of No. 157 Squadron RAF. The aircraft fell into disuse after the war and was eventually sold in 1957, mostly returning to agricultural use.

Geography

The 2001 census recorded a population for Brandiston of just 44. The bulk of the parish is occupied by farmland, mainly arable. At the 2011 Census the population less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Booton.

St. Nicholas' Church

Brandiston's parish church is dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

and is one of Norfolk's remaining 124 round-tower churches. The church dates from the Twelfth Century, though it has been re-modelled in the Fourteenth Century and was later restored by

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career Blore was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's backg ...

in 1844 at the behest of the local Athill family. Within the church is a stained-glass window designed by the

Percy Bacon Brothers Percy Bacon and Brothers was a firm which produced stained glass, church furnishings, and decorations. The firm was set up in 1892 by stained glass artist and sculptor, Percy Charles Haydon Bacon, and operated for many years from 11 Newman Stree ...

. St. Nicholas' has been Grade II listed since 1961. Today, the church is not in frequent use and is maintained by the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

Places of interest

There is a small

common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

in the west of the parish, surrounded by cottages that were originally built to house labourers for Guton Hall and The Grove in Booton. The remains of a stump cross are on the eastern boundary of the parish, on the Cawston-Norwich road.

Governance

Brandiston is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Great Witchingham for local elections and is part of 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, municip ...

Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based at the Broadland Business Park on the outskirts of Norwich. The district includes the towns of Acle, Aylsham, Reepham, Spro ...

. The village's national constituency is

Broadland and Fakenham Broadland and Fakenham is a Norfolk constituency, which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2019 general election by Jerome Mayhew, a Conservative. Prior to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, ...

which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.

War memorial

St. Nicholas' Church holds a marble plaque commemorating the deaths of the two sons of the parish rector during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. They are listed as:

References

Broadland Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk {{authority control