Briningham is a village and a

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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. The village is located south-west of Holt 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 ...

History

Briningham'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 the village of ''Bryni'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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, Briningham is recorded as a settlement of 35 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 Holt. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Alan of Brittany and Bishop William of Thetford. There are numerous Grade II listed buildings in Briningham including No. 2 & No. 4 on Church Lane (c.1840), Home Farmhouse (Eighteenth Century), Garden Cottage (Seventeenth Century) and Rose Cottage (Eighteenth Century). White House and Mission Hall dates from 1809. The Old White Horse operated as a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

in the Nineteenth Century but is now a residential building. The Bellevue Tower still stands in the village and is most likely the remains of a

smock mill The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This t ...

built in 1721 on the orders of Sir Jacob Astley. Briningham Hall still stands within the village and was built in 1838 in the

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style. There is also a

telephone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; typically the user steps into the booth and closes the boot ...

built in 1935, which is Grade II listed.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Briningham has a population of 112 people which shows a slight decrease from the 130 people recorded in the 2011 census. The nearest railway station is at

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is a seaside town and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District ...

for the

Bittern Line The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the Eurasian bittern, bittern, a r ...

which runs between

, Cromer and Norwich. There is an abandoned railway line which is considered as a footpath, it runs parallel with an old track "the lane" that leads up to Bellevue Tower. The nearest airport is

Norwich International Airport Norwich Airport is an international airport in Norfolk, England, north of the city of Norwich. In 2023, Norwich Airport was the 25th Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic, busiest airport in the UK and busiest in ...

. The B1110, between Holt and

Dereham Dereham (), also known historically as East Dereham, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of the England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about west of the city of Norwich ...

, runs through the village.

St. Maurice's Church

Briningham's parish church is dedicated to

Saint Maurice Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, Maurits, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of tha ...

and dates at its earliest to 1300. The church has been Grade I listed since 1959. The church boasts stained glass depicting the

ascension of Christ The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional statements, holds that Jesus ascended afte ...

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

(installed 1862) and another depicting

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...

and

Saint Agnes Agnes of Rome (21 January 304) is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheranism, Lutheran Chu ...

by Alfred L. Wilkinson. Within St. Maurice's Churchyard there is a large monument made from stone dedicated to a family of local landowners, the Breretons.

Governance

Briningham 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 Stody 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 ...

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer, and the largest town is North Walsham. The district also includes the towns of Fakenham, Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Shering ...

. The village's national constituency is

, which has been represented by the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Steff Aquarone MP since 2024.

Notable People

Peter Whitbread Peter Bruce Pauling Whitbread (25 October 1928 – 26 October 2004) was an English actor and screenwriter. He was born in Norfolk, England and educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. He had a long career in the theatre, including se ...

– English actor and screenwriter who lived and died in Briningham.

Gallery

File:Briningham - geograph.org.uk - 121403.jpg, "The Street" File:Briningham Plantation - geograph.org.uk - 989084.jpg, Briningham Plantation Viewed across harvested cereal field beside the B1354 File:The Street, Briningham - geograph.org.uk - 914437.jpg, "The Street" File:Briningham Bus Stop - geograph.org.uk - 914424.jpg, The bus now calls at the houses of people who have phoned the day before requesting to be collected File:St Maurice, Briningham, Norfolk - geograph.org.uk - 317430.jpg, St Maurice Church File:Houses on The Street in Briningham - geograph.org.uk - 550795.jpg, Houses on The Street

References

External links

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