Hempton 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 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 ...

, along the course of the

River Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England, 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 Conservatio ...

. Hempton is south-west of

Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north-west of Norwich. The town is at the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to N ...

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

Hempton'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 ''Hemma's'' 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 ...

, Hempton is listed as a settlement of 8 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 Brothercross. In 1086, the village was part of the

East Anglian East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

estates of William de Warenne. In 1135, an Augustinian Hospital was founded in the parish which, by 1200, had evolved into a Priory. The building was dissolved in the Sixteenth Century. Recent excavations, coupled with research of records, have established that the importance of this priory had been lost to history. The Priory had previously owned the mill and owned the bridge to Fakenham, together with the next nearby bridge at Ryburgh,. Between 1797 and 1925, a watermill stood in Hempton along the banks of the River Wensum, which was eventually demolished by the East Suffolk and Norfolk Drainage Board. Locally, the mill was known as Goggs' Mill after the miller, Thomas Goggs, who operated the mill from 1850 to 1912.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Hempton has a population of 523 people which shows an increase from the 505 people recorded in the 2011 census. Hempton stands on the

and the A1065, between Mildenhall and

Holy Trinity Church

Hempton's parish church was built in 1856 by

John Henry Hakewill John Henry Hakewill (1810–1880) was an English architect. He designed Stowlangtoft, Stowlangtoft Hall in Suffolk and restored many churches and other public buildings in East Anglia, Wiltshire and Nottinghamshire. Family Hakewill was the son ...

at the request of the Reverend Charles Moxon. Holy Trinity is located within the village on The Green and has been Grade II listed since 2006. The church remains open for Sunday service every week. Holy Trinity was later expanded in the 1950s by J.P. Chaplin using stone from the Church of St. Michael at Thorn which was destroyed during the

Norwich Blitz The Norwich Blitz refers to the heavy bombing of Norwich and surrounding area by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz. Initially bombed in the summer of 1940, N ...

Governance

Hempton 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 The Raynhams 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 ...

. Hempton falls under the

Fakenham & The Raynhams electoral division Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north-west of Norwich. The town is at the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to No ...

for local elections to return a county councillor to

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for Norfolk, England. Below it there are seven second-tier district councils: Breckland District, Breckland, Broadland, Borough of Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmo ...

. Cllr

Tom FitzPatrick Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

has been the county councillor for the Division since 2013. 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

Hempton's war memorial is a set of brass plaques located inside Holy Trinity Church which list the following names for 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 ...

: The following names were added after 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 ...

Footnotes

Notes

References

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