Brandiston

Brandiston
Brandiston St Nicholas
Brandiston Location within Norfolk
Area	3.14 km2 (1.21 sq mi)
Population	44 (2001 census)
• Density	14/km2 (36/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TG130218
Civil parish	Brandiston
District	Broadland
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NORWICH
Postcode district	NR10
Dialling code	01603
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Broadland and Fakenham

Brandiston is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

Brandiston is located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south-east of Reepham and 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Norwich. Brandiston's civil parish also includes the small hamlet of Guton.

History

Brandiston's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Brant's farmstead or settlement.

In the Domesday Book, Brandiston is recorded as a settlement of 4 households in the hundred 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 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, Brandiston was home to RAF Swannington. Throughout the war, Brandiston was home to the Hurricanes of No. 85 Squadron RAF and the Mosquitos 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

Main article: St Nicholas Church, Brandiston

Brandiston's parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas 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 in 1844 at the behest of the local Athill family. Within the church is a stained-glass window designed by the Percy Bacon Brothers. 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.

Places of interest

There is a small common 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 of Great Witchingham for local elections and is part of the district of Broadland.

The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham 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. They are listed as:

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Other Commemoration / Burial
Lt.	Preston A. A. Enright	No. 22 Squadron RAF	2 Nov. 1918	Doiran Memorial
2Lt.	Anthony B. Enright	17th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery	11 May 1917	Étaples Military Cemetery