Brockdish 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 authority ...

in the

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the 2011 Census. History The district was formed on 1 April 197 ...

district 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 ...

, England. The village is situated on the

River Waveney The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The "ey" part of the name means "river" thus the name is tautological. Course The source of the River Wavene ...

(south of which is

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

), and is about 3 miles (5 km) south-west of

Harleston Harleston may refer to: Places * Harleston, Devon *Harleston, Norfolk *Harleston, Suffolk People with the surname *Bernard W. Harleston (born 1930), American college administrator * Edward Harleston (1794–1826), American planter and politician ...

History

Brockdish's name is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for enclosed land adjacent to a stream. 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 manusc ...

, Brockdish is described as consisting of 39 households belonging to

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

and

Bury St Edmunds Abbey The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. It is in the town that grew up around it, Bury St Edmunds in the county of Suffolk, England. It was ...

. In 1996, the village was bypassed after the completion of a section of the A143.

Geography

According to the 2001 census the parish (including

Thorpe Abbotts Thorpe Abbotts is a village and (as Thorpe Abbots) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Brockdish, in the South Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. The village is east of Diss, south south west of Norwich and north eas ...

) had a population of 605 in 265 households, the population increasing at the 2011 Census to 681. Brockdish is the highest point on the River Waveney from which canoes and kayaks can access the water, the entry point being at the foot of the common.

St. Peter and St. Paul Church

Brockdish's Parish Church is dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

and

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

and is of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

origin. The church was significantly remodelled in the

Victorian Era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

in a faux-Medieval style.

Place of Interest

Brockdish originally had two

public houses 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 ...

until the closure of 'The Greyhound' in 2000, leaving the remaining pub: 'The King's Head'. Brockdish Primary School closed in 2016 due to falling pupil numbers, and was, at once, Norfolk's smallest primary school. Pupils today attend primary education in

Pulham Market Pulham Market is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, situated approximately northeast of Diss and south of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 999 in 443 households as of the 2001 census, the population falling to 977 at ...

or Harleston. Today, the school building is put to use as the Waveney Heritage Centre, a charity dedicated to forwarding local history. Waveney Heritage Centre. (2022). Retrieved November 11, 2022. https://www.waveneyheritage.com/ Pupils usually pursue secondary education at

Harleston Sancroft Academy The Harleston Sancroft Academy is a Church of England all-through school located in Harleston, Norfolk, Harleston, Norfolk, England. It was formed on 1 September 2022 from Archbishop Sancroft High School and Harleston Primary Academy. History ...

Notable Residents

Clementia Taylor Clementia Taylor (Name at birth, née Doughty; 17 December 1810 – 11 April 1908) was an English women's rights activist and radical.''ODNB''. Life Clementia (known as Mentia to her friends) was born in Brockdish, Norfolk, one of twelve childr ...

, women's rights activist and political radical *

Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy (born 16 January 1947) is a British independent politician and a member of the House of Lords. Biography After qualifying as a doctor and then as a psychiatrist she later became an academic in the National Health S ...

War Memorial

Brockdish War Memorial is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cross constructed out of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

, located in St. Peter and St.Paul's Churchyard. It holds the following names for

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 ...

: * Second-Lieutenant Cecil W. M. White (1895-1915), 9th Battalion,

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 ...

* Able-Seaman Edgar A. Butcher (1884-1918), Anson Battalion,

Royal Naval Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

* Pioneer Harry Wilkinson (1894-1918),

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

* Private Ernest E. Shemming (1887-1917), 4th Battalion,

Bedfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the World War ...

* Private Alfred E. Whiting (1883-1916), 7th 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 ...

* Private Robert W. Whiting (1888-1917), 1st Battalion,

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

* Private William J. Day (1899-1917), 7th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment * Private Frederick A. Licence (1891-1918), 2nd 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. ...

* Private Frederick J. Read (1891-1916), 9th Battalion, Essex Regiment * Private Alfred J. Fisher (1897-1918), 428th (Agricultural) Company, Labour Corps * Private Albert V. Day (1894-1916), 1/9th (Queen Victoria's Rifles) Battalion, London Regiment * Private William J. Read (1885-1917), 1/9th Battalion,

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

* Private John N. Hines (1878-1915), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Marshall H. Norman (1882-1916), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private George H. Bloomfield (1894-1917), 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private William B. Hines (1881-1916), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Alfred Foulger (1893-1917), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private William Allum (1893-1917), 2nd 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 Ow ...

* Rifleman Frank V. Barkway (1896-1916), 12th Battalion,

Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

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 opposin ...

: * Private Clifford H. Debenham (1888-1941), 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private Bertie J. Flatman (1920-1943), 5th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment

References

External links

Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub