Brandiston is a small village and
civil parish near the centre of the county of
Norfolk, England, about two miles south-east of the small market town of
Reepham, five miles south-west of the larger town of
Aylsham and 10 miles north-west of the city of
Norwich. For the purposes of local government, it falls within
Broadland district. The
hamlet of
Guton
Guton was a settlement in the county of Norfolk in England mentioned in the Domesday Book as Guthetuna. It is described as being held by Osbert from Tihel le Breton. It had a mill and 14 beehives. It was considered a small town with 40 households ( ...
lies within the parish.
Geography
The 2001 census recorded a population for Brandiston of just 44. The bulk of the parish is occupied by farmland, mainly
arable
Arable relates to the growing of crops:
* Arable farming or agronomy, the cultivation of field crops
* Arable land, land upon which crops are cultivated
* Arable crops program The arable crops program is a consolidated support system operated und ...
. At the 2011 Census the population less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of
Booton.
History
Brandiston'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 Brant's farmstead or settlement.
In the
Domesday Book, Brandiston is described as a settlement of four households, with the village belonging to
William the Conqueror.
Brandiston is one of Norfolk's remaining 124
round-tower churches, which date from before the
Norman Conquest. St Nicholas' Church was significantly re-modelled in the late Fourteenth Century and, again, in 1844 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
He was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore.
Blore's backg ...
at the request of the local Athill family. Today, the church is not in frequent use and is maintained by the
Churches Conservation Trust.
In the 1850s, four
almshouses
An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...
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
No. 157 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron active as a night fighter unit in the Second World War.
History Formation and First World War
No. 157 Squadron Royal Air Force formed on 14 July 1918 at RAF Upper Heyford and was eventually eq ...
. The aircraft fell into disuse after the war and was eventually sold in 1957, mostly returning to agricultural use.
Places of Interest
There is a small
common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally 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.
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:
* Lieutenant Preston A. A. Enright (1899-1918),
No. 22 Squadron,
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
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* Second-Lieutenant Anthony B. Enright (1896-1917), 17th Brigade
Royal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...
[ Imperial War Museum. (2022). Retrieved November 09, 2022. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/19615 ]
References
Broadland
Villages in Norfolk
Civil parishes in Norfolk
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