Gissing ( ) 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. 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 ...

. Gissing is located about north of Diss and south-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

Gissing'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 ''Gyssa's'' or ''Gyssi'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 ...

, Gissing is listed as a settlement of 55 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 Diss. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of

King William King William may refer to: People Bimbia * William I of Bimbia * William II of Bimbia () Britain and Ireland * William of England (disambiguation), multiple kings * William I, King of Scots (–1214), also known as William the Lion German Empir ...

Robert Malet Robert Malet (c. 1050 – by 1130) was a Norman- English baron and a close advisor of Henry I. Early life Malet was the son of William Malet, and inherited his father's great honour of Eye in 1071. This made him one of the dozen or so g ...

, Roger Bigod and the Abbey of St. Edmund. Gissing Hall, a 15th century mansion house, is located in the parish. Today the hall operates as a hotel and restaurant. During 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 ...

, a pillbox and searchlight battery were built in Gissing to defend against a possible

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

invasion. On 29 January 1944, two Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

collided in mid-air above Gissing whilst assembling for a strategic bombing raid on

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. A total of 14 aviators were killed in the collision.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Gissing has a total population of 257 people which demonstrates an increase from the 252 people listed in the 2011 census.

St. Mary's Church

Gissing's parish church is dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and is one of Norfolk's 124 remaining round-tower churches, dating from the Eleventh Century. St. Mary's is located within the village on Lower Street and has been Grade I listed since 1959. The church holds church services twice a month and is the focus for an active Friends of Gissing Church who fundraise for maintenance projects on the building. St. Mary's holds an elaborate mausoleum to the Kemp family and several marble monuments inside.

Governance

Gissing is an

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 ...

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 ...

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. The largest town is Wymondham, and the district also includes the towns of Costessey, Diss, Harleston, Hingham, Loddon and Long Stratton. The council was based in Long S ...

. The village's national constituency is

Waveney Valley Waveney Valley is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament, created following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. Since its first election in 2024, it has been represented by Adrian Ramsay of the Green Part ...

which has been represented by the Green Party's

Adrian Ramsay Adrian Philip Ramsay is a British politician who has served as co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales since 2021 and as the Member of Parliament for Waveney Valley since 2024. He was previously the deputy leader of the Green Party ...

since 2024.

War Memorial

Gissing's war memorial takes the form of a rough-hewn

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

with a sword of sacrifice and is located just outside of St. Mary's Churchyard. The fundraising for the memorial was completed by a committee led by the Reverend W.E.S. Cooper with the plot being donated by the Sir Kenneth H. Kemp. The memorial was unveiled on 7 March 1920 by Sir Kenneth Kemp and John Bowers, Bishop of Thetford. The memorial lists 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 name was added after the

References

External links

St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches website
{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk