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Bracon Ash

Bracon Ash
Village and Civil Parish
St Nicholas, Bracon Ash
Bracon Ash is located in Norfolk
Bracon Ash
Bracon Ash
Location within Norfolk
Area9.84 km2 (3.80 sq mi)
Population477 (2021)
• Density48/km2 (120/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTG182001
Civil parish
  • Bracon Ash
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNORWICH
Postcode districtNR14
Dialling code01508
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Norfolk
52°33′17″N 1°13′08″E / 52.554751°N 1.218796°E / 52.554751; 1.218796

Bracon Ash is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of the English county of Norfolk.

Bracon Ash is located 4.4 miles (7.1 km) south-east of Wymondham and 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south-west of Norwich.

History

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Bracon Ash's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a place with abundant bracken and ash.[1]

In the Domesday Book, Bracon Ash is recorded as a settlement of 15 households in the hundred of Humbleyard. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Roger Bigod.[2]

Within the village, there are numerous listed buildings. These include Mergate Hall (Seventeenth Century),[3] Mergate Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century)[4] Home Farm House (Seventeenth Century)[5] and Thatched Cottage (Seventeenth Century).[6]

Geography

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Bracon Ash is bisected by the B1113, between Sproughton and Norwich.

England's smallest official nature reserve Hethel Thorn is accessed from the west of the village.[7] Bracon Ash Common is a small area of woodland and ponds running adjacent to Mergate Lane.

According to the 2021 census, Bracon Ash Parish has a population of 477 people, which has increased slightly from the 460 people listed in the 2011 census.[8]

Amenities within the village include the children's play-park which attracts visitors from the neighboring villages due to its excellent facilities and quiet location.[9]

A public sculpture of 'Bracon Ash Village Sign' is located opposite the village hall. Designed by Jonathan Stevens as a project whilst studying at Wymondham College in 1994.[10]

St. Nicholas' Church

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Bracon Ash's parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and is located on Church Road. The church was originally built in the Fourteenth Century with significant rebuilding and restoration in the Nineteenth Century. Within the churchyard is an Eighteenth Century mausoleum, dedicated to the Berney family.[11] St. Nicholas' has been Grade I listed since 1959.[12]

Governance

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Bracon Ash is part of the electoral ward of Mulbarton & Stoke Holy Cross for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is South Norfolk which has been represented by Labour's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

War memorial

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Bracon Ash's war memorial is located along 'The Street' and takes the form of a rough granite obelisk.[13] The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Burial / Other Commemoration
L/Cpl. J. Frederick Mallett 7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment 13 October 1915 Loos Memorial
L/Cpl. James F. Hammond 8th Battalion, Norfolk Rgt. 11 August 1917 Menin Gate
OS Edward Bunn HMS Vanguard 9 July 1917 Chatham Naval Memorial
Pvt. Walter E. Peel 1st (British Columbia) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force 17 May 1915 Eastern Cemetery, Boulogne-sur-Mer
Pvt. Albert E. Chilestone 13th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry 3 August 1916 Thiepval Memorial
Pvt. Bertie W. Howlett 53rd Company, Machine Gun Corps 22 October 1917 Tyne Cot
Pvt. Robert F. Peel 7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment 30 November 1917 Cambrai Memorial
Pvt. Arthur Canham 8th Battalion, Norfolk Rgt. 24 May 1916 St. Pierre Cemerert, Amiens
Pvt. Arthur Devereux 9th Battalion, Norfolk Rgt. 26 September 1915 Loos Memorial
Pvt. W. Ernest Dye 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment 3 October 1917 Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery
Rfn. Wilfred R. Stackard 16th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps 3 November 1918 St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen

And: G. Hammond, F. Loveday, H. Norman & E. Smith. As well as the following for the Second World War:

Rank Name Unit Date of Death Other Commemoration / Burial
Pvt. Alfred H. Spinks 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment 28 October 1941 War Cemetery, Tobruk

References

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  1. ^ "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  2. ^ Domesday Book. (1086). Retrieved November 6, 2022. https://opendomesday.org/place/TG1700/bracon-ash/
  3. ^ "MERGATE HALL, Bracon Ash - 1050692 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  4. ^ "MERGATE FARMHOUSE, Bracon Ash - 1050690 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Home Farm House, Bracon Ash - 1440926 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Thatched Cottage, Bracon Ash - 1050691 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Hethel Old Thorn". www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Bracon Ash (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Bracon Ash Park, Bracon Ash, Norfolk". freeparks.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Bracon Ash Village Sign from the Recording Archive for Public Sculpture in Norfolk & Suffolk". www.racns.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  12. ^ "CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, Bracon Ash - 1050695 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  13. ^ "Bracon Ash and Hethel War Memorial, Bracon Ash - 1442267 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024.

http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Bracon%20Ash

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Media related to Bracon Ash at Wikimedia Commons


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