Human settlement in England
Bressingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 15.77 km2 (6.09 sq mi) and had a population of 751 in 305 households as of the 2001 census,[1] the population increasing to 882 at the 2011 census.
History
The name Bressingham is of Old English origin and refers to the homestead of Briosa's people.[2]
Bressingham is mentioned in the Domesday Book as consisting of 47 households, which placed it in the largest 20% of settlements in 1086. At this time, Bressingham was divided between the land of William I (2 acres of meadow, 6 pigs and woodland) and Bury St Edmunds Abbey (16 acres of meadow, 26 pigs and woodland).[3]
Bressingham's St. John the Baptist Church was built in the Perpendicular Gothic Style in the 15th century, yet features of the interior, specifically the chancel, date back to the 14th century. The stained glass windows depict St. Peter, St. Paul, John the Baptist and Christ, and were installed by J & J King of Norwich in 1877.[4]
From 1804, Bressingham had a thriving Amicable Society with upwards of thirty members agreeing to a rudimentary form of life insurance. The society conducted its meetings in the Chequers pub.[5]
Governance
Bressingham is part of the electoral ward of Bressingham & Burston for local elections and is classified as a district of South Norfolk.
Bressingham's national constituency is South Norfolk and has been represented by Richard Bacon MP at Parliament since 2001.
The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 2,810.[6]
War Memorial
The Bressingham Parish War Memorial is found on the junction between School Road and High Road. It commemorates the following individuals who died in the First World War:
- Private Harry Flatman (1880–1918), 20th (Football) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment
- Private John Fortis (1879–1917), 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
- George Garland
- Rifleman Thomas E. Goodswen (1894–1918), 8th (Post Office) Battalion, London Regiment
- Private George H. Hall (1898–1915), 3rd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
- Corporal George H. Hoskins (1876–1919), 144th Siege, Royal Garrison Artillery
- Private Herbert C. Kent, 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
- Private William R. Leighton, 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
- Sergeant Charles W. Parsley, 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
- Private Victor J. M. Rawlinson, 9th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
- Private Frank V. Rodwell, 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
- Private John H. Rolfe, 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
