Bracon Ash

Bracon Ash
Village and Civil Parish
St Nicholas, Bracon Ash
Bracon Ash Location within Norfolk
Area	9.84 km2 (3.80 sq mi)
Population	477 (2021)
•  Density	48/km2 (120/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TG182001
Civil parish	Bracon Ash
District	South Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NORWICH
Postcode district	NR14
Dialling code	01508
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	South Norfolk
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°33′17″N1°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

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

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

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

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

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

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

External links

Media related to Bracon Ash at Wikimedia Commons