Burston, Norfolk

Burston
St. Mary's Church
Burston Location within Norfolk
Area	9.17 km2 (3.54 sq mi)
Population	568 (2011) [1]
•  Density	62/km2 (160/sq mi)
Civil parish	Burston and Shimpling
District	South Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Diss
Postcode district	IP22
Dialling code	01379
UK Parliament	Waveney Valley
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°24′N1°09′E / 52.4°N 1.15°E / 52.4; 1.15

Burston is a village and former civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

Burston is located 2.6 miles (4.2 km) north-east of Diss and 16 miles (26 km) south-west of Norwich. On 1 April 1935, the parish of Shimpling and Burston were merged to form Burston and Shimpling. ^[2]

History

Burston's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a settlement or farmstead built around a landslip. ^[3]

In the Domesday Book, Burston is recorded as a settlement of 41 households in the hundred of Diss. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of King William I and Robert Malet. ^[4]

The local pub, The Crown, dates back to the Seventeenth Century ^[5] and still operates as a pub and restaurant. ^[6]

From 1914 to 1939, Burston was the scene of the longest strike in history when schoolteachers Tom and Annie Higdon went on strike in protest over unhygienic and inadequate schooling conditions for the local children. The children were instead invited to attend Burston Strike School which was built by public subscription in 1917, the patrons names are carved into bricks used to build the school where Leo Tolstoy's name is visible. ^[7] In 1949, the School building was registered as an educational charity and is currently operated by a board of trustees as a museum, visitor centre, village amenity and educational archive. A rally to commemorate the strike has been organised on the first Sunday of September every year since 1984 by the Transport and General Workers' Union and its successor organisation, Unite the Union.

On 10 July 1983, the new parish was renamed to "Burston and Shimpling". ^[8]

Other listed buildings within Burston include Manor Farmhouse (Sixteenth Century), ^[9] Crown Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century), ^[10] Red House (Seventeenth Century) ^[11] and Valley Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century). ^[12]

Geography

In 1931 the parish of Burston (prior to the merge) had a population of 279. ^[13] This was the last time separate population statistics for Burston were collected in the census.

St. Mary's Church

Burston's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and dates from the Fifteenth Century, though the tower collapsed in 1753 and was never re-built. St. Mary's is located on the junction of Diss Road and Mill Road and has been Grade II listed since 1959. ^[14] The church was restored in the Nineteenth Century and again in 2013 and today boasts a set of royal arms from the reign of King James I. Tom and Annie Higdon, leaders of the Burston Strike School, are buried side-by-side in the churchyard. ^[15]

Amenities

Burston once had its own railway station, with services on the Great Eastern Main Line between Norwich and London Liverpool Street. The station closed in 1966.

Notable Residents

• Annie Higdon- (1864–1946) schoolmistress, lived and worked in Burston.
• Tom Higdon- schoolmaster, lived and worked in Burston.

Governance

Burston is part of the electoral ward of Bressingham & Burston for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is Waveney Valley which has been represented by the Green Party's Adrian Ramsay MP since 2024.

War memorial

Burston war memorial was unveiled in 2019 after a public subscription campaign and is a glass topped brick memorial on Church Green. the memorial lists the following names for the First World War: ^[16]

Rank	Name	Unit	Date of Death	Burial
LSgt.	Herbert Garnham	9th Bn., Norfolk Regiment	15 Sep. 1916	Thiepval Memorial
Cpl.	George W. Durbidge	12th Bn., Machine Gun Corps	15 Dec. 1918	Étaples Military Cemetery
Pte.	William E. East	2nd Bn., Essex Regiment	1 Jul. 1916	Serre Road Cemetery
Pte.	Gurney R. Sandy	8th Bn., Lincolnshire Regiment	10 Sep. 1918	Vis-en-Artois Memorial
Pte.	Edward Potter	2nd Bn., Norfolk Regiment	26 Mar. 1917	Baghdad War Cemetery
Pte.	George W. Sandy	7th Bn., Norfolk Rgt.	13 Oct. 1915	Loos Memorial
Pte.	Herbert W. Johnson	2nd Bn., South Wales Borderers	23 Apr. 1917	Arras Memorial

And: Frederick G. Bryant.

References

1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
2. "Relationships and Changes Burston CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 2 October 2022.
3. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
4. "Burston | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
5. "THE CROWN PUBLIC HOUSE, Burston and Shimpling - 1373592 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
6. "Welcome to The Burston Crown | Pub in Burston, Diss, Norfolk". The Burston Crown. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
7. "THE STRIKE SCHOOL, Burston and Shimpling - 1171245 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
8. "Depwade Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
9. "MANOR HOUSE FARMHOUSE, Burston and Shimpling - 1049586 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
10. "CROWN FARMHOUSE, Burston and Shimpling - 1049585 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
11. "RED HOUSE, Burston and Shimpling - 1049584 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
12. "VALLEY FARMHOUSE, Burston and Shimpling - 1049621 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
13. "Population statistics Burston CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
14. "CHURCH OF ST MARY, Burston and Shimpling - 1305672 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
15. "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
16. "Burston". www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-24.