Hempnall is located 6.8 miles (10.9km) north of Harleston and 8.4 miles (13.5km) south of Norwich.
History
Hempnall's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Hemma's nook of land.[1]
In the Domesday Book, Hempnall is listed as a settlement of 57 households in the hundred of Depwade. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of Roger Bigod and Ralph Baynard.[2]
According to John Wesley's journal, on 4 September 1759 he walked the nine miles from Norwich to preach in Hempnall market place. He described how he was followed by a mob from Norwich, who may have been financed by the city's brewers, and the mob's ringleader tried to disrupt the proceedings with a horn. This was quickly thrown away by one of the crowd, and the others were soon deeply attentive to John Wesley's message: "By grace ye are saved through faith".[citation needed]
During the Eighteenth Century, a workhouse was built in Hempnall but no longers stands.[3]
There have been reported sightings of Black Shuck in Hempnall.[5]
Geography
According to the 2021 census, Hempnall has a total population of 1,238 people which demonstrates a decrease from the 1,292 people listed in the 2011 census.[6]
St. Margaret's Church
Hempnall's parish church is dedicated to Saint Margaret the Virgin and dates from the Thirteenth Century. St. Margaret's is located within the village on Church Plain and has been Grade I listed since 1959.[7] The church holds Sunday service every Sunday.[8]
St. Margaret's suffered two devastating fires, one in the Fourteenth Century and another in the Seventeenth Century though a medieval font and Georgian pulpit survive.[9]
Hempnall is home to a popular Tennis Club. In the heart of South Norfolk, the club boasts 2 quality floodlit hard courts that can be hired all year round to the public and club members.
Hempnall War Memorial is a wheel-headed cross with a plinth and a rustic base located at the junction of Broaden Street and The Street. The memorial was unveiled in December 1919 by W.H. Couzens-Hardy MP.[11] A plaque was also added for casualties from the Second Boer War:[12][13]
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