Brettenham, Norfolk

Human settlement in England

Brettenham

District

Breckland

Norfolk

Region

East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townTHETFORDPostcode districtIP24Dialling code01842PoliceNorfolkFire Norfolk Ambulance East of England Websitehttp://eoe.xarg.co.uk/brettenham-and-kilverstone-parish-council/^{[permanent dead link]}

List of places: UK; England; Norfolk

52°24′56″N 0°50′42″E / 52.41555°N 0.845°E / 52.41555; 0.845

Brettenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 26.37 km² (10.18 sq mi) and had a population of 475 in 159 households at the 2001 census,^[1] including Rushford and increasing to 555 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland.

History

Brettenham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Bretta's village or farmstead.^[3]

In the Domesday Book, Brettenham is recorded as consisting of 40 households which are divided in ownership between Roger Bigod, St. Etheldreda's Abbey in Ely, Eudo Dapifer and John, Nephew of Walderan.^[4]

Parish church

St. Andrew's Church is Norman in origin and suffered extensive damage in a fire in 1693 that also destroyed the parsonage.^[5] The church was significantly remodelled in the 1850s by Samuel Sanders Teulon at great expense and subsequently by A. L. Moore.^[6]

In the tower hangs five bells the earliest complete ring by John Taylor & Co in the country. They were cast in 1852 as a gift by Isabella Buxton who 'contributed a peal of five finely toned bells, cast by Messrs Taylors of Loughborough,' according to the Norfolk Chronicle as part of renovations to the tower. The bell frame and fittings have been damaged due to a leak in the tower roof so ringing ceased in 1930. Minor repairs were made in 1991, however one of the foundation beams was determined to be weaker than originally thought, thus ringing was stopped.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009.
^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
^ "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
^ "Brettenham | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
^ "Hundred of Shropham: Bretenham". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
^ "Norfolk Churches". www.norfolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
^ "St-Andrew's-Church-Brettenham". www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2022.