Hempton


Hempton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, along the course of the River Wensum.
Hempton is south-west of Fakenham and north west of Norwich.

History

Hempton's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Hemma's settlement.
In the Domesday Book, Hempton is listed as a settlement of 8 households in the hundred of Brothercross. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of William de Warenne.
In 1135, an Augustinian Hospital was founded in the parish which, by 1200, had evolved into a Priory. The building was dissolved in the Sixteenth Century. Recent excavations, coupled with research of records, have established that the importance of this priory had been lost to history. The Priory had previously owned the mill and owned the bridge to Fakenham, together with the next nearby bridge at Ryburgh,.
Between 1797 and 1925, a watermill stood in Hempton along the banks of the River Wensum, which was eventually demolished by the East Suffolk and Norfolk Drainage Board. Locally, the mill was known as Goggs' Mill after the miller, Thomas Goggs, who operated the mill from 1850 to 1912.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Hempton has a population of 523 people which shows an increase from the 505 people recorded in the 2011 census.
Hempton stands on the River Wensum and the A1065, between Mildenhall and Fakenham.

Holy Trinity Church

Hempton's parish church was built in 1856 by John Henry Hakewill at the request of the Reverend Charles Moxon. Holy Trinity is located within the village on The Green and has been Grade II listed since 2006. The church remains open for Sunday service every week.
Holy Trinity was later expanded in the 1950s by J.P. Chaplin using stone from the Church of St. Michael at Thorn which was destroyed during the Norwich Blitz.

Governance

Hempton is part of the electoral ward of The Raynhams for local elections and is part of the district of North Norfolk.
Hempton falls under the Fakenham & The Raynhams electoral division for local elections to return a county councillor to Norfolk County Council. Cllr Tom FitzPatrick has been the county councillor for the Division since 2013.
The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.

War Memorial

Hempton's war memorial is a set of brass plaques located inside Holy Trinity Church which list the following names for the First World War:
RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/Commemoration
LCpl.Robert F. Cooke9th Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers4 Oct. 1917Cement House Cemetery
Dvr.William Morgan33rd Bde., Royal Field Artillery28 May 1918Hermonville Cemetery
Gnr.Robert Barnes22nd Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery29 Sep. 1917Ypres Reservoir Cemetery
Pte.Christopher Gardner2nd Bn., Border Regiment16 May 1915Le Touret Memorial
Pte.Albert E. Yallop265th Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery12 Dec. 1917Lijssenthoek Cemetery
Pte.Charles E. Crisp2/6th Bn., Gloucestershire Regiment6 Apr. 1917Thiepval Memorial
Pte.Albert E. Nicholson2nd (City) Bn., London Regiment12 Apr. 1917Arras Memorial
Pte.Robert Howes27th Coy., Machine Gun Corps3 May 1917Arras Memorial
Pte.Frederick J. Varley5th Bn., Norfolk Regiment19 Apr. 1917Gaza War Cemetery
Pte.Lewis H. Wright7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.19 Feb. 1916Chocques Cemetery
Pte.Horace A. Rump8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.19 Jul. 1916Thiepval Memorial
Pte.Richard H.M. Barnes9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.15 Sep. 1916Serre Road Cemetery
Pte.Henry J. Balls9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.14 Oct. 1917Thiepval Memorial
Pte.Charles E. Tuck9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.18 Oct. 1918Niederzwehren Cemetery
Pte.Isaac Sheringham2nd Bn., Suffolk Regiment11 Apr. 1917Tilloy British Cemetery
Pte.Robert Wright11th Bn., Royal Sussex Regiment16 Sep. 1916Auchonvillers Cemetery

The following names were added after the Second World War:
RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/Commemoration
SLt.Glyn R. GlynnHMS Manners26 Jan. 1945Fakenham Cemetery
FSgt.Bernard UttingNo. 9 Squadron RAF31 Mar. 1944Fakenham Cemetery
Sgt.Donald A. Jones5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment22 Jan. 1942Kranji War Memorial
ASBertram G. DewHMS President7 Nov. 1942Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Gnr.Frederick H. Barber61 Regt., Royal Artillery16 Dec. 1944Schoonselhof Cemetery
Pte.Ernest R. SmithRoyal Army Service Corps12 Jan. 1940Grange Road Cemetery
Pte.Walter W. Chapman2nd Bn., Hampshire Regiment9 Sep. 1943Salerno War Cemetery
Pte.Ralph Jones5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment14 Feb. 1942Kranji War Cemetery
Pte.Leslie Palmer5th Bn., Royal Norfolks14 Jun. 1943Kanchanaburi War Cemetery
Pte.Jack Tooley5th Bn., Royal Norfolks21 Sep. 1944Kranji War Memorial