# Brandiston

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**Brandiston** is a [civil parish](/source/Civil_parish) in the [English county](/source/English_county) of [Norfolk](/source/Norfolk). It is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south-east of [Reepham](/source/Reepham,_Norfolk) and 10 miles (16 km) north-west of [Norwich](/source/Norwich). The parish includes the site of the former village of [Guton](/source/Guton).[1] Both Brandiston and Guton are extremely small settlements with a population for the parish of 44 at the 2001 Census. The bulk of the parish is farmland, mainly [arable](/source/Arable_land). At the 2011 Census the population was less than 100 and was included with the civil parish of [Booton](/source/Booton,_Norfolk).

## History

Brandiston's name is of [Anglo-Saxon](/source/Anglo-Saxon) origin.[2] In the [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) it is recorded as a settlement of four households in the [hundred](/source/Hundred_(county_division)) of Eynesford. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of [William the Conqueror](/source/William_the_Conqueror).[3]

Brandiston Hall was built in the 17th-century on the grounds of a medieval hospital, the hall was later expanded in the 19th-century.[4] The still stands and has been Grade II listed since 1952.[5] In the 1850s, four [almshouses](/source/Almshouse) were built for the benefit of the parishioners. These were funded by the generous donations of a William Gurney almost three-hundred years earlier.[6]

During the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), [RAF Swannington](/source/RAF_Swannington) was built in the parish. [Hawker Hurricanes](/source/Hawker_Hurricane) of [No. 85 Squadron RAF](/source/No._85_Squadron_RAF) and [de Havilland Mosquitos](/source/De_Havilland_Mosquito) of [No. 157 Squadron RAF](/source/No._157_Squadron_RAF) were based at the airfield. The aircraft fell into disuse after the war and was eventually sold in 1957, mostly returning to agricultural use.[7]

## Church

Main article: [St Nicholas Church, Brandiston](/source/St_Nicholas_Church,_Brandiston)

Brandiston's parish church is dedicated to [Saint Nicholas](/source/Saint_Nicholas) and is one of Norfolk's remaining 124 [round-tower churches](/source/Round-tower_church). The church dates from the 12th-century, although it was re-modelled in the 14th-century and later restored by [Edward Blore](/source/Edward_Blore) in 1844 at the behest of the local Athill family.[8] Within the church is a stained-glass window designed by the [Percy Bacon Brothers](/source/Percy_Bacon_Brothers). The building is Grade II listed.[9] Today, the church is maintained by the [Churches Conservation Trust](/source/Churches_Conservation_Trust).[10]

## Governance

Brandiston is part of the [electoral ward](/source/Wards_and_electoral_divisions_of_the_United_Kingdom) of Great Witchingham for local elections and is part of the [district](/source/Non-metropolitan_district) of [Broadland](/source/Broadland). It is part of the [Broadland and Fakenham](/source/Broadland_and_Fakenham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) parliamentary constituency.

## References

1. [Parish Summary: Brandiston](https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?TNF144), Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Retrieved 27 September 2025.

1. ["Key to English Place-names"](http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Brandiston). *kepn.nottingham.ac.uk*. Retrieved 2024-11-16.

1. ["Brandiston | Domesday Book"](https://opendomesday.org/place/TG1421/brandiston/). *opendomesday.org*. Retrieved 2024-11-16.

1. ["mnf7439 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer"](https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?mnf7439). *www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk*. Retrieved 2024-11-16.

1. ["BRANDISTON HALL, Brandiston - 1169085 | Historic England"](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1169085?section=official-list-entry). *historicengland.org.uk*. Retrieved 2024-11-16.

1. Matthews, D. (2000). Retrieved November 9, 2022. [http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/b/brandiston/white1883.shtml](http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/b/brandiston/white1883.shtml)

1. ["mnf7465 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer"](https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?mnf7465). *www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk*. Retrieved 2024-11-16.

1. ["Norfolk Churches"](http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/brandiston/brandiston.htm). *www.norfolkchurches.co.uk*. Retrieved 2024-11-16.

1. ["CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, Brandiston - 1076897 | Historic England"](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1076897?section=official-list-entry). *historicengland.org.uk*. Retrieved 2024-11-16.

1. Knott S (2021) [St Nicholas, Brandiston](http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/brandiston/brandiston.htm), Norfolk Churches. Retrieved 9 November 2022.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Brandiston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandiston) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandiston?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.