Hempnall
| Hempnall | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 St Margaret's Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TM236942 |
| Location: | 52°30’0"N, 1°17’35"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,238 (2021) |
| Post town: | Norwich |
| Postcode: | NR15 |
| Dialling code: | 01508 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Norfolk |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South Norfolk |
Hempnall is a village in Norfolk, standing seven miles to the north of Harleston and eight and a half miles south of Norwich.
The name ‘Hempnall' is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Hennan healh'; 'Hemma's nook of land'.[1]
The 2021 census recorded a parish population of 1,238.
History
In the Domesday Book, Hempnall is listed as a settlement of 57, divided between the estates of Roger Bigod and Ralph Baynard.[2]
John Wesley's journal, on 4 September 1759 records that 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".
During the eighteenth century, a workhouse was built in Hempnall but no longers stands.[3]
During the Second World War, a decoy airfield was built in Hempnall to distract the attentions of the Luftwaffe away from RAF Hardwick.[4]
Parish church
The parish church, St Margaret the Virgin, on Church Plain, dates from the thirteenth century. It is a Grade I listed building.[5]
St. Margaret's suffered two devastating fires; one in the fourteenth century and another in the seventeenth century. Nevertheless, a mediæval font and Georgian pulpit survive.[6]
Sport and leisure
There is a village hall here, and a playing field. 'The Hempnall Trust', a village charity, runs The Hempnall Mill Centre at the site of Hempnall mill.
- Tennis: with two floodlit hard courts
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Hempnall) |
References
- ↑ Place-Names
- ↑ Hempnall in the Domesday Book
- ↑ "MNF15977 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF15977.
- ↑ "MNF32723 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer". https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF32723.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1050328: Church of St Margaret, Hempnall (Grade I listing)
- ↑ "Hempnall". http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/hempnall/hempnall.htm.