Bracon Ash

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|52.554751|1.218796|display=inline,title}}

| os_grid_reference = TG182001

| official_name = Bracon Ash

| population = 477

| population_ref = (2021)

| area_total_km2 = 9.84

| shire_district = South Norfolk

| shire_county = Norfolk

| region = East of England

| civil_parish = Bracon Ash

| constituency_westminster = South Norfolk

| postcode_district = NR14

| postcode_area = NR

| post_town = NORWICH

| dial_code = 01508

| london_distance =

| static_image_name = St Nicholas, Bracon Ash, Norfolk - geograph.org.uk - 314703.jpg

| static_image_width =

| static_image_caption = St Nicholas, Bracon Ash

| type = Village and Civil Parish

}}

Bracon Ash is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of the English county of Norfolk.

Bracon Ash is located {{Convert|4.4|mi|km}} south-east of Wymondham and {{Convert|5.8|mi|km}} south-west of Norwich.

History

Bracon Ash's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a place with abundant bracken and ash.{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Bracon%20Ash |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}

In the Domesday Book, Bracon Ash is recorded as a settlement of 15 households in the hundred of Humbleyard. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Roger Bigod. Domesday Book. (1086). Retrieved November 6, 2022. https://opendomesday.org/place/TG1700/bracon-ash/

Within the village, there are numerous listed buildings. These include Mergate Hall (Seventeenth Century),{{Cite web |title=MERGATE HALL, Bracon Ash - 1050692 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1050692?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} Mergate Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century){{Cite web |title=MERGATE FARMHOUSE, Bracon Ash - 1050690 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1050690?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} Home Farm House (Seventeenth Century){{Cite web |title=Home Farm House, Bracon Ash - 1440926 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1440926?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} and Thatched Cottage (Seventeenth Century).{{Cite web |title=Thatched Cottage, Bracon Ash - 1050691 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1050691?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}

Geography

Bracon Ash is bisected by the B1113, between Sproughton and Norwich.

England's smallest official nature reserve Hethel Thorn is accessed from the west of the village.{{Cite web |title=Hethel Old Thorn |url=https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/Wildlife-in-Norfolk/Nature-reserves/Reserves/Hethel-Old-Thorn |access-date=2022-01-18 |website=www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk}} Bracon Ash Common is a small area of woodland and ponds running adjacent to Mergate Lane.

According to the 2021 census, Bracon Ash Parish has a population of 477 people, which has increased slightly from the 460 people listed in the 2011 census.{{Cite web |title=Bracon Ash (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=https://citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/admin/south_norfolk/E04006518__bracon_ash/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=citypopulation.de}}

Amenities within the village include the children's play-park which attracts visitors from the neighboring villages due to its excellent facilities and quiet location.{{Cite web |title=Bracon Ash Park, Bracon Ash, Norfolk |url=https://www.freeparks.co.uk/park/bracon-ash-park/ |access-date=2022-01-18 |website=freeparks.co.uk |language=en-GB}}

A public sculpture of 'Bracon Ash Village Sign' is located opposite the village hall. Designed by Jonathan Stevens as a project whilst studying at Wymondham College in 1994.{{Cite web |title=Bracon Ash Village Sign from the Recording Archive for Public Sculpture in Norfolk & Suffolk |url=http://www.racns.co.uk/sculptures.asp?action=getsurvey&id=1145 |access-date=2022-02-27 |website=www.racns.co.uk}}

St. Nicholas' Church

Bracon Ash's parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and is located on Church Road. The church was originally built in the Fourteenth Century with significant rebuilding and restoration in the Nineteenth Century. Within the churchyard is an Eighteenth Century mausoleum, dedicated to the Berney family.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Churches |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/braconash/braconash.htm |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}} St. Nicholas' has been Grade I listed since 1959.{{Cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, Bracon Ash - 1050695 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1050695?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}

Governance

Bracon Ash is part of the electoral ward of Mulbarton & Stoke Holy Cross for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is South Norfolk which has been represented by Labour's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

War memorial

Bracon Ash's war memorial is located along 'The Street' and takes the form of a rough granite obelisk.{{Cite web |title=Bracon Ash and Hethel War Memorial, Bracon Ash - 1442267 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1442267?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Name

!Unit

!Date of Death

!Burial / Other Commemoration

L/Cpl.

|J. Frederick Mallett

|7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment

|13 October 1915

|Loos Memorial

L/Cpl.