East Ruston

{{Infobox UK place

| official_name = East Ruston

| country = England

| region = East of England

| shire_district = North Norfolk

| shire_county = Norfolk

| civil_parish = East Ruston CP

| static_image_name = Butchers Arms, East Ruston.jpg

| static_image_caption = The Butchers Arms, East Ruston

| population = 595

| population_ref = (2021 census, including Brumstead

| os_grid_reference = TG344278

| coordinates = {{coord|52.79682|1.476420|display=inline,title}}

| label_position = left

| post_town = NORWICH

| postcode_area = NR

| postcode_district = NR12

| dial_code = 01692

| constituency_westminster = North Norfolk

| london_distance = {{convert|136|mi}}

| area_total_sq_mi = 5.15

}}

East Ruston is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

The village is located {{convert|4.1|mi}} south-east of North Walsham and {{convert|14|mi}} north-east of Norwich.

History

East Ruston's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the eastern brushwood farm or settlement.{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/East%20Ruston |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}

In the Domesday Book, East Ruston is listed as a settlement of 87 households in the hundred of Happing. In 1086, the village formed part of the East Anglian estates of Ralph Baynard.{{Cite web |title=[East] Ruston {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TG3427/east-ruston/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=opendomesday.org}}

In 1758, East Ruston post mill was built and remained in operation until it fell into dereliction after the Second World War.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Mills - East Ruston post windmill |url=https://norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/east-ruston-postmill.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=norfolkmills.co.uk}} A further tower mill was built in 1868 and operated by Horace Turner. The machinery was removed from the mill in the 1960s with the building still standing.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Mills - East Ruston tower windmill |url=https://norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/east-ruston-towermill.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=norfolkmills.co.uk}}

During the Second World War, East Ruston was the location of British Army roadblocks and a reserve training area in preparation for resistance of a German invasion of England.{{Cite web |title=East-Ruston - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?TNF333-East-Ruston |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}

Geography

According to the 2021 census, East Ruston has a population of 595 people which shows no deviation from the 595 people recorded in the 2011 census.{{Cite web |title=East Ruston (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/admin/north_norfolk/E04006409__east_ruston/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}

The closest railway station to East Ruston is Worstead which provides Bittern Line services to Sheringham and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport.

Church of St. Mary

East Ruston's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and dates from the Fourteenth Century, though it has been significantly re-modelled and restored in the Victorian era. St. Mary's is located outside of the village on the side of the B1159 and has been Grade II listed since 1955.{{Cite web |title=Church of St. Mary, East Ruston - 1169839 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1169839?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}

St. Mary's has been in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust since the 1980s. There are good examples of Nineteenth Century stained glass, particularly a depiction of the Presentation of Christ by A. L. Moore as well as a font that was recut in the 1880s.{{Cite web |title=The Norfolk Churches Site |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/eastruston/eastruston.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}

Amenities

The public house is called the Butchers Arms.[https://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolke/eastruston/eastrbut.htm The Butchers Arms] Retrieved 28 March 2009. East Ruston is the home to the noted East Ruston Old Vicarage garden which is open to the public.

Notable Residents

Richard Porson- (1759–1808) classicist, born in East Ruston.

In popular culture

East Ruston is named as Abe Slaney's hiding place in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Dancing Men. Conan Doyle, A. (1903). The Adventure of the Dancing Men. {{ISBN|0-486-29558-3}}

Governance

East Ruston is part of the electoral ward of Happisburgh for local elections and is part of the district of North Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is North Norfolk, which has been represented by the Liberal Democrat Steff Aquarone MP since 2024.

War memorial

East Ruston War Memorial is a short stone plinth topped with a Celtic cross in St. Mary's Churchyard.{{Cite web |title=East Ruston War Memorial, East Ruston - 1442619 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1442619?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} It lists the following names for the First World War:{{Cite web |title=Roll of Honour - Norfolk - East Ruston |url=https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/EastRuston.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.roll-of-honour.com}}{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Earlham to Erpingham :: War Memorials in Norfolk |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/War-Memorials-in-Norfolk/7#earlham-to-erpingham |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Name

!Unit

!Date of Death

!Burial/Commemoration

2Lt.

|Walter J. Brumbley MC{{Efn|Brumbley was awarded the Military Cross for an action in March 1918 when he personally led a raiding party into enemy lines.}}

|3rd Bn., Norfolk Regiment

|27 Mar. 1918

|Pozieres Memorial

St1C

|Reginald Bristow

|HMS Bacchante

|21 Feb. 1919

|St. Mary's Churchyard

Pte.

|Frederick J. Hilling

|4th Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment

|16 Jan. 1918