Hempton

{{about|the village in Norfolk, England|the village in Oxfordshire, England|Hempton, Oxfordshire|the surname|Hempton (surname)}}

{{Infobox UK place

| official_name = Hempton

| country = England

| region = East of England

| shire_district = North Norfolk

| shire_county = Norfolk

| civil_parish = Hempton

| static_image = File:Hempton village sign (detail) (north face) - geograph.org.uk - 6793710.jpg

| static_image_caption = Hempton Village Sign

| population = 523

| population_ref = (2021 census)

| os_grid_reference =

| coordinates = {{coord|52.82|0.83|display=inline,title}}

| post_town = Fakenham

| postcode_area = NR

| postcode_district = NR21

| dial_code = 01328

| constituency_westminster = Broadland and Fakenham

| london_distance =

| area_total_sq_mi = 0.83

}}

Hempton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, along the course of the River Wensum.

Hempton is {{convert|0.8|mi}} south-west of Fakenham and {{convert|33.9|mi}} north west of Norwich.

History

Hempton's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Hemma's settlement.{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Hempton |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Hempton {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TF9129/hempton/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=opendomesday.org}}

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.{{Cite web |title=MNF7110 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF7110 |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Mills - Hempton watermill |url=https://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/hempton.html |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.norfolkmills.co.uk}}{{Cite web |title=MNF14371 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF14371 |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Hempton (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/admin/north_norfolk/E04006425__hempton/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Church of the Holy Trinity , Hempton - 1391769 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1391769?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} The church remains open for Sunday service every week.{{Cite web |title=Hempton: Holy Trinity |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10289/service-and-events/events-all/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.achurchnearyou.com |language=en}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Churches |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/hempton/hempton.htm |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}

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:{{Cite web |title=Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Hempton |url=https://roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/Hempton.html |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=roll-of-honour.com}}{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Hackford to Hunworth :: War Memorials in Norfolk |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/War-Memorials-in-Norfolk/10 |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}

class="wikitable"

!Rank

!Name

!Unit

!Date of Death

!Burial/Commemoration

LCpl.

|Robert F. Cooke

|9th Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers

|4 Oct. 1917

|Cement House Cemetery

Dvr.