Coordinates: 52°46′35″N 0°50′43″E / 52.77639°N 0.84526°E
| Whissonsett | |
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  Whissonsett
Whissonsett shown within Norfolk |
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| Area | 5.57 km2 (2.15 sq mi) |
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| Population | 483 (2001 census) |
| - Density | 87 /km2 (230 /sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | |
| - London | 112 miles (180 km) |
| Parish | Whissonsett CP |
| District | Breckland |
| Shire county | Norfolk |
| Region | East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DEREHAM |
| NR20 | |
| Dialling code | 01328 |
| Police | Norfolk |
| Fire | Norfolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| European Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | North Norfolk |
| Website: http://www.whissonsett.com | |
| List of places: UK • England • Norfolk | |
Whissonsett is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk[1]. The village is 6.8 miles (10.9 km) miles south of the of Fakenham, 27.8 miles (44.7 km) west north west of Norwich and 112 miles (180 km) miles north north east of London. The nearest railway station is at Wymondham for the Breckland Line which runs between Norwich and Peterborough. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish had in 2001 census, a population of 483 in 206 households.[2] For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Breckland. The village lies close to the source of the River Wensum.
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History
The name Whissonsett is thought to derive from Witcingkeseta as it has been known as in the past and means either the settlement of the Witcing tribe or a place of watery meadows.
Domesday Book
Whissonsett has an entry in the Domesday Book of 1085[3]. In the great book Whissonsett is recorded by the names Witcingkeseta. The main landholders being Roger Bigot with the main tenant being Ranulf Fitz Walter. The survey also mentions seven Beehives and ¼ of a Fishery. In the Domesday survey fractions[4] were used to indicate that the entry, in this case the fishery, was on an estate that lay within more than one parish.
Saint Mary parish church
Saint Mary’s parish church was built during the Norman period (cica 1250) and is constructed from flint with freestone dressing. The church has undergone a great deal of restoration over the past centuries
One features of Saint Mary’s are the large image niches, one in the nave and two in the chancel either side of the east window. The one in the nave contains the large head of a Saxon cross, unearthed in the graveyard by the Grave diggers in 1902. It is at least a thousand years old[5]
Notes
- ^ OS Explorer Map 238 – Dereham & Aylsham, Castle Acre & Reepham. ISBN 0 319 23810 5
- ^ Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council, 2001. "Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes."
- ^ The Domesday Book, Englands Heritage, Then and Now, Editor: Thomas Hinde,Norfolk page 196, Whissonsett, ISBN 1858334403
- ^ The Normans in Norfolk, By Sue Margeson, Fabienne Seillier and Andrew Rogerson, Pub:1994, Page 21, ISBN 0 903101 62 9
- ^ Norfolk 2: North-west and South, by Nikolaus Pevsner and Bill Wilson, Whissonsett entry. ISBN 0140710604
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