Hempton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, along the course of the River Wensum.
Hempton is south-west of Fakenham and north west of Norwich.
History Hempton's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Hemma's settlement.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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. The church remains open for Sunday service every week.
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.
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: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/CommemorationLCpl.Robert F. Cooke9th Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers4 Oct. 1917Cement House CemeteryDvr.William Morgan33rd Bde., Royal Field Artillery28 May 1918Hermonville CemeteryGnr.Robert Barnes22nd Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery29 Sep. 1917Ypres Reservoir CemeteryPte.Christopher Gardner2nd Bn., Border Regiment16 May 1915Le Touret MemorialPte.Albert E. Yallop265th Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery12 Dec. 1917Lijssenthoek CemeteryPte.Charles E. Crisp2/6th Bn., Gloucestershire Regiment6 Apr. 1917Thiepval MemorialPte.Albert E. Nicholson2nd (City) Bn., London Regiment12 Apr. 1917Arras MemorialPte.Robert Howes27th Coy., Machine Gun Corps3 May 1917Arras MemorialPte.Frederick J. Varley5th Bn., Norfolk Regiment19 Apr. 1917Gaza War CemeteryPte.Lewis H. Wright7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.19 Feb. 1916Chocques CemeteryPte.Horace A. Rump8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.19 Jul. 1916Thiepval MemorialPte.Richard H.M. Barnes9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.15 Sep. 1916Serre Road CemeteryPte.Henry J. Balls9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.14 Oct. 1917Thiepval MemorialPte.Charles E. Tuck9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.18 Oct. 1918Niederzwehren CemeteryPte.Isaac Sheringham2nd Bn., Suffolk Regiment11 Apr. 1917Tilloy British CemeteryPte.Robert Wright11th Bn., Royal Sussex Regiment16 Sep. 1916Auchonvillers Cemetery The following names were added after the Second World War: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/CommemorationSLt.Glyn R. GlynnHMS Manners26 Jan. 1945Fakenham CemeteryFSgt.Bernard UttingNo. 9 Squadron RAF31 Mar. 1944Fakenham CemeterySgt.Donald A. Jones5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment22 Jan. 1942Kranji War MemorialASBertram G. DewHMS President7 Nov. 1942Portsmouth Naval MemorialGnr.Frederick H. Barber61 Regt., Royal Artillery16 Dec. 1944Schoonselhof CemeteryPte.Ernest R. SmithRoyal Army Service Corps12 Jan. 1940Grange Road CemeteryPte.Walter W. Chapman2nd Bn., Hampshire Regiment9 Sep. 1943Salerno War CemeteryPte.Ralph Jones5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment14 Feb. 1942Kranji War CemeteryPte.Leslie Palmer5th Bn., Royal Norfolks14 Jun. 1943Kanchanaburi War CemeteryPte.Jack Tooley5th Bn., Royal Norfolks21 Sep. 1944Kranji War Memorial
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