Elsing is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Elsing is located north-east of Dereham and north-west of Norwich, close to the course of the River Wensum.
History Elsing's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the settlement of Elesa's people.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Elsing is listed as a settlement of 20 households in the hundred of Eynesford. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of William de Warenne.
Elsing Hall was built in the late fifteenth century as a fortified manor house for the Hastings family of Gressenhall. The agricultural land surrounding the hall has yielded many medieval artefacts including a pilgrim's badge, a French jeton and parts of a crossbow, with a good example of a sixteenth-century priest hole inside. The hall was heavily restored in the mid-Nineteenth Century by Thomas Jeckyll.
Some sources suggest that medieval Elsing had a large population with its own marketplace and guildhall.
Elsing Mill was first built in 1809 and operated as a paper mill until 1818. The mill subsequently reopened in 1854 as a grain mill and remained open until 1970. Today, the mill building is a private residence.
Geography According to the 2021 census, Elsing has a population of 263 people which shows an increase from the 244 people recorded in the 2011 census.
The River Wensum runs through the parish.
St. Mary's Church
Elsing's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and was built in the Fourteenth Century, largely as a mausoleum for Sir Hugh Hastings. St. Mary's is located within the village on Church Road and has been Grade I listed since 1960.
St. Mary's holds a good collection of Medieval stained-glass, including depictions of Sir Hugh Hastings alongside Saint George and King Edward III.
Governance Elsing is part of the electoral ward of Upper Wensum for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.
The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.
War memorial Elsing War Memorial is a stone column topped with a Celtic cross with the names of the fallen inscribed on a small plinth below, located inside St. Mary's Churchyard. The memorial was unveiled in August 1921 by a party of local dignitaries led by Bertram Pollock, Bishop of Norwich. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/CommemorationRSMHarry J. MasonNorfolk Regiment3 Jul. 1918St. Mary's ChurchyardSgt.Donald W. Kerrison7th Bn., Royal Irish Regiment16 Jul. 1918Tincourt British CemeteryCpl.Charles Candy50th Coy., Machine Gun Corps4 May 1917Sainte-Catherine CemeteryLCpl.John W. Kendall8th Bn., Border Regiment7 Sep. 1917Lijssenthoek CemeteryLCpl.Harry Lawrence8th Bn., Norfolk Regiment23 Oct. 1917Dozinghem CemeteryPte.Walter G. Isbell10th Bn., Essex Regiment12 Aug. 1917Menin GatePte.S. William Rix2nd Bn., Royal Fusiliers19 Aug. 1918Ploegsteert MemorialPte.John C. Dack1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment27 Jul. 1916Thiepval MemorialPte.Benjamin R. Wire1st Bn., Norfolk Regt.27 Jul. 1916Thiepval MemorialPte.Matthew E. Bowes7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.23 Feb. 1918St. Mary's ChurchyardPte.George Rix7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.3 Jul. 1916Thiepval MemorialPte.E. William Dack7th Bn., Northamptonshire Regiment31 Jul. 1917The Huts Cemetery The following names were added after the Second World War: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial/CommemorationSgt.Keith S. BushellNo. 206 Squadron RAF4 Jul. 1940Runnymede MemorialPte.Gordon R. IsbellEast Surrey Regiment20 Jul. 1944St. Giles' Churchyard
References
External links
Elsing Mill