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Briston is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk.
| Briston | |
|---|---|
 Briston Village Sign | |
  Briston Location within Norfolk | |
| Area | 11.96 km2 (4.62 sq mi) |
| Population | 2,548 (parish, 2021 census) |
| • Density | 213/km2 (550/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TG060320 |
| • London | 125 miles (201 km) |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MELTON CONSTABLE |
| Postcode district | NR24 |
| Dialling code | 01263 |
| Police | Norfolk |
| Fire | Norfolk |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Briston is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-west of Holt and 19 miles (31 km) north-west of Norwich.
Briston's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a settlement or farmstead near to a landslip.[1]
In the Domesday Book, Briston is recorded as consisting of 22 settlements. The principal landowners were William the Conqueror and William de Warenne who owned 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land from which had been previously the property of Toke, a Saxon Thegn who had been evicted after the defeat of the Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. This land was farmed by three Free Men or Socman and a further 280 acres (1.1 km2) was farmed by fourteen bordars. There was a pannage or woodland for 20 pigs which was valued at 16 shillings.[2]
Listed buildings within Briston include Hall Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century)[3], Church House (c.1660s)[4], No. 22, Church Street (Nineteenth Century)[5], Home Farmhouse (c.1600)[6], Old Nursery Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century)[7] and Manor Farm House (1700).[8]
Within the village their is also a historic Congregationalist Chapel dating to 1775[9] as well as a Methodist Chapel from the late-Eighteenth Century.[10]
On the 17 August 1941, a Vickers Wellington of No. 12 Squadron RAF crashed close to the village killing three men out of a total crew of the six. The aircraft had left RAF Binbrook and, after a successful bombing raid over Cologne, was attempting a crash landing after suffering anti-aircraft fire.[11] The three casualties (PO Bernard M. J. Vincent, FSgt. Edward H. Nancarrow and FSgt. Colin G. C. Frost) are memorialised by a brass plaque in All Saints' Church.[12]
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According to the 2021 census, Briston has a population of 2,548 people which shows a slight increase from the 2,439 people recorded in the 2011 census.[13]
Briston is located on the B1354, between Thursford and Saxthorpe. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich but a steam line is also available from Holt to Sheringham. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport.
Briston's parish church is located on Church Street and has been Grade I listed since 1959, the church is largely a product of the early Fourteenth Century.[14] All Saints' was a round-tower church until 1795 when the tower was either demolished or collapse and it was not replaced. The church boasts some Medieval brasses on its walls alongside a curious iron cello, reputedly made by the village's blacksmith in the Seventeenth Century.[15]
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Within the village there is a bakery, two butcher's shops, a fishmonger, a grocer's, a small plant nursery, an antique shop, a Post Office and a garage.
Astley Primary School is located in the village whilst secondary school students usually attend Reepham High School and College.
'The Pavilion' (a local community facility) hosts a Youth Club and monthly film shows. Furthermore, the village has a playing field with tennis courts, playing fields , a skate park, a bowling green and a playground for the children of the village.
There are two public houses in the village. On the outskirts of the village is the Three Horseshoes, a 16th-century gastropub with open log fire and oak beams that has undergone large scale refurbishment. In the centre of the village is the recently closed Green Man pub, which has now re-opened as the Explorers Bar.
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Briston is an electoral ward 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.
Briston's War Memorial takes the form of a stone cross, with an overlaid wreath, and is located in All Saints' Churchyard.[16] It lists the following names for the First World War:[17]
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Other Commemoration / Burial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cpl. | Herbert G. Whittred | Machine Gun Corps | 31 Jul. 1916 | British Cemetery, La Neuville-lès-Bray |
| Cpl. | Herbert J. Scott | 12th Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 19 Aug. 1918 | Le Grand Hasard Cemetery, Morbecque |
| LCpl. | Percy J. Smith MM | 20th Coy., Machine Gun Corps | 26 Oct. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| LCpl. | Charles W. Partridge | 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 5 May 1915 | Perth Cemetery, Ypres |
| Dvr. | Richard W. Harrison | 409th Bty., Royal Horse Artillery | 26 Sep. 1918 | Gwalia Cemetery, Ypres |
| Pte. | Martin Scott | 8th Bn., East Surrey Regiment | 12 Oct. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pte. | William C. Sands | 13th Bn., Essex Regiment | 30 Nov. 1917 | Cambrai Memorial |
| Pte. | Charles C. Ives | 4th Bn., Royal Fusiliers | 21 Aug. 1918 | Railway Cutting Cemetery, Courcelles-le-Comte |
| Pte. | Percy L. Arnold | Army Service Corps att. 479 Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery | 18 Jun. 1918 | Souvenir Cemetery, Longuenesse |
| Pte. | James H. Barwick | 57th Coy., Labour Corps | 23 Jul. 1917 | Feuchy Cemetery, Wancourt |
| Pte. | Herbert Y. Ward | 2nd Bn., Loyal Regiment | 4 Nov. 1918 | Terlincthun Cemetery, Wimille |
| Pte. | Henry C. Grint | 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 29 Mar. 1916 | Faubourg Cemetery, Arras |
| Pte. | Frederick C. Partridge | 1st Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 4 Jun. 1916 | Arras Memorial |
| Pte. | Harry Fox | 2nd Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 24 Sep. 1916 | Basra War Cemetery |
| Pte. | J. Walter Gascoigne | 2nd Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 19 Sep. 1916 | Kirkee War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Arthur Rudd | 1/4th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 19 Apr. 1917 | Jerusalem Memorial |
| Pte. | Hubert E. Attoe | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 21 Aug. 1915 | Helles Memorial |
| Pte. | Louis E. B. Buckley | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 22 Nov. 1915 | Memorial Cemetery, Shatby |
| Pte. | John Dewing | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 19 Apr. 1917 | Jerusalem Memorial |
| Pte. | Cecil Lambert | 7th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 16 Oct. 1918 | Loos Memorial |
| Pte. | Robert Stearman | 7th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 8 Aug. 1918 | Vis-en-Artois Memorial |
| Pte. | George S. Griffiths | 9th Bn., Norfolk Rgt. | 26 Sep. 1915 | Loos Memorial |
| Pte. | J. Thomas Attoe | 1st Bn., Sherwood Foresters | 28 Aug. 1918 | Orchard Dump Cemetery, Arleux-en-Gohelle |
| Pte. | Richard T.. Griffiths | 12th Bn., Suffolk Regiment | 25 Feb. 1917 | St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen |
And: James Fox. As well as the following for the Second World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Other Commemoration / Burial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS | Herbert S. Crowe | H.M. Motor Launch 1226 | 4 Oct. 1945 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
| LCpl. | Charles W. Perry | 5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment | 21 Sep. 1944 | Kranji War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Frederick Craske | 2nd Bn., Royal Norfolks. | 26 May 1940 | Dunkirk Memorial |
| Pte. | Frederick J. Partridge | 6th Bn., Royal Norfolks. | 17 May 1943 | Kanchanaburi War Cemetery |
And: James E. Brown, Reginald Smith and William Wright.
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