Gressenhall

Gressenhall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

Gressenhall
Gressenhall Workhouse Museum.
Gressenhall is located in Norfolk
Gressenhall
Gressenhall
Location within Norfolk
Area10.53 km2 (4.07 sq mi)
Population1,050 (2011)[1]
• Density100/km2 (260/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTF964166
Civil parish
  • Gressenhall
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDEREHAM
Postcode districtNR19, NR20
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England

The villages name origin is uncertain possibly 'Grassy nook of land' or 'gravelly nook of land'.

It covers an area of 10.53 km2 (4.07 sq mi) and had a population of 1,008 in 443 households at the 2001 census,[2] increasing to a population of 1,050 in 459 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland.

The village is on the River Nar close to Dereham in Norfolk.

History

The Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse museum is located here, and a watermill dating from 1847.[3] The main buildings of the Gressenhall workhouse were built in 1777 when it was a house of industry. Here paupers would work under quite a strict regime in return for accommodation.

This changed after the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834: as a result the building underwent numerous changes to comply with the Act. The workhouse was a poor law institution. Its purpose was to provide a home and work for the poor local people who had nowhere to live. Gressenhall was constructed in 1776 and took one year to open.

Gressenhall has a post office, a pub (The Swan) and a church (St Mary's).

Notable residents
  • Sir Jerome Alexander (died 1670), a High Court judge in Ireland noted for his severe sentences in criminal cases, was born in Gressenhall about 1590.
  • Alsager Hay Hill, a notable Victorian social reformer was born at Gressenhall Hall in 1839.
  • Dr James Robert Murray, a co-founder of Shire Pharmaceuticals, was the family doctor in the village from 1969 to 1976. He moved from Norfolk to Holland to start his career in pharmaceuticals. An Honorary President of Dereham RFC, in 2020, he published a fictional work about village life in 1970s Norfolk.

References
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  2. Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  3. Norfolk Museums Service, Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse
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