Brockdish

Brockdish
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
Brockdish Location within Norfolk
Area	9.15 km2 (3.53 sq mi)
Population	699
• Density	76/km2 (200/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TM224794
Civil parish	Brockdish
District	South Norfolk
Shire county	Norfolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DISS
Postcode district	IP21
Dialling code	01379
Police	Norfolk
Fire	Norfolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Waveney Valley
List of places UK England Norfolk 52°22′12″N 1°14′49″E / 52.370°N 1.247°E / 52.370; 1.247

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

Brockdish is located 3.3 miles (5.3 km) south-west of Harleston and 18 miles (29 km) south of Norwich. Brockdish CP also includes the smaller village of Thorpe Abbotts.

Brockdish's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for enclosed land adjacent to a brook.^[1]

In the Domesday Book, Brockdish is recorded as a settlement of 39 households in the hundred of Earsham. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of King William I and St. Edmund's Abbey.^[2]

According to the 2021 census, Brockdish (with Thorpe Abbotts) has a population of 699 people which shows a slight increase from the 681 people recorded in the 2011 census.^[3]

The River Waveney acts as the southern border of the parish with Brockdish marking the highest point where the river is navigable by small watercraft. The entry point to the river is at the foot of the common.^{[citation needed]}

Brockdish's parish church is dedicated to both Saint Peter and Saint Paul and was constructed in the Eleventh Century. The church is located on Church Lane and has been Grade I listed since 1959.^[4] The church was significantly remodelled in 1864-5 at the expense of Rector George France and under the supervision of architect, Frederick Marrable. The church also boasts an impressive collection of stained-glass windows, mostly from the workshops of J. & J. King of Norwich.^[5]

Brockdish originally had two public houses until the closure of 'The Greyhound' in 2000, leaving the remaining pub: 'The King's Head'.^[6]

Brockdish Primary School closed in 2016 due to falling pupil numbers, and was, at once, Norfolk's smallest primary school. Pupils today attend primary education in Pulham Market or Harleston.^[7] Today, the school building is put to use as the Waveney Heritage Centre, a charity dedicated to forwarding local history.^[8] Pupils usually pursue secondary education at Harleston Sancroft Academy.

• Clementia Taylor- (1810-1908), Suffragist who was born in Brockdish.
• Baroness Elaine Murphy- (b.1947), Politician who briefly lived in Brockdish.

Brockdish is part of the electoral ward of Beck Vale, Dickleburgh and Scole for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.

The village's national constituency is Waveney Valley which has been represented by the Green Party's Adrian Ramsay since 2024.

Brockdish War Memorial is a Gothic cross constructed out of Portland stone, located in St. Peter and St.Paul's Churchyard. The memorial was erected in around 1920 after a campaign of public subscription to pay for its design.^[9] It holds the following names for First World War:^[10]

And, the following for the Second World War:

• The Moated Grange: A History of South Norfolk Through the Story of one Home, 1300-2000 (2015), by Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brockdish.

• Brockdish & Thorpe Abbotts website