# Dersingham

Dersingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Dersingham is located 7.3 miles (11.7 km) north-east of King's Lynn and 37 miles (60 km) north-west of Norwich.

## History

Dersingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the village or settlement of Deorsige's people.
In the Domesday Book, Dersingham is listed as a settlement of 115 households in the hundred of Freebridge. In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of Eudo, son of Spirewic and Peter de Valognes.
In 1984, a horde of silver shillings with a silver cup was discovered in Dersingham which date from the Tudor and Stuart eras.

## Geography

According to the 2021 census, Dersingham has a population of 4,755 people which shows an increase from the 4,640 people listed in the 2011 census.
Dersingham is located along the A149, between King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth.
The nearby Dersingham Bog National Nature Reserve, managed by Natural England (formerly English Nature), contains habitats ranging from marshland to heathland and woodland. Birds such as the redpoll, crossbill, long-eared owl, tree pipit, sparrowhawk and nightjar can be found there.

## St Nicholas' Church

Dersingham's parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and dates from the 14th century. St Nicholas' is located on Church Lane and has been a Grade I listed building since 1953.
St Nicholas' holds a good example of a 14th-century chancel with stained glass depicting Jesus, Saint Agnes and Saint Luke installed by James Powell and Sons and Charles Eamer Kempe in the early 20th century. The wooden parish chest, dating from the middle of the 14th century, is carved elaborately with the symbols of the four Evangelists; on the lid, there is part of an inscription.

## Sandringham House

Sandringham House, a favoured royal residence of Queen Elizabeth II and several of her predecessors, lies just to the south of Dersingham in the parish of Sandringham. The Queen visited Dersingham Infant School to mark her Diamond Jubilee in February 2012.

## Notable residents

* Thomas Kerrich (1748-1828) clergyman, librarian and antiquarian, born in Dersingham.
* John Dolignon (1813-1896) Norfolk and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketer, born in Dersingham.
* Arthur Harry Cross (1858-1906) chorister and composer, lived in Dersingham.
* Arthur Bryant (1899-1985) historian and writer, born in Dersingham.
* Ginger Baker (1939-2019) drummer, rented Dersingham Hall during his Baker Gurvitz Army period.
* Phil Collins (b.1951) English musician and frontman of Genesis, resident of Dersingham.
* Claire Goose (b.1975) actress, raised in Dersingham.

## Governance

Dersingham is an electoral ward for local elections and is part of the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
The village's national constituency is North West Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's James Wild MP since 2010.

## War memorial

Dersingham War Memorial is a stone-brick obelisk on Station Road which was unveiled in 1923 and renovated in 2008. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial |
| Lt. | John W. Whitehouse | 156th Coy., Royal Engineers | 21 Mar. 1918 | Peronne Cemetery |
| Sgt. | Vivian S. Wells | 20th Bn., Durham Light Infantry | 31 Mar. 1918 | Arras Memorial |
| Sgt. | Albert E. Lancaster | 79th Coy., Royal Garrison Artillery | 16 Oct. 1918 | Kirkee War Cemetery |
| LSgt. | Wesley E. R. Tuck | 9th Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 25 Oct. 1916 | St Nicholas' Churchyard |
| LSgt. | William Cross | 10th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment | 23 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Cpl. | Edward Melton | 10th Bn., Gordon Highlanders | 7 Aug. 1915 | Maroc Cemetery |
| Cpl. | Leonard A. Reynolds | 3rd Sqn., Mounted Military Police | 14 Mar. 1919 | South Cemetery |
| Cpl. | Alfred E. Daniels | 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 4 Jun. 1916 | Faubourg Cemetery |
| Cpl. | Ernest Emmerson | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 12 Aug. 1915 | Helles Memorial |
| LCpl. | Horace Reed | 7th Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment | 20 Mar. 1918 | Noyon Cemetery |
| Dvr. | Albert Carter | 75th Ambulance, Army Medical Corps | 1 May 1918 | Lijssenthoek Cemetery |
| Gnr. | Frederick T. Fitt | 270th Bde., Royal Field Artillery | 9 Jun. 1917 | Hadra War Memorial |
| Gnr. | William Rasberry | 51st Bty., Royal Garrison Artillery | 28 Jun. 1917 | Strand Cemetery |
| Pte. | John R. Green | 1st Bn., Cambridgeshire Regiment | 9 Aug. 1918 | Ribemont Cemetery |
| Pte. | Hubert H. Tuck | 21st (Eastern Ontario) Bn., CEF | 16 Sep. 1916 | Puchevillers Cemetery |
| Pte. | Walter Cross | 8th Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment | 17 Nov. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pte. | Robert F. Batterbee | 1st Bn., Essex Regiment | 16 Aug. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pte. | William Clarke | 9th Bn., Essex Regt. | 9 Apr. 1917 | Houdain Cemetery |
| Pte. | Isaac Taylor | 3rd Bn., Royal Fusiliers | 4 Nov. 1918 | Fontaine-au-Bois Cem. |
| Pte. | Oliver Ellwood | 3rd Bn., Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers | 8 Nov. 1918 | St Nicholas' Churchyard |
| Pte. | George W. Grief | 9th Bn., King's Own Royal Regiment | 28 Apr. 1917 | Karasouli Cemetery |
| Pte. | Robert H. Daniels | 9th Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers | 4 Oct. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pte. | A. Ernest Green | 7th Bn., Leicestershire Regiment | 24 Sep. 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pte. | Edward Dawes | 2nd (City) Bn., London Regiment | 6 Nov. 1918 | Angreau Cemetery |
| Pte. | Edward A. Newling | 63rd Bn., Machine Gun Corps | 28 Aug. 1918 | Terlincthun Cemetery |
| Pte. | George L. Hooks | 2nd Bn., Middlesex Regiment | 7 Oct. 1918 | Hautmont Cemetery |
| Pte. | Cyril J. Jarvis | 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 4 Nov. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pte. | Charles E. Daniels | 2nd Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 17 Nov. 1914 | Basra Memorial |
| Pte. | George W. Fenton | 2nd Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 3 Jul. 1916 | Basra War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Herbert J. Grief | 2nd Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 17 Apr. 1916 | Basra Memorial |
| Pte. | Philip Allen | 1/4th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 6 Nov. 1917 | El Qantara Cemetery |
| Pte. | William A. Bunn | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 19 Apr. 1917 | Gaza War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Sidney Carter | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 21 Aug. 1915 | Helles Memorial |
| Pte. | Harold F. G. Daniels | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 2 Nov. 1917 | Deir al-Balah Cemetery |
| Pte. | Ernest Howell | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 12 Aug. 1915 | Helles Memorial |
| Pte. | James Howell | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 19 Apr. 1917 | Gaza War Cemetery |
| Pte. | Frederick R. Kerrison | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 21 Aug. 1915 | Helles Memorial |
| Pte. | Robert W. Nurse | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 21 Aug. 1915 | Helles Memorial |
| Pte. | Morris M. Walden | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 21 Aug. 1915 | Helles Memorial |
| Pte. | George A. Rust | 8th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 17 Feb. 1917 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pte. | E. Alfred Eastwick | 23rd Bn., Northumberland Fusiliers | 9 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Pte. | William Lyng-Baldwin | 1st Bn., South Staffordshire Regiment | 3 Aug. 1917 | Achiet Cemetery |
| Rfn. | Albert Brooks | 10th (Paddington) Bn., London Regt. | 9 Aug. 1918 | Vis-en-Artois Memorial |
| Rfn. | Herbert J. Daniels | 11th (Finsbury) Bn., London Regt. | 24 May 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Spr. | Herbert E. Francis | 104th Coy., Royal Engineers | 27 May 1918 | Arras Memorial |
| Spr. | Arthur W. Daw | 144th Coy., R.E. | 10 Apr. 1918 | St Sever Cemetery |
| Cmn. | James Drew | SS Alnwick Castle | 19 Mar. 1917 | Tower Hill Memorial |
And, Thomas Nurse.