# Bracon Ash

Bracon Ash is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of the English county of Norfolk.
Bracon Ash is located 4.4 miles (7.1 km) south-east of Wymondham and 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south-west of Norwich.

## History

Bracon Ash's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a place with abundant bracken and ash.
In the Domesday Book, Bracon Ash is recorded as a settlement of 15 households in the hundred of Humbleyard. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Roger Bigod.
Within the village, there are numerous listed buildings. These include Mergate Hall (Seventeenth Century), Mergate Farmhouse (Seventeenth Century) Home Farm House (Seventeenth Century) and Thatched Cottage (Seventeenth Century).

## Geography

Bracon Ash is bisected by the B1113, between Sproughton and Norwich.
England's smallest official nature reserve Hethel Thorn is accessed from the west of the village. Bracon Ash Common is a small area of woodland and ponds running adjacent to Mergate Lane.
According to the 2021 census, Bracon Ash Parish has a population of 477 people, which has increased slightly from the 460 people listed in the 2011 census.
Amenities within the village include the children's play-park which attracts visitors from the neighboring villages due to its excellent facilities and quiet location.
A public sculpture of 'Bracon Ash Village Sign' is located opposite the village hall. Designed by Jonathan Stevens as a project whilst studying at Wymondham College in 1994.

## St. Nicholas' Church

Bracon Ash's parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and is located on Church Road. The church was originally built in the Fourteenth Century with significant rebuilding and restoration in the Nineteenth Century. Within the churchyard is an Eighteenth Century mausoleum, dedicated to the Berney family. St. Nicholas' has been Grade I listed since 1959.

## Governance

Bracon Ash is part of the electoral ward of Mulbarton & Stoke Holy Cross for local elections and is part of the district of South Norfolk.
The village's national constituency is South Norfolk which has been represented by Labour's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

## War memorial

Bracon Ash's war memorial is located along 'The Street' and takes the form of a rough granite obelisk. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial / Other Commemoration |
| L/Cpl. | J. Frederick Mallett | 7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment | 13 October 1915 | Loos Memorial |
| L/Cpl. | James F. Hammond | 8th Battalion, Norfolk Rgt. | 11 August 1917 | Menin Gate |
| OS | Edward Bunn | HMS Vanguard | 9 July 1917 | Chatham Naval Memorial |
| Pvt. | Walter E. Peel | 1st (British Columbia) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force | 17 May 1915 | Eastern Cemetery, Boulogne-sur-Mer |
| Pvt. | Albert E. Chilestone | 13th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry | 3 August 1916 | Thiepval Memorial |
| Pvt. | Bertie W. Howlett | 53rd Company, Machine Gun Corps | 22 October 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pvt. | Robert F. Peel | 7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment | 30 November 1917 | Cambrai Memorial |
| Pvt. | Arthur Canham | 8th Battalion, Norfolk Rgt. | 24 May 1916 | St. Pierre Cemerert, Amiens |
| Pvt. | Arthur Devereux | 9th Battalion, Norfolk Rgt. | 26 September 1915 | Loos Memorial |
| Pvt. | W. Ernest Dye | 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment | 3 October 1917 | Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery |
| Rfn. | Wilfred R. Stackard | 16th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps | 3 November 1918 | St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen |
And: G. Hammond, F. Loveday, H. Norman & E. Smith. As well as the following for the Second World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Other Commemoration / Burial |
| Pvt. | Alfred H. Spinks | 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment | 28 October 1941 | War Cemetery, Tobruk |