Brandiston

Brandiston is a small village and civil parish near the centre of the county of Norfolk, England, about two miles south-east of the small market town of Reepham, five miles south-west of the larger town of Aylsham and 10 miles north-west of the city of Norwich. For the purposes of local government, it falls within Broadland district. The hamlet of Guton lies within the parish.

Map of Brandiston, UK

The 2001 census recorded a population for Brandiston of just 44. The bulk of the parish is occupied by farmland, mainly arable. At the 2011 Census the population less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Booton.

Brandiston's Church of St Nicholas is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk. It is redundant and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

The south-east quadrant of the parish was occupied by a Second World War airfield, RAF Swannington. Although the airfield closed after the war and returned to agricultural use, parts of the Brandiston-Swannington road and the road to the east of the church still run over remains of the concrete runways.

There is a small common in the west of the parish. Despite it being common land it is unofficially agreed by the villagers that it is the property and responsibility of the white house.

There are four almshouses, built in the 1850s and owned by the Brandiston Gurney Charity, established from a 16th-century bequest by William Gurney. Greenway Wood in Brandiston is named after Richard Greenway (1921-2009), a longserving trustee of the charity.

The remains of a stump cross are on the eastern boundary of the parish, on the Cawston-Norwich road.