Bressingham is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the English county of Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

.
It covers an area of 15.77 km² (6.1 sq mi) and had a population of 751 in 305 households as of the 2001 census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 of South Norfolk

South Norfolk

South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton.-History:The district was formed on April 1, 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of Diss Urban District, Wymondham Urban District, Depwade Rural District, Forehoe and Henstead...

.

History

This town of Bressingham was given by Osulph le Sire, and the lady Laverine, or Leofrine, his wife, to the abbey of St. Edmund's in Bury

Bury St. Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...

 in about 963. By the time of Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

, the abbey owned slightly more than half the town; the rest being owned by Almar, the Bishop of Elmham. Almar's part was also a manor, and held in William the Conqueror's time by Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk

Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk

Roger Bigod was a Norman knight who came to England in the Norman Conquest. He held great power in East Anglia, and five of his descendants were Earl of Norfolk. He was also known as Roger Bigot, appearing as such as a witness to the Charter of Liberties of Henry I of England.-Biography:Roger came...

. The town was then two miles long, and a mile and a half broad, it extended at that time into Shimpling

Shimpling

Shimpling is a village and civil parish in south Suffolk, England. Located around 7 miles from Bury St Edmunds, it is part of Babergh district. The village is essentially split into two halves, the newer Shimpling Street and around 2 miles away the actual village of Shimpling...

, Fersfield

Fersfield

Fersfield is a village in the English county of Norfolk. It was the home parish of Francis Blomefield, whose History of Norfolk documents the history of much of South Norfolk, and forms part of the parish of Bressingham and Fersfield .- Location :Fersfield is bounded on the east and south by the...

, Shelfhanger, and Roydon

Roydon, South Norfolk

Roydon is a small village and parish in the county of Norfolk, England, about a mile west of Diss. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,358 in 981 households as of the 2001 census....

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