Elsing

Elsing's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the settlement of Elesa's people.^[1]

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Elsing is listed as a settlement of 20 households in the hundred of Eynesford. In 1086, the village was part of the East Anglian estates of William de Warenne.^[2]

Elsing Hall was built in the late fifteenth century as a fortified manor house for the Hastings family of Gressenhall. The agricultural land surrounding the hall has yielded many medieval artefacts including a pilgrim's badge, a French jeton and parts of a crossbow, with a good example of a sixteenth-century priest hole inside. The hall was heavily restored in the mid-Nineteenth Century by Thomas Jeckyll.^[3]

Some sources suggest that medieval Elsing had a large population with its own marketplace and guildhall.

Elsing Mill was first built in 1809 and operated as a paper mill until 1818. The mill subsequently reopened in 1854 as a grain mill and remained open until 1970. Today, the mill building is a private residence.^[4]

According to the 2021 census, Elsing has a population of 263 people which shows an increase from the 244 people recorded in the 2011 census.^[5]

The River Wensum runs through the parish.

Elsing's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and was built in the Fourteenth Century, largely as a mausoleum for Sir Hugh Hastings. St. Mary's is located within the village on Church Road and has been Grade I listed since 1960.^[6]

St. Mary's holds a good collection of Medieval stained-glass, including depictions of Sir Hugh Hastings alongside Saint George and King Edward III.^[7]

Elsing is part of the electoral ward of Upper Wensum for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.

The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.