The below is the embryo of what I hope will turn into the most comprehensive history and study of Hethersett ever published.
You can read more on www.hethersettherald.weebly.com but the basic idea is to divide the history of the village into eight sections as follows:
1 - Stone Age to Domesday Book of 1086 (including Roman and Saxon times)
2 - 1086-1199
3 - 1200-1299
4 - 1300-1799
5 - 1800-1899
6 - 1900-1949
7 - 1950-2000
8 - 2001 to present day
It's all very rough at the moment but the idea is to add information and photographs as and when I receive them. Below is what I have established to date on the earliest history of the Hethersett settlement. I am looking forward to adding to this section over the coming weeks and months and bringing some kind of order to what I already have on the site in what is little more than note form at the present time.
* * *
The earliest description of Hethersett was in the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was referred to as Hederseta or Hederseeta
At that time it is recorded that there were perhaps 400 people in the parish. There was a recorded population of 131 households, making it a relatively large settlement - in fact in the largest 20% of settlements. The Lord of the Manor had 87 sheep and seven hives of bees, perhaps gathering nectar from the heather, among his possessions.
The Domesday Book lists Hethersett under three owners - Count Alan of Brittany and Godric the Steward (two entries and they may well have been two different people).
The land belonging to Count Alan amounted to households involving nine villagers, 79 freemen, 12 small holders and two slaves. It included ploughland, meadowland, woodland and one mill and two churches. Livestock on his land amounted to 1 cob, five cattle, 87 sheep and 7 beehives. The tenant in chief was noted as Count Alan and the Lord was Ribald, Alan's brother. After the Norman Conquest, Count Alan numbered 592 places under his control.
The land belonging to Godric The Steward included nine freemen and ploughland and meadowland. Another Godric the Steward listing featured 20 freemen and ploughland and meadowland.
Godric the Steward was a native Englishman and the steward of the Earl of East Anglia Ralph de Gael. He administered royal lands in Norfolk and Suffolk some of which were lands formerly held by Ralph before the earl's participation in the Revolt of the Earls and subsequent loss of all his English landholdings. Godric also held lands in his own right including Hethersett. Godric was one of only 13 English tenants in chief listed in the Domesday Book. Godric also served William II as a steward and died around 1114.
The Domesday Book also mentions a church with its 60 acres of land, a handsome endowment: no Saxon or Norman work remains to be seen because of later rebuilding. The actual date of the first church building is not known but is obviously before 1086.
There is also mention of a second church and this presumably applies to the church of Cantley, then a separate parish, of which nothing now remains except some mounds in a pasture to the north of Cantley Farm. This small parish was amalgamated with its larger neighbour in 1397 although the church was used as a chapel until the 16th Century.
Note by way of explanation: Ralph de Gael was the Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk). He was the leading figure in the Revolt of the Earls, a serious revolt against William the Conqueror. He held large estates in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.