Burston, Norfolk

Burston is a village in Norfolk, England, 3 miles (4.5 km) north of Diss. The civil parish is called Burston and Shimpling. It covers an area of 9.17 square kilometres (3.54 sq mi) and had a population of 568 in 234 households at the 2011 Census. Burston is famous as the site of the Burston Strike School, the longest strike in history.

Burston

St Mary's Church
Burston
Location within Norfolk
Area9.17 km2 (3.54 sq mi)
Population568 (2011)[1]
• Density62/km2 (160/sq mi)
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDiss
Postcode districtIP22

In 1949, the Strike School building was registered as an educational charity. There are four self-perpetuating trustees who manage the school and try to develop it as a museum, visitor centre, educational archive, and village amenity. A rally to commemorate the school and the longest strike in UK history has been organised on the first Sunday in September every year since 1984 by the Transport and General Workers' Union and supported by other unions.

St Mary's Church, though recognised as not the most exciting or interesting church in Norfolk,[2] is notable for the role played in the Burston strike by its rector, the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland. The tower collapsed in the 18th century, and with the nave and chancel altered in Victorian times, it has something of the appearance of a barn. The church stands in a tree shaded graveyard, in which are the graves of Kitty Higdon and Tom Higdon, the teachers at the centre of the school strike. With a declining congregation, St Mary is now used partly as a school hall. The modern chance is housed in the chancel, behind an iron screen separating it from the nave. The church is a grade II* listed building [3]

Burston once had its own Burston railway station with services on the Great Eastern Main Line between Norwich and London.

In 2015, it was announced that OHMO Entertainment UK would be producing a full-length feature film based on the strikes of 1914, and filming would take place in the village.

Notes
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  2. Norfolk Churches
  3. Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST MARY (1305672)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
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