Mattishall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated west of Norwich and east of Dereham, at the geographical centre of Norfolk.
It covers an area of and had a population of 2,631 in 1,110 households at the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the Elmham and Mattishall division of Norfolk County Council and the Mattishall ward of Breckland District Council.
History
The village's name probably means, 'Ma(e)tt's nook of land'.
It is situated on a plateau of boulder clay left by the glaciers about 300,000 years ago. The soil in the area varies from sands around the neighbouring Mattishall Burgh to stickier clays around Mattishall.
Mattishall has been divided in a religious sense for many years, first with the Reformation, then with the growth of Quakerism. The Quakers established a Meeting House in 1687. Almost 100 years later the Old Moor Congregational Chapel was built. Both had their own burial ground. When it became uneconomical to continue at Old Moor, the Congregationalists transferred to their Lecture Room in Welgate built in 1829. It is now the United Reformed Church. Primitive Methodism gained a following in the nineteenth century but it was not until 1900 that a site was found for a permanent meeting place along the main road. The second half of the twentieth century saw the establishment of the Evangelical Church. From March 1785, the body of James Cliffen was gibbeted on Badley Moor on the parish boundary between Yaxham and Mattishall, the site resembling a fair for several weeks after his death, and Parson Woodforde visited the body in April. It remained there for about 25 years, until the enclosure of the parish's common land led to its removal the same year.
The National School (subsequently Mattishall First School and Mattishall Middle School, and since 2005 merged to become simply Mattishall Primary School) was built in 1872. A notable headmistress was Miss Johnson (1884–1919), the daughter of the station master at Hardingham. Miss Mildred Edwards, a pupil-teacher, was still around when the school celebrated its centenary. It was she who planted the conker, which grew into the very large chestnut tree in the garden of Church Cottage near the corner of the school playing field.
There have been many developments since the 1960s: a memorial hall, a sports and social club, new school buildings on a large site and a surgery, pharmacy, hairdressers and local shops.