GRESSENHALL, a parish in the hundred of LAUNDITCH, county of NORFOLK, 2 miles (N.W.) from East Dereham, containing 861 inhabitants. The living is a rectory,, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Norwich, rated in the king's books at £ 15.13.4. John Hill, Esq. was patron in 1807. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a large cruciform pile, having a tower rising from the intersection, which was formerly surmounted by a spire, but taken down in 1698. There was also a collegiate chapel, founded by William de Stuteville in the reign of Henry III., and dedicated to St. Nicholas, the remains of which have been converted into an infirmary to the house of industry, erected here in 1776, for the hundreds of Mitford and Launditch; the college possessed a common seal, representing St. Nicholas in his pontificalsthe last incumbent, who was living in 1503, had a pension of £4. 16. granted by the crown.