Diss 544357 221018056 2008-06-22T18:02:05Z Mangwanani 2686122 [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 221003730 by [[Special:Contributions/99.228.181.128|99.228.181.128]] ([[User talk:99.228.181.128|talk]]) :''This article is about the English town. 'Diss' may also be shorthand for [[dissertation]].'' {{infobox UK place| |country = England |latitude= 52.3812 |longitude= 1.1079 |official_name= Diss |static_image= [[Image:Diss Inner Flag.svg|100px]] |static_image_caption = Town crest |population = 6742 (2001 Census) |shire_district= |region= East of England |shire_county = [[Norfolk]] |constituency_westminster= [[South Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|South Norfolk]] |post_town= DISS|postcode_district = IP22 |postcode_area= IP |dial_code= 01379 |os_grid_reference= TM1180 }} '''Diss''' is a [[town]] (population 6742<ref>Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council, 2001. [http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes].</ref>) on the [[Norfolk]]/[[Suffolk]] border in [[England]]. It lies in the valley of the [[River Waveney]], around a ''mere'' ([[lake]]) that covers 6&nbsp;[[acre]]s (24,000 m²). The mere is up to 18&nbsp;[[foot (unit of length)|feet]] (5 m) deep (although there is another 51 feet (16 m) of mud, making it one of the deepest natural inland lakes in England). The town may take its name from the [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] term for lake, or from an old [[Viking]] word meaning 'village of the dancing horse'. Diss has a large number of historic buildings, including the early 14th century [[parish church]]. It is also home to a [[museum]]. [[Diss railway station]] lies on the [[Great Eastern Main Line]] route from [[London Liverpool Street|London]] to [[Norwich]]. Famous people from Diss include [[John Skelton]], a former [[poet laureate]] whose poem [http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/Poems/ware_the_hawk.htm ''Ware the Hawk''] is set in St, Mary's Church. Others include [[Thomas Lord]], founder of [[Lord's Cricket Ground]] and England defender [[Matthew Upson]]. Frequent visitors include the actor [[Dexter Fletcher]] who has called the town 'the jewel in Norfolk's crown'. Opposite the fourteenth-century parish church of St. Mary The Virgin stands a sixteenth-century building known as the Dolphin House. This was one of the most important buildings in the town. It's impressive dressed-oak beams denote it to be a high-status building, possibly a wool merchant's house. Formerly a pub, the Dolphin, from the 1800s to the 1960s, the building now houses a number of small businesses. Early in 1871, substantial alterations were made to a house in Mount Street, about {{convert|100|yd|m}} north of the parish church. The workmen were removing the brick flooring of one of the ground-rooms and excavating the soil beneath, to insert the joists of a boarded floor, when they discovered a hoard of coins. Beneath the bricks, they came upon the original hard clay floor, and in the centre of the room, at about 18 inches from the surface, the remains of an earthen vessel were found, containing over three hundred coins. With the exception of 2 fine gold nobles, all the coins were silver.<ref>[http://detecting.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/02/coind_found_at.html Coin Hoard Article]</ref> In March 2006, Diss became the third town in the UK to join [[Cittaslow]], an international organisation promoting the concept of 'Slow Towns'.<ref>Cittaslow, 2006. [http://www.cittaslow.org.uk/page.php?Pid1=6&PLv=1 ''Diss becomes Cittaslow''].</ref> The town's local newspaper, founded 1864, is the [[Diss Express]]. Diss is a predominantly [[Christian]] town with [[Anglicanism|Church of England]] (St. Mary the Virgin), [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] ([http://pic6.piczo.com/holytrinitydiss/?g=1 Most Holy Trinity]), [[Methodism|Methodist]], and [[Baptist]] churches. == Local People == Local historian [[Stephen Govier]] published an illustrated history of Diss in 2007. [[James Govier]] [ 1910 - 1974 ] was the artmaster at Diss Grammar School from 1965 until 1972. Govier was a painter and etcher of The Swansea School and The Royal College of Art, he resided at Hoxne in Suffolk. ==References== <references /> * An Illustrated History & Guide to Diss, by Stephen Govier.published in 2007. ==External links== *[http://www.discoversuffolk.org.uk/map.aspx?mid=40 Map from discoversuffolk] *[http://www.disscouncil.co.uk/ Diss Town Council] – official town council website *[http://www.diss.co.uk/ Diss Online] – official town website *[http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/ Diss Express] – town's local newspaper website *[http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/d/diss/white1845.shtml Norfolk: Diss] GENUKI Norfolk transcript from ''History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk'', William White, 1845 *[http://www.thisisdiss.co.uk/ Diss Forum] – Discussion forum for Diss, Norfolk (currently links not working) *[http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/windmills.html History of Diss windmills] [[Category:Towns in Norfolk]] [[Category:South Norfolk]] [[de:Diss (Norfolk)]] [[nl:Diss (Engeland)]] [[no:Diss (Norfolk)]] [[ro:Diss]] [[vo:Diss]]