Hainford's name is of
Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the
Old English for 'enclosure ford.' In the
Domesday Book, Hainford is listed as a settlement of 9 households
hundred of Taverham. In 1086, the village was part of the
East Anglian estates of
Roger the Poitevin. Hainford Hall was built in the 18th century and is now derelict. The hall was at one time the property of Jonathan Worrell who owned 139 enslaved people in
Barbados. During the
Second World War, several anti-invasion defences were built in Hainford. Furthermore, a stick of
Luftwaffe bombs were dropped in the nearby Waterloo Plantation in an attempt to hit
Stratton Strawless Hall which was being used as a radar installation. There were two aircraft crashes in Hainford during the Second World War. In 1942, a
Bristol Beaufighter of
No. 68 Squadron RAF crashed in the parish likely flying from
RAF Coltishall and in April 1945 a
Consolidated B-24 Liberator of the 458th Bomb Group,
754th Bombardment Squadron crashed in the parish, two of the seven crew survived. == Geography ==