At the beginning of the 19th century, Great Ellingham had around 655 inhabitants. These villagers were housed in some 97 dwellings. That’s an average of 6.75 persons per household! However, some dwellings will be occupied by one or two persons, with others accommodating much larger households. Dwellings The main clusters of houses were in Church…
Category: Houchen
Smallholder & General Dealer, William Dove, buys 3 Dwellings in Long Street
On the 25th October, 1920, Great Ellingham farmer, William Edward Victor Dove purchased three dwellings in Long Street, Great Ellingham. He also bought a nearby acre and a half of land. The sellers were the executors of the late James Houchen, who had died in Great Ellingham on the 29th December, 1916. The three dwellings…
Great Ellingham Property Owner & Carpenter James Houchen
James Houchen was a Great Ellingham man ‘born and bred’. From his birth in 1847 until his death in 1916, James Houchen lived his entire life in Great Ellingham – and, quite possibly, in Long Street. At one time, James’s parents, Francis and Matilda Houchen lived at a farm towards the southern end of Long…
The Baptist’s Meeting House in Long Street
Members of the Baptist Church have met together in Great Ellingham since at least 1699. The semi-circular tablet in the front wall of the chapel gives the year ‘1699’. However this is the year of the formation of a Baptist Church in Great Ellingham, and not when the building was built. The chapel was built…
Isaac Fincham Refuses to Quit The Crown at Little Ellingham
The former Crown Public House Little Ellingham. In the photograph is Bert Pestell a son of a former landlord, Henry D Pestell (landlord 1899-1908)Courtesy of Pauline Laing The following report from the Watton Petty Sessions was published in the Thetford & Watton Times on the 3rd October, 1896: William Kemp of Hingham farmer and Isaac…
James & Elizabeth Turner’s Final Resting Place
Memorial to James Turner died 30 October 1789 & his wife Elizabeth who died 12 March 1776 age 42 years. Great Ellingham Churchyard On the 3rd November, 1789, widower James Turner was buried in the churchyard of St James’s Church, Great Ellingham. He had outlived his wife Elizabeth by some 13 years. James & Elizabeth…
Thomas Warren buys the Browne Family’s Long Street Farm
Extract from the Indenture of Bargain & Sale 5 November 1819 William Ripper Coe & Others to Thomas Warren & his TrusteeCourtesy David & Julia Matthews From 1724 to at least 1819, the Browne family owned and occupied a farm at the northern end of Long Street. Much later, the farm became known as ‘Broadmarsh…
Jeremiah Warren inherits Broadmarsh Farm
1960s Long Street. The old thatched farmhouse of Broadmarsh Farm is visible to the top of the photograph. Fir Tree Farm is the white cottage to the right (as facing the photograph) Courtesy Michelle Baron Jeremiah Warren was born in Great Ellingham. He was the eldest of three children of William Kiddle Warren and his…
The Browne Family’s Farm in Long Street
1960s Long Street with the old farmhouse of what was later known as Broadmarsh Farm to the top of the photograph with surrounding cottages. Fir Tree Farm is the white cottage to the right (as facing the photograph) Courtesy of Michelle Baron The Great Ellingham Inclosure documentation c.1802, tells us that Hannah Browne owned and…
The History of Swamp Lane Cottages – Part I
‘Swamp’ can mean an area of low-lying, boggy or marshy uncultivated land. We can apply some of this description to ‘Swamp Lane’ in Great Ellingham. The area on the eastern side of the lane is certainly low, and was once part of the common of Great Ellingham. A stream or rivulet borders this area and…