The three pairs of semi-detached cottages with the former Prince of Wales Inn to the right along the Watton to Attleborough Road. March 2026. Courtesy Alison Crowter The above photograph shows the former Prince of Wales Inn (on the far right) and the three pairs of semi-detached cottages. These may have been built at a…
Category: Newby
First Occupants of the Hingham Road ‘Council Houses’
The first known ‘council houses’ or ‘houses for the working class’ were built in Mill Lane. Around 1928, Wayland Rural District Council (Wayland RDC) commissioned a terrace of four houses in Mill Lane. The Council also built a pair of semi-detached houses near to the terrace, which were either built at the same time or within…
The History of Swamp Lane Cottages – Part IV
Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition. Surveyed in 1881. Revised 1904. Swamp Lane lies at the northern side of the main road leading from the village to Attleborough. Indeed, the lane is not far from the parish boundary. There are several dwellings (of all types) on the eastern side of the lane. However,…
The History of the Double Cottage built on Pennell Common – Part II
Double Cottage at Penhill Road Photograph courtesy of the McDouall family This double cottage has stood along Penhill Road since at least 1811. Like many other historical houses in the village, the cottage has undergone many changes over the years. Furthermore, it will have seen the comings and goings of many occupants. We left Part…
Post WWII ‘Polish Hostel in Great Ellingham’
Great Ellingham Parish Church of St James The entries in the Burial Registers for St James’s Church, Great Ellingham, includes the burials of two men from the ‘Polish Hostel’, Great Ellingham. I decided to obtain the corresponding death certificates to try to gain more information about these men. Jan Szalobryt Jan Szalobryt died on the…
Leeder’s Shop & House in Church Street
It was not until relatively recent times that property ownership in Britain became accessible and achievable. In the past, many houses were rented from private landlords. Many of these private landlords also owned other properties in different towns or villages – some of which were a distance from where they lived. Great Ellingham once comprised…
Messuage built upon the tenement Greenhouse – Part V
On the left is a fine thatched house (formerly a copyhold messuage) with a pair of cottages built onto the eastern wall (to the right) on the corner of Church Street (the Street) Chequers Lane & Long Street. Postcard courtesy Carol Ewin The Story of the Owners and Occupiers In Parts I, II, III and…
William Yeomans sentenced to Confinement in Asylum for Arson
Crown Court At the beginning of August, 1879, 34-year-old labourer William Yeomans appeared at the Crown Court in Norwich. Yeomans pleaded guilty to the charge of ‘unlawfully and maliciously’ setting fire to a stack of wheat at Great Ellingham on the 7th June. The stack was the property of farmer, William Barnard. Defence of Insanity…
William Bird Proves his Case
Chequers Lane. Date unknown. Postcard courtesy of Carol Ewin In 1891, William Bird had a grocer’s shop in Chequers Lane, Great Ellingham. He was also a coal dealer. William’s wife Anna minded the shop whilst her husband delivered coal to his customers by horse and cart. County Court Case One such customer was John Hawes….
Messuage divided into Three Tenements lying in Churchgate
During the 19th century, many of the dwellinghouses in the village of Great Ellingham were tenanted. Further, not all the landlords lived in the village. Late 17th Century Dwellinghouse in Church Street An example of this is a late 17th century dwellinghouse lying in what we today know as Church Street, just opposite Mill Farm….