The remains of the Parish Church of Saint Andrew, Rocklands. Photograph taken December 2019 Norfolk Heritage Explorer describes what remains of St Andrew’s Church, Rocklands as “the ruins of a 14th century church to the southeast of All Saints’ Church”. Ruins of Rockland St Andrew. Photograph taken December 2019 In his Essay Towards A Topographical…
Category: People
Great Ellingham born George Lister marries in Norwich
Marriage Notice of the marriage of George Lister to Isabella Almond appeared in the Norfok News of the 3rd October, 1874. The marriage took place at the parish church of St Peter’s Southgate in Norwich, and was officiated by the Reverend Porter. George was reported to be the youngest son of the late Samuel Lister…
Poplar Farmhouse – an Ancient Timber Framed Building
Poplar Farm, Long Street. Courtesy of Susan Fay In the informative booklet, A Little History of Great Ellingham, the authors describe ‘Poplar Farm’ as “an ancient timber framed building purporting to be made from reclaimed ship’s timber”. “This house has a long corridor down one side’”. The booklet also mentions that there is a spring…
Remembering Aircraftwoman Dora May Hudson
A daughter of Blomfield and Edith Hudson, Dora May Hudson is remembered with honour in the churchyard of St James in Great Ellingham. Private 459538 Aircraftwoman 2nd class Dora Hudson was a serving member of the Women’s Auxilliary Air Force (WAAF), when she died suddenly on the 21st August, 1943 at the aged of 24….
‘Mass Emigration’ from Great Ellingham in 1836
Illustration by Christine Fuller Borrowing to Fund the Emigration of the Poor Persons of the Parish One of the provisions of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, was the legislation which enabled the rate payers of a parish to set up a fund to pay for the ‘emigration of the poor persons settled in the…
Sixth Footpath called ‘Church Path’ discontinued in the early c18th
The Inclosures Map for Great Ellingham of 1802 shows four connecting footways weaving their way through various inclosures of land between Long Street and the road leading to the town of Attleborough. However, these four footpaths (together with ten others), were ‘put by and discontinued ‘ by the Inclosure (Great Ellingham) Act of 1799. Extract…
Postcards – a great way of keeping in touch …
In their day, postcards were a very popular way of keeping in touch with family and friends, and also with traders. Picture postcards included portraits of the famous, images of events and scenes of towns and villages. There were also comic postcards and greeting cards. In a time where there were several postal collections and…
Death of Quaker, Ann Smith
Included in a list of interments (1687-1857) at the Friends’ Burial Ground at Hingham is ‘Ann Smith 1765, widow’. Some 13 years earlier, the remains of Ann Smith’s daughter Elizabeth had been interred in the same burial ground. On her death in 1752, Elizabeth had bequeathed her house and land in Great Ellingham to her…
Robert Barnard of Great Ellingham Hall
Around the time of the Act of Parliament for the dividing, allotting and inclosing the commons and waste grounds in Great Ellingham c.1800, Robert Barnard owned several properties as well as some 35 acres of land in the village. However save for 30 acres of land, the properties owned by Robert Barnard were let to…
Fourteen Footways Discontinued by the Commissioners
Before the Great Ellingham Inclosure Act of 1799, there were several paths threading their way through the village. No doubt many of these footways were in constant use by the villagers to get from one part of the village to another, or to travel to the adjacent villages or towns. Some of these ancient paths…