Many visitors to my website will know that I enjoy researching individuals or families who connect with our village. I frequently find myself going down many rabbit holes but usually find village links which, until then, I knew nothing about! Whilst researching some of the history of Homelea Farm in Penhill Road, I came across…
Category: Attleborough to Rocklands Road
The Prince of Wales & the Cottages in Watton Road
The three pairs of semi-detached cottages with the former Prince of Wales Inn to the right along the Watton to Attleborough Road. March 2026Courtesy Alison Crowter The Prince of Wales Inn and the three pairs of semi-detached cottages (six in all) may have been built at a similar time i.e. between 1843 and 1868. Extract…
Occupiers of the Cottages in Watton Road 1891-1942
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…
Joseph Saunders ‘on remand’ for stealing Three Hens
Illustration Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied The following appeared in the Norwich Mercury on the 13th December, 1884: ALLEGED FELONYAt the Occasional Court House – present Rev. J Spurgin, Jos. Saunders, Great Ellingham, labourer, was charged by P.C. Fisher with stealing three…
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…
For Sale – Newly built farmhouse known as Wylands Farm
Illustration Christine Fuller Wylands Farm lies to the most southern end of Long Street not far from the village boundary with Attleborough. Extract from O.S. Map c.1945. Courtesy Ray & Maureen Beales The Thetford & Watton Times of the 23rd September, 1916, published the following notice: PROPERTY SALE On Wednesday afternoon Messrs W S Hall…
The Tale of the Vanishing Linen!
Illustration by Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied 24 year old May Bush lived with her parents and siblings at Rookery Farm, Great Ellingham. May worked in the dairy for her father, farmer William Arthur Bush. She was proficient in dairy skills. Indeed,…
George Jude sells land for Recreation Ground
Many of us will be familiar with the large recreation ground we are fortunate to have in our village. But I wonder whether any of us have ever thought how long the village has actually had the recreation ground. Farm Meadows Before the creation of a designated recreation ground, several owners of the larger farms…
Clement Barker buys Rookery Farm from William J Norton
Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition. Surveyed in 1881. Revised 1904. Rookery Farm is a substantial farm approached by a short drive from the Watton Road, near to the border with Rocklands. Indeed a very small portion of the land belonging to the farm once crossed the parish boundary into Rocklands. Perhaps this…
William Arthur Bush successfully bids for Rookery Farm at Auction
William Arthur Bush may well have been in residence at Rookery Farm when he bid for the farm at auction. Auction At the auction on the 9th September, 1910, held at the Royal Hotel, Attleborough, Rookery Farm was sold in four lots. William Bush successfully bid for Lots 1 and 4, which included the majority…