We are fortunate that the Norfolk Record Office holds an abundance of documentation relating to Great Ellingham. This includes paperwork from the ‘Great Ellingham Inclosures’ c.1799 and a map dated 1802. According to the Great Ellingham Inclosure Statement of Claims, Thomas Beales claimed: – One Cottage and Garden occupied by Thomas Margetson – One Barn…
Category: Bow Street
The Rivetts at Pond Farm
Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition. Surveyed in 1881. Author’s Collection The black dot on the above extract from a 1906 Ordnance Survey Map, shows the home of Leonard and Gertrude Rivett at Pond Farm in Watton Road, Great Ellingham. Pond Farm still exists. Further, there has been a dwelling on the site…
Stained-Glass Window in Memory of Robert Barnard Lebbell and his wife Mary
Photograph courtesy of Steve Moore-Vale On the south side of the Church of St James, is a fine stained-glass window dedicated to two members of long-standing local families: Robert Barnard Lebbell and his wife Mary née Mann. The cost of the window was funded by their family. Photograph courtesy of Steve Moore-Vale Who was Robert…
James Fox ‘gives up’ his Farm in Bow Street
1904 Auction of Farm in Bow Street Occupied by James Fox The Norfolk Chronicle of the 6th August, 1904, included notice of the sale by auction of a ‘Desirable Small Occupation Farm’ in Bow Street, Great Ellingham. The auction would take place at the Royal Hotel, Norwich at 7 o’clock in the evening of the…
Seven Acre Farm in Bow Street
At the beginning of the 19th century, there were 13 dwellings along Bow Street. These dwellings included eight houses and five cottages. Of the eight houses, six were farms with land ranging from around seven acres to 43 acres. George Cady (Caddy) of Rockland All Saints, owned one of the houses together with seven acres…
A ‘Very Desirable Small Farm’ in Great Ellingham with a Cellar
Norfolk Heritage Explorer describes Rose Farmhouse in Great Ellingham as ‘a mid-17th century timber framed farmhouse with clay infill’. The house will have seen the comings and goings of many families over the centuries and, if the walls of the building could talk, I wonder what secrets would be revealed! At the time of the…
John Whellum inherits his Uncle’s Bow Street Farm
At the time of his death in 1870, Great Ellingham born William Wretham owned several freehold and leasehold properties in Norwich, including his home in Paragon Street, Norwich. Extract from Second Edition, 1906. Norfolk, sheet LXXXV S.W. Courtesy Ray & Maureen Beales Wretham also owned a modest farm (or smallholding) in Bow Street, which he…
How many Villagers had the first name ‘Christmas’?
With Christmas fast approaching, I thought it would be interesting to see whether, in addition to Christmas Chaplin, there were any other villagers in days gone by with the name ‘Christmas’ – either as a first name or a family name. I have not discovered any family with the surname ‘Christmas’, but if you know…
‘Golden Couple’ Joseph & Susanna Dye
Joseph & Susanna Dye with their family c.1941. Photograph courtesy of Bryan Dye The above photograph is a fabulous snapshot of a couple celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary, surrounded by generations of their family. Marriage Joseph Alfred Dye married Susanna Lincoln in 1891. They were both aged 21, and from long-established Great Ellingham families. Both…
John Rose buys Heasell’s Farm
1820 Auction The Norfolk Chronicle & Norwich Gazette of the 15th July, 1820 included Notice of a forthcoming Auction of a ‘Valuable Estate’ in Great Ellingham. The Auction would take place at the Crown Inn in Great Ellingham on the 27th July, 1820 at four o’clock in the afternoon. The estate comprised ‘a good farmhouse,…