It is not until the 1901 census that I find the name ‘Swamp Lane’ recorded on the census returns. However, earlier electoral registers going back to at least 1878, refer to the area as ‘The Swamp’ or ‘Swamp’. Nevertheless, some of the census returns prior to 1901 refer to the few cottages along the lane…
Category: Penhill Road
Elizabeth Peas guilty of stealing a pair of John Browne’s drawers!
Illustration Christine Fuller The Norwich Mercury of Saturday 27th June, 1863, reported on several recent cases at the East Harling Petty Sessions. The report included the case of Elizabeth Peas, a single woman, of Great Ellingham. Elizabeth was charged by miller John Browne of stealing a pair of drawers at [Great] Ellingham on the 6th…
The History of the Double Cottage built on Pennell Common – Part I
Double Cottage at Penhill Road. Photograph courtesy of McDouall family For nearly two centuries, the above double cottage is one of just a few houses in Penhill Road. It was built around 1810 on a piece of land formerly part of of ‘Pennell Common’. Like many other historical houses in the village, the cottage has…
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…
Robert & Catherine Martin leave their mark on Home Cottage
Home Cottage FarmPhotograph taken October 2023 Great Ellingham is fortunate to have some fantastic historical buildings. One such gem is a delightful farmhouse in Penhill Road. Today, this house is known as Home Cottage Farm. Situated at the far western end of Penhill Road, Home Cottage Farm is a stone’s throw from the parish boundary…
William & Virtue Fincham’s Home in Penhill Road
Although most census returns will tell us roughly where people lived in the village, the census does not always tell us exactly where along a lane or road the individuals or families lived. The census returns of 1891, 1901 and 1911 show that William and Virtue Fincham lived in Penhill Road. With the help of…
Thomas Warren’s Cottages at Pennell Common
The Great Ellingham Inclosures documentation not only provides the names of the landowners and their tenants, but allows us to pinpoint where many of the inhabitants were living at the turn of the 19th century. The Statement of Claims c.1799 and a Particulars & Valuation of Great Ellingham 1800, show that farmer Thomas Warren owned…
The ‘Witches’ of Penhill Road & ‘Dragon’s Blood’ at Downham Market
Witchcraft & Folklore Witchcraft is very much interwoven with Norfolk folklore. Traditionally ‘Witches’ were perceived to have supernatural powers to control people or events. Most villages and towns had ‘wise-men’ or ‘wise-women’ who were acquainted with the old mysterious ways. Although much-feared, it is claimed that these ‘cunning folk’ made sick people better, located lost…
The Rosher Family of ‘Near the Hall Gates’
The Rosher Family’s Home in Great Ellingham The 1911 census captures Alfred Rosher with his wife and children living in a three-roomed property in Town Green, Great Ellingham, which was said to be ‘Near the Hall Gates‘. Assuming that the position of the gates leading to Great Ellingham Hall has remained unchanged since at least…
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…