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…
Category: Penhill Road
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…
Henry Cobon of White Hall, Town Green
Following the departure of the Barnard family from The Hall at Great Ellingham, the next occupiers were Henry and Mary Cobon. Great Ellingham Hall. Photograph taken September 2020 Old Hall Farmhouse in Great Ellingham is a Grade II listed building. British Listed Buildings website describes the c.1570 building as timber framed with wattle and daub….
Widow Stebbins occupying ‘one messuage & 26 acres of land’
Today, Great Ellingham has two farms in Penhill Road which include ‘Penhill’ in the farm name – Penhill Farm and Penhill Farm West. As the name suggests, Penhill Farm West is situated near to the western boundary of the village with Rocklands. Penhill Farm lies nearer to the village along the same road. Penhill Farm…
Strongly Worded Letter received at The Hall
The above letter was written by John Nichols, a farmer, living in Northrepps on the 18th July 1858. It was addressed to Benjamin Barnard of The Hall at Great Ellingham. The content of the letter referred to the payment of an annuity due to Mrs Barnard from the ‘Stanfield Estate’. It seems that there had…
1685: Anthony Beales sells his Windmill to John Browne
The brick built Windmill, Great Ellingham built in the 1840s. Photograph courtesy of Attleborough Heritage Group Since the 1600s, Great Ellingham has had at least three windmills at various times. The tower of the brick built Windmill, which was erected in the late 1840s, is still visible in the village today. The Statement of Claims…
John Bartram Bound Over to Keep the Peace for Six Months
Court Case The Norfolk News of 1st April 1876, reported on a case heard at the East Harling Petty Sessions on the previous Tuesday. John Bartram described as a farmer of Great Ellingham was charged with using threatening language to William Myhill. Myhill was also a farmer of Great Ellingham. Bartram was bound over in…