Extract from Painting by B Aldous 2003. Courtesy of Angela Crocker
One-Place Study of Great Ellingham
I guess that you’ve come across my website as either you have an interest in the village of Great Ellingham, or your ancestors came from the village in days gone by.
My aim is to research some of the families living in Great Ellingham (primarily in the 18th and 19th centuries), and to find out how the events of the times affected the village and/or the inhabitants.
I can easily get side tracked when researching, and you may find a blog about something else – although it would generally have a connection to the village.
Since the launch in July 2019, the website has grown from a few blogs and images to over 550 stories. I aim to publish at least one new article every month (time and material permitting!)
There are house histories, stories about some of the individuals and families who once lived in the village, a few tales, and general stories about village life.
The Gallery now includes images relating to some of the surrounding villages and towns, as well as photographs of some of the amazing archaeological finds in Great Ellingham.
I am delighted that Christine Fuller, a local artist, has provided wonderful illustrations for some of the stories. These illustrations certainly bring some of the village characters to life!
I hope you will find my One-Place Study website interesting. With new articles being frequently added, do check back now and again to see what’s new.
Local History Exhibitions
Local History Exhibition with Matt Hall displaying his metal detecting finds in St James’s Church 9th July 2023
Photograph courtesy Matt Hall
I have enjoyed holding successful local history exhibitions in the village. In addition to the website, this is a great way to share my research.
Photographs taken during the Heritage Open Days September 2023
Photograph above left – thanks to Peter Steward
2024
July – Teddy Bear Festival
Photographs taken at my ‘Who Lived in this House?” local history exhibition staged at St James’s Church, Great Ellingham 6 & 7 July 2024
I was delighted to be invited once again by the village’s Teddy Bear Festival to stage another local history exhibition in St James’s Church. It was lovely to have such good interest in ‘Who Lived in this House?”.
September – Heritage Open Days
Following the success of my first exhibition as part of the national ‘Heritage Open Days’ last in September 2023, William and Sarah Mason at The Crown kindly allowed me to stage another event with them in 2024.
The focus this time was “Great Ellingham Connected” which explored some of Great Ellingham’s interesting history through routes, networks and connections.
Once again, the exhibition was well supported by the local community. In addition, we had many visitors from further afield.
Images from the local history exhibition held at The Crown Public House, Great Ellingham
during Heritage Open Days 7/8 September 2024
2025 Exhibitions & Displays
VE Day Picnic Display
On the 5th May, Great Ellingham Rec Committee marked the VE Day with a village picnic. It was a pleasure to provide a ‘pop up’ local history display. This included the 1942 Gt Ellingham Invasion Committee Records.
5 May 2025. Pop-Up Display at the Great Ellingham Recreation Centre for the VE Day celebration
‘Great Ellingham through Trades & Occupations‘
This exhibition was held in St James’s Church on the 10th & 11th May. I was delighted to see so many visitors both from the village and further afield.
The ‘star attraction’ was Vic Howlett’s butcher’s pig which once had pride of place in his butcher’s shop in Chequers Lane. I also created a large display highlighting many villagers and their occupations (other than farming) accordingly to the census returns of 1841, 1881 & 1921.
2025 Local History Exhibition at St James’s Church. ‘Great Ellingham through Trades & Occupations’.
Great Ellingham Teddy Bear Festival
The One-Place Study will again be supporting the village festival this year. I will have displays at the Community Fete event on Saturday 12th July. The displays will focus on the village’s past efforts for fundraising, including fetes and carnivals.
Heritage Open Days – “Our Village-Our History-Our Story”
Once again I am planning another new local history exhibition in the village in September during the national Heritage Open Days festival. William and Sarah Mason at The Crown Public House has again kindly allowed me to stage a local history event in the Function Room at The Crown.
“Our Village-Our History-Our Story” will be a celebration of our village and some of our buildings and structures. I will be joined by the village’s metal detectorist, Matt Hall.
Comments
In the meantime, if you have any interesting stories, memories, photographs or postcards which you are willing to share, or comments, please do get in touch with me via the Contact Page.
My One-Place Study is registered with the Society for One-Place Studies
Heather Etteridge
Last updated 15 May 2025