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…
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…
‘Houses for the Poor’ Sold at Auction
1769 Dwelling House for the Poor In 1769 a house to accommodate the poor was built upon land at the lower part of the common of Town Green. The land was given to the parish by the Lady of the Manor of Ellingham Hall, Margaretta Colman, the wife of the late Fysher Colman. The common…
Messuage in Long Street later known as Fir Tree Farm
Inclosures At the beginning of the 19th century Thomas Warren owned and occupied a house in Long Street. This house was later known as Fir Tree Farm. A Statement of Claims c.1799 relating to the Great Ellingham Inclosures, provide details of the owners and occupiers of houses, cottages and the various parcels of land in…
Messuage built upon the tenement Greenhouse – Part V
On the left is a fine thatched house (formerly a copyhold messuage) with a pair of cottages built onto the eastern wall (to the right) on the corner of Church Street (the Street) Chequers Lane & Long Street. Postcard courtesy Carol Ewin The Story of the Owners and Occupiers In Parts I, II, III and…
Messuage built upon the tenement Greenhouse – Part IV
Semi-detached cottages (once referred to as the ‘Messuage built upon the tenement Greenhouse’) with adjoining cottages on the right. Corner of Chequers Lane/Long Street & Church Street. Postcard courtesy Carol Ewin The Story of the Owners and Occupiers of the House In Parts I, II and III, I have taken the history of this delightful…
Council Housing for Great Ellingham following the ‘Addison’ Act
The Housing, Town Planning, &c Act of 1919 (often referred to as the ‘Addison Act’) promised government subsidies to help finance the build of 500,000 houses in Britain within three years. The Act also made housing a national responsibility, with local authorities being charged with developing new housing and rental accommodation to satisfy the need…
Vic Howlett creates Butcher’s Shop from a Shed!
Vic Howlett’s Butcher’s Shop (blue building) in Chequers Lane. Photograph taken c.1990 If you lived in Great Ellingham during the 1960s to the 1990s, you most likely would have bought your meat from Vic Howlett’s Butchers Shop in Chequers Lane. Vic was always cheerful and had a kind word for everyone. I recently listened to…
Great Ellingham’s Valentines
For centuries, children have been given the name ‘Valentine‘ whether or not they actually came into the world on the 14th February. I wondered whether there had been any ‘Valentines’ in Great Ellingham? Valentine Garratt Church of St James, Great Ellingham Marriage The marriage between Valentine Garratt of Gressenhall and Elizabeth Frost of Great Ellingham…