The former British School in Long Street. Image courtesy of Sue Fay
Norfolk Heritage Explorer describes ‘Great Ellingham British School’ as ‘A small, plain building’. It also goes on to say that ‘There is little known of its history, and it is now a house’.
Looking at the image of the building (possibly from the 1960s), I think Norfolk Heritage Explorer‘s description of c.2011, is fair. However, the description and image belies its interesting past. Furthermore the alterations carried out in more recent years, have added much character and ‘curb-appeal’ to the property.
‘Chapel School’. Photograph taken November 2024
British School
The building began its journey in 1855 as a “British School”. It also became known as the “Board School”.
The Minutes of the Baptist Church of March 1855, mention that the Baptist Chapel Trustees agreed to a portion of the Baptist Chapel orchard being used for the erection of a school and playground. This is on the condition that the Trustees retained all the legal rights.
Inscription above the door of the school-room
Photograph M. Jones. Courtesy Hayley Howes
The school was subsequently built. The cost of £182 17s 0d is recorded as being funded by the Parish. Nevertheless, the school was leased by the School Board. The school opened with 83 children and 14 teachers.
National School
In 1865, a National School was erected along the Attleborough Road on land donated by Lord Walsingham, the owner of Bury Hall and the large Merton Estate. Great Ellingham then had two ‘day schools’.
New Lease
In July 1887, with the term of the lease on the school room coming to an end, the School Board considered building a new school. However, the preferred option was a new lease. The new lease was for 14 years at a re-negotiated rent.
The British School (Board School) and the National School continued to provide education to the children of the village. However, in 1896 a new Board School was erected in Hingham Road. It was then that the children from both schools transferred to the new school.
The School Room after 1896
I do not know exactly what happened to the school room following the transfer of the children to the new school. However, the building was still under lease to the Board School until 1901 unless, of course, the lease was brought to an earlier end.
Nevertheless, there is evidence that the room was in use.
The Baptist Church Minutes of 1897 refer to the proposal of holding an appeal in the interests of ‘Dr Barnardo’s Homes for 5000 children’ in the village. The Pastor agreed to inquire of the Chairman of the School Board as to the ‘large room’ being used for the occasion.
In 1899, the Baptist Church held a Public Tea in the school-room, which was attended by around 50 people. In the November of 1900, a further Public Tea was held in ‘the old Board School’ to which 160 attended.
Having said that, by 1908 the old school room had become derelict.
Offer to Purchase
I do not know when the Trustees of the Baptist Chapel decided to sell the ‘old school room’. It is possible that the Trustees just received an offer.
Whatever the case, the Trustees accepted an offer from Mrs Violet May Witton (or, perhaps, more likely her husband Frank), to purchase the school room for £50.
Charity Commission
In order to deal with a sale, the Great Ellingham Baptist Church was required to obtain an Order from the Charity Commissioners. This appears to be more of a paper exercise relating to two charitable legacies bequeathed to the Baptist Church by Elizabeth Asty (of property) in 1724 and Charles Watts (of money) in 1876.
In any event, the Order by which the school room could be sold was sealed by the Charity Commissioners on the 10th May, 1929.
Violet May Witton
On the 27th September, 1929, Violet May Witton described as the wife of Frank Witton of Great Ellingham, purchased:
All that schoolroom with the buildings and land thereto belonging (including the fences on all sides) situate in Great Ellingham in the County of Norfolk having frontage of Forty five feet or thereabouts to Long Street and a length on the North West side of One hundred and twenty feet or thereabouts and a width on the North East side of Thirty seven feet or thereabouts bounded by other property belonging to the Trustees towards the North East and North West by property known as the Cemetery Farm in part and by property belonging to Mrs Leeder in other part towards the South East and by the Road known as Long Street towards the South West
In addition, Violet Witton is given a right to use ‘the pump’ on the adjoining property belonging to the Trustees of the Baptist Chapel, as well as a right of access over land (owned by the Trustees) to get to the pump. This is on the condition that Violet pays part of the expense of keeping the pump in good repair. I assume that the ‘pump’ is a water pump.
Conversion to a ‘Home’
I have no doubt that Violet and her husband Frank were the first people to make the old school room into a home. The Electoral Registers for 1931 lists Frank and Violet Witton at The Bungalow, Long Street. The couple had married in the St Faiths District of Norfolk between January and March 1928, the year before Violet’s purchase of the property.
Nevertheless, Violet sold the property in December 1931.
The Seales
On the 19th December, 1931, Violet Witton sold The Bungalow to Matthew Thomas Seales, Edith Ruth Seales and Charles Robert Seales.
The Seales paid £290 for the property. This sum is substantially more than the £50 which Violet Witton paid for the property some two and a half years earlier. However, the Wittons will have spent some time and money on the property in order to make it a habitable home. Nevertheless on the face of, the Wittons made a good profit!
The Conveyance Deed between Violet Witton and the Seales gives Violet’s address as The Lodge, Duke Road, Gorleston-on-sea. This suggests that Frank and Violet Witton had moved to Gorleston before they sold. (Violet is described as a married woman, so I assume that Frank is still alive).
Further, husband and wife Matthew and Edith Seales, and Charles Robert Seales, are all said to be ‘of Great Ellingham’. Accordingly, I think it more than possible that Matthew, Edith and Charles are all living in The Bungalow prior to the purchase.
Matthew and Edith (nèe Duffield) married in the Norfolk District of Downham Market between October and December, 1928. At the time of the marriage, Matthew Seales was 73 and his wife some thirty years his junior at 43.
I believe Charles Robert Seales is Matthew’s brother.
Once again, the buyers of the property only stayed for just over two years. In May, 1933, the property was once again sold.
The Lakes
On the 26th May, 1933, Matthew and Edith Seales, and Charles Seales, sold the property to William Lake and Lily Lake. The price agreed was £300.
At the time of the sale, Matthew, Edith and Charles Seales are still living in Great Ellingham.
The property was purchased by labourer William Lake and his sister-in-law, Lily Lake, the wife of James Lake. Prior to the purchase, all three had been living at 11 Gladstone Terrace, Chapel Road, Attleborough.
James Lake had married Lily F Hall between October and December 1930. It was James’s second marriage. In 1907, James Lake married Laura Etteridge – my husband’s great aunt! Laura died in 1929.
William Lake is James’s eldest brother. I am confident that all three lived at The Bungalow (as it was then known).
On the 7th April, 1934, William Lake died at the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. He was 72. Given that the grant of letters of administration gives William’s address as Long Street, Great Ellingham, I am confident that the Lakes lived in the property.
James and Lily Lake continued to live in the property for another eight years.
Mary Ann Hills
On the 10th July, 1942, Lily and James Lake sold the property for £380 to widow Mary Ann Hills of No.81 Jacksons Road, Bromley, Kent.
However, given that Mary Ann Hills then sold the property again in the December, I do not believe that Mary Ann Hills ever occupied the property.
Nevertheless, Mary Ann Hills has a local connection. She was born in 1889 in Little Ellingham to James and Judith Halls. The 1891 census captures one year old Mary Ann with her parents and siblings living in Wood Lane, Little Ellingham.
She married George Norris Hills in the Bromley District between January and March 1911. George Hills served with The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment during the First World War. Tragically he was killed in action on the 30th April, 1918.
The 1939 Register captures 50 year old widow Mary Ann Hills working as a cook for William and Lilian Smith at 81 Jacksons Road, Bromley.
Francis Tom Shilton
On the 9th December, 1942, Mary Ann Hills (still living at No.81 Jacksons Road, Bromley), sells the property to boot & shoe manufacturer Francis Tom Shilton of Stalham. Shilton paid £400 for the property.
Francis Shilton is still a boot & shoe merchant in Stalham when he sells the property in 1946.
Again, I do not believe that Francis Shilton ever lived at the property. However, the deeds are silent with regard to any occupiers. Usually the names of occupiers of a property are mentioned in cases where a property is sold with a ‘sitting tenant’.
Kenneth David Allington
On the 15th April, 1946, Francis Shilton sold the property for £600. The buyer is electrician Kenneth David Allington of No.8 Bridge Street, Thetford.
Kenneth Allington did live in the property. What’s more, it is during his ownership that the property became known as ‘Maria-worth’.
‘Maria-worth’
Many people like to give their house a name. House names can be based on the vicinity of the dwelling, a view, or, perhaps, a historic reason. However, names of houses can also be sentimental and personal to the house owner.
Here I wondered whether ‘Maria-worth’ had been a person with a connection to Kenneth Allington. My investigations were fruitless in that regard. Nevertheless, I wonder whether the property is named after a place called ‘Maria Wörth‘ in Austria. Perhaps Kenneth visited the place, or had intended to do so, but spent the money on the purchase of the property instead of the holiday!
Whatever the reason, ‘Maria-worth’ is no longer the name of the property. It was renamed ‘Chapel School’ by the current owners – a name with a firm historical link.
Irene Lebbell
On the 25th June, 1948, Kenneth David Allington formerly of No.8 Bridge Street, Thetford but now of Maria-worth, Long Street, Great Ellingham, sold the property to Irene Lebbell of nearby Cemetery Farm. Irene paid £900 for the property.
Irene is the widow of Dick Robert Barnard Lebbell who had sadly died on the 7th June, 1947. Dick was the son of local blacksmith and parish clerk, William Robert Lebbell and his wife Lily nèe Wigby.
It was around the time that Irene purchased ‘Maria-worth’ that she also married Horace James Melton. The were known locally as ‘Jim and Rene’ and lived at ‘Maria-worth’ for the rest of their lives.
Rene died in 2005 and Jim in 2010.
The rear of ‘Maria-worth’ as it was then known.
Photograph M. Jones. Courtesy Hayley Howes
Sources:
UK World War II Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; WO 345 Japanese Index Cards of Allied POWs 1942-1947; Reference Number: WO 345/35
Ancestry.com. UK, World War II Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.
UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919. Military-Genealogy.com, comp. UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.Original data: British and Irish Military Databases. The Naval and Military Press Ltd.
1939 England & Wales Register. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/1240G. & RG 101/6583H Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills & Administrations), 1858-1995. Dick Robert Barnard Lebbell. Date of Death 7 June 1947. Probate 21 Aug 1947. Norwich.
William Lake. Date of Death 7 April 1934. Probate 9 May 1934. NorwichPrincipal Probate Registry; London, England; Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Great Ellingham Baptist Church Minutes Books. 1849-1868 & 1868-1903. Correspondence concerning the old school room. Thanks to Hugh Collier, Great Ellingham Baptist Church.
Private Deeds Collection. Hayley & Tim Howes
GRO Index. Also available at FreeBMD website
1931 Register of Electors, Southern Parliamentary Division of the County of Norfolk. Parish of Great Ellingham. Viewed via www.ancestry.co.uk
1891 census. RG12/1549/89