The Cottage formerly known as Hillside (and now Owl Cottage) at Stalland Common
Courtesy A. M.
Like many towns and villages, Great Ellingham is fortunate to have several interesting historical houses. Many of our village’s ‘old’ houses will have begun life housing several families. However over the years, these houses have become one dwelling.
Double Cottage built upon Stalland Common
A cottage built in the late 1830s or early 1840s on part of an allotment ‘upon Stalland Common’ is no exception. It was built as two tenements but has long since been one dwelling.
Extract from 1802 Map of Great Ellingham. Russell James Colman Plans. Norfolk Record Office Cat. Ref. C/Ca 1/84.
All rights reserved Norfolk Record Office. With kind permission of NRO
Reverend George A Thomas
In 1800 this allotment (which abuts both Hingham Road and Stalland Common) is owned by the Reverend George Andrew Thomas. It is occupied (used) by Mary Pollington (later known as Mary Palmer). She also occupied a nearby farmhouse and other land belonging to the Reverend Thomas.
The red star on the above extract from the Great Ellingham Inclosure Map of 1802 shows the approximate position of the double cottage later erected on the allotment.
Heir John Thomas
In 1804, the Reverend George A Thomas died at the relatively early age of 37. George Thomas’s son John (then aged around 10) inherited his father’s ‘Norfolk property’, which included the Great Ellingham property.
This is not only confirmed by the Reverend George Thomas’s will, but also by a survey of Great Ellingham dated 1817-1819, and an ‘Estates & Occupations’ survey carried out in Great Ellingham during the 1830s. This survey also confirms that Robert Large later purchased the property which once belonged to the Thomas family.
New Owner Robert Large
The later Great Ellingham Tithe Map and schedule dated December 1843, shows Robert Large as the owner of most (if not all) of the land and premises once belonging to the Reverend George A Thomas.
Newly Built Farmhouse & Double Tenement
However the properties now include a newly-built brick and tiled farmhouse (today known as Brick Kiln Farm), and a newly built double tenement with gardens (today, Owl Cottage). There is no mention of the earlier farmhouse once occupied by Mary Pollington.
Therefore, we can be confident that Brick Kiln Farm and Owl Cottage were erected during the period between the mid-1830s and around 1843. However, I do not know whether they were built during the ownership of the Thomas family or Robert Large.
At time of the 1841 census, Robert Large is with his wife and two of his daughters in Long Street.
Death of Robert Large
Robert Large died on the 21st September 1843, just a few months before the Great Ellingham Tithe documentation was completed. Nonetheless, Robert Large left all his property in trust for at least 3 years.
Lease of ‘New’ Farmhouse
He allowed his eldest daughter Mary Ann West Large to lease his [newly built] farmhouse (Brick Kiln Farm) with the outbuildings, yards, gardens and some 44 acres of land for a period of 3 years (after his death).
Lease of Double Tenement & Brick Kiln
Robert Large also allowed his son, Robert, to lease (again for 3 years) his property off Long Street as well as “all that cottage in two dwellings with the Brick Kiln and 2 acres of land on which the Brick Kiln stands which I lately purchased of the Revd. John Thomas”.
Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition. Surveyed in 1881. Revised 1904.
Site of the Brick Kiln
The Great Ellingham Tithe Map and schedule shows the position of the field known as ‘Brick Ground Pightle’. This pightle comprises an area of 2 acres and 3 roods. The approximate position of this field is shown on the above extract of a later map of 1906 (from a survey carried out in 1881). I have no doubt that this is the site of the brick kiln referred to in Robert Large’s will.
I am also confident that the “cottage in two dwellings with the Brick Kiln” is indeed the property we know today as Owl Cottage.
Auction of the late Robert Large’s Properties
In the June of 1846, the sons of the late Robert Large (who were also the executors), arranged a sale of their late father’s land and property in 8 lots. An auction is arranged for the 18th June, 1846, at the Griffin Inn at the nearby town of Attleborough.
Amongst the lots is:
Lot 2. A substantial newly-erected DOUBLE TENEMENT, with Gardens attached. Also an excellent BRICK KILN, with Brick-sheds, and Yard, and (including the site of the buildings) 1A 2R 2P of rich Land, with a great depth of Brick Earth, of first-rate quality, now in the occupation of Mr Robert Large [the younger] and his under-tenants; adjoins Lots 1, 3 and 4, and the Deopham Road.
Lot 1 is the newly-built farmhouse (then occupied by Mary Large). Lot 3 is a parcel of land adjoining the newly-built farmhouse and the double tenement, and which also abuts the Hingham Road and the Deopham Road. Lot 4 is land which adjoins the farmhouse, the double tenement and lands of Lord Walsingham. This land also abuts the Deopham Road.
Brick-Yard
The notice of the auction published in the Norfolk News of the 6th June, 1846, also states:
The Brick-yard has at this time a good trade, and which, from the great demand in the immediate neighbourhood, might be considerably increased.
Around 1849, the tower mill at Church Street was built using bricks made at this brick kiln. Further, the copings on the wall around St James’s Church were also made at this brick kiln.
Tenanted
I think it unlikely that Robert Large (the son) actually occupied the double cottage. The 1851 census (undertaken some five years after the auction), finds 41 year old Robert Large, with his wife and step-children living at Lyng White, Hingham – a mile of so from the double cottage. Large is farming around 172 acres.
I think the double cottage and brick kiln were probably let to tenants during the period that Robert Large leased them from his father’s estate.
It seems that the double tenement and brick kiln were purchased by Mary Ann West Large. Mary also purchased Brick Kiln Farm and most, if not all, of the farmland once owned by her father, the late Robert Large (the elder).
1851 census
Mark Howse
Looking at the 1851 census, the likely occupiers of the double cottage are Mark Howse and Henry Barnard. The national head-count lists their households at ‘Stalling Common’, near to Mary Ann Large, who is living at Brick Kiln Farm (also listed as ‘Stalling Common’ on the census).
28 year old Dereham born Mark Howse is a tile maker. He is living with his 26 year old wife Susan and their 9 year old son.
Henry Barnard
Next is 37 year old brick maker, Henry Barnard. Born in Morley St Botolph, Henry Barnard is with his 37 year old wife Elizabeth and their children Jonathan 11, Christmas 6, Caroline 2 and Charles 1. The two younger children were born in Great Ellingham, which suggests that this Barnard family came to the village before 1848.
1861 census
By 1861, Mark Howse and his family had moved out of the village. Henry Barnard and his family are still living in Great Ellingham, but they are now living in Long Street. Nevertheless, Henry Barnard is still working as a brickmaker.
Robert Banham
The occupier of the dwelling at the ‘Brick yard’ is 40 year old widower and brick maker Robert Banham, who was born in the village of Banham. He has two daughters. Agnes is 13 and Anna 10. Robert’s 34 year old unmarried cousin Great Ellingham born Eliza Banham is also with the household, along with Eliza’s 10 year old daughter, Mary A.
Eliza & Sarah Banham
10 years earlier, the 1851 census finds 24 year old housekeeper servant Eliza Banham living with her unmarried sister, 26 year old flower seller Sarah Ann Banham, in Low Common. Sarah later married Great Ellingham man John Fox.
The 1841 census captures the sisters Eliza and Sarah with their parents, Robert and Elizabeth Banham, living in the Low Common area of Great Ellingham.
Robert Banham marries his Cousin
By 1871, Robert Banham had married his cousin Eliza Banham, and they had moved to Hunt’s Corner, Banham, where there was a brick yard. However Robert Banham was no longer making bricks. He is now a baker and grocer.
Unfortunately, I do not know who occupied the double cottage immediately after the departure of Robert Banham. The premises remained in the same ownership as Brick Kiln Farm.
Brick Making in Hingham Road
We know from the newspaper notice of 1846 that there is “an excellent Brick Kiln with Brick-sheds and Yard” in Hingham Road. The site includes over 1½ acres of “rich land, with a great depth of Brick Earth, of first-rate quality”. At the time, the brick-yard also had a good trade. However I do not know exactly when bricks were first made on the site and when the brick kiln was erected.
Nevertheless, it appears that brick making took place in Hingham Road from at least 1846. It continued until sometime in the 1860s, when brick maker, Robert Banham, moved back to his native village of Banham.
Part II
The history of this property continues in Part II.
Sources:
1802 Russell James Colman Plans. Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref. C/Ca 1/84.
1799-1842 F W Horner, Records of the Surveyors to Commissioners for Inclosure in Parishes in Norfolk and Suffolk. Great Ellingham (Act 1799). Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: NRO, BR 90/2
1800 Inclosure Commissioner’s Particulars and Valuation, Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: NRO, MC 2213/119
1799 Statement of Claims. Great Ellingham Inclosure. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: MC 2213/118
Great Ellingham Tithe Map 1843. Tithe Apportionments, 1836-1929 [database online]. TheGenealogist.co.uk 2023. Original data: “IR29 Tithe Commission and successors: Tithe Apportionments” The National Archives
George Andrew Thomas, England, Clergy of the Church of England Index 1540-1835. Arts and Humanities Research Council; England; The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540-1835; URL: https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/ Ancestry.com. England, Clergy of the Church of England Index, 1540-1835 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2024.Original data: The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540-1835. England: Arts and Humanities Research Council. https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/ Accessed: Mar 2024
London England Church of England Marriages & Banns 1754-1940. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P97/MRY/024 Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1940 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Images produced by permission of The London Archives (City of London Corporation).
Baptism George John Thomas son of George Andrew Thomas & Sarah Frances Thomas 9th May 1794 St Alfege, Greenwich. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P78/ALF/004. Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of The London Archives (City of London Corporation).
Baptism John George Thomas son of George Andrew Thomas and Frances Sarah Thomas 6th July 1798. St Nicholas Greenwich. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P97/NIC/006 Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies; Winchester, England, UK; Anglican Parish Registers; Reference: 70087/1/3. Ancestry.com. Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2023.Original data: Anglican Parish Registers. Winchester, Hampshire, England: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
The Revd. George Andrew Thomas in England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1858. The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 1418 Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.Original data: Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Wills of Selected Famous Persons. Digitized images. Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 1. The National Archives, Kew, England. Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers. Digitized images. Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11. The National Archives, Kew, England.
Hampshire Archives and Local Studies; Winchester, England, UK; Anglican Bishops’ Transcripts; Reference: 21m65/F8/287/1 Ancestry.com. Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1536-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2023. Original data: Anglican Parish Registers. Winchester, Hampshire, England: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
Will of Robert Large of Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. ANF will register 1842-1844 fo. 381 (1843 no.76) Microfilm MF 250. Viewed at the Norfolk Heritage Centre, Millennium Library, Norwich. Reel GS 0167180.
Norfolk News 6th June 1846. Viewed via The British Newspaper Archive.
1841 census HO107/781/8
1851 census HO107/1817/252, HO107/1823/117, HO107/1823/76, HO107/1823/125
1861 census RG9/1237/94, RG9/1237/82
1871 census RG10/1838/31
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office. PD 609. Also available www.familysearch.org, www.ancestry.co.uk and other websites