Fuel Allotments
White’s Directory of 1845 mentions that the Fuel Allotments comprising 54 acres 1 rood and 34 perches were awarded at the time of the inclosures of Great Ellingham in c.1799. The land produced an annual income from lettings of £90.
The Particulars and Valuation for Great Ellingham undertaken by the Commissioners at the time of the Inclosures lists the allotments for Poor Firing as follows:
- on Broad Common 32 acres 3 roods 8 perches
- on Pennell Common 6 acres 3 roods 12 perches
- on Pennell Common 10 acres 1 rood 10 perches
- on Stalland Common 2 acres 2 roods 2 perches
Together, the land comprised 52 acres 1 rood and 32 perches with an annual value of £25 7s. 4d.
The Particulars and Valuation also records that the Overseers of the Parish held a house and garden (together an area of 2 rood and 37 perches) with an annual value of £1 1s. 1d.
In addition, allotments on Low Common, Bush Green, Broad Common and Ravens Croft were for gravel and clay, and an allotment on Town Green for a water pit. Together these allotments comprised 3 acres 1 rood and 24 perches with an annual value of £2 11s.
Fuel Allotment Charity
On the 27th December, 1873, the Trustees of the Fuel Allotment Charity of Great Ellingham (“the Charity”) made an application to the Charity Commission for the approval and registration of a scheme for the management and objects of the Charity.
The Trustees at that time were the Reverend Samuel William Turner (the Vicar of Great Ellingham), Henry Colman and George S Wright (the Churchwardens), James Beatson and Charles Rivett (Overseers of the Poor of the Parish), the Rt Hon Thomas, Lord Walsingham (Lord of the Manor of Bury Hall) and T L Taylor Esq., (the Lord of the Manor of Ellingham Hall).
Following the protocol, notices of the application were affixed to an outer door of the Parish Church and sent by post to the Lords of the respective Manors of Bury and Ellingham Hall.
The object of the application was to set down a scheme for the future regulation and management of the Charity which then had a gross income exceeding £50. This included the procedures for the appointment of Trustees, how often meetings were to be held, minute taking and accounts.
Extract from the Charity Commissioners’ Order of 28th April 1874
The property listed in the application to the Charity Commissioners as belonging to the Charity was much the same as the land listed in the Particulars and Valuation of 1800. The application provided that the legal estate in the property belonging to the Charity should be vested in the name of the Charity.
Distribution of Income
In addition, the application set out how the Charity’s income should be applied.
It was desired that one half should be used for “the purchase and distribution of coal or fuel for the benefit of the deserving poor, and necessitous inhabitants of the Parish of Great Ellingham“. It was also agreed that out of this half share, the Trustees would be able to pay out an annual sum not exceeding £20 in aid of funds for any clothing club or association in the village for the poor inhabitants.
As to the other half share, the Trustees would be allowed to use funds from this share at their discretion by providing clothes, bedding, medical or other monetary assistance as considered by the Trustees to be “advantageous to the recipients.” This also included assisting in emigration.
The Trustees were also allowed to set aside an annual sum not exceeding £10 from this half share for a reserve or emergency fund for special cases of distress or unexpected loss or accident. In addition, a further annual sum not exceeding £10 could be set aside to benefit (at the discretion of the Trustees) any infirmary or hospital in Great Ellingham or in the vicinity of the village.
The application by the Trustees of a Scheme for the Management of the Charity called Fuel Allotment in the Parish of Great Ellingham was sealed by the Board of the Charity Commissioners on the 28th April, 1874.
Sources:
1845 White’s Directory. Norfolk Heritage Centre, Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library.
1800 Inclosure Commissioner’s Particulars and Valuation. Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: MC 2213/119, 941X7
Copy of the Order dated 27th April 1874. Scheme for the Management of the Charity called the Fuel Allotment, the Parish of Great Ellingham. R McDouall.