4 20 1026 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/f18105f9d30a32663c3f5d799b53cef6.pdf fcba7badb6407536da04022f6e1e0792 PDF Text Text ������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/RS/Publications Title A name given to the resource Reepham Society Publications Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Reepham Society Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976 to 2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Printed documents Box *** Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1976 to 2014 Reepham Description An account of the resource Reepham Society Publications Text - printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham Town Band Description An account of the resource History of Reepham Town Band from its beginnings in 1916 until 1984 when it became Matthews Norfolk Brass with financial support from Bernard Matthews. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1916-1984 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2104141200 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 16pp A4 booklet Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Reepham Society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Joyce Cox Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/378b415af60b8f24b89d2c33b3f62675.pdf a84f456c39ac28a9ecce809f75d2c4ee PDF Text Text A Hero of Crecy? Reepham is one of those parishes, mostly to be found in East Anglia, which has more than one church in its churchyard. Reepham is unique in originally having held three churches in the one churchyard. Anyone who wants to follow up the 'shared churchyard' phenomenon is referred to an unpublished thesis by Nick Groves held in the Centre of East Anglian Studies, University of East Anglia1. This article was intended to be written about the shared churchyard but the subject has been thoroughly explored by Nick Groves in recent years and anything I wrote would be largely based on his work. Reepham is unique in having not just two but three churches in one churchyard. Such sharing has led to legends about shared inheritances and sisters who did not get on but the real reason for the sharing of the churchyard by Whitwell, Hackford and Kerdiston-with-Reepham is buried in the complex development of both lay and clerical aspects of the parishes. In Reepham's case this may be even more complex as it is possible that there were other churches or chapels in one or more of the three parishes. Grove's view is that Reepham's parochial development may be unique. He suggests that the concentration of churches in one churchyard may be the result of the coalescence of four separate parishes once tenurial holdings had become splintered and intercalated. There may, of course, originally have been something very special, perhaps sacred, about the site which focused the spiritual life of the parishes in this way for so long a period of time. Another distinction which St. Mary's church, Reepham, enjoys is the presence on the north side of the chancel of a magnificent decorated Gothic box-tomb, said to be of Sir Roger de Kerdeston who died in 1337. On the floor of the chancel is the brass of his grandson, Sir William (d. 1391). But, is it the tomb of Sir Roger? The identification of the occupant of the tomb seems to have been made some time ago by Blomefield2 or Stothard3 and has been accepted in local literature ever since. Certainly, this is the generally held 1 Anyone wishing to follow up this fascinating topic is recommended to Nick Grave's unpublished thesis; Two Sisters: Two Churches which is held in the department of East Anglian Studies at UEA. 2 Blomefield, F & Parkin, C. An essay towards a topographical history of Norfolk (London: 1805) 3 Stothard,C A. The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain (London: 1817) �belief in Reepham and the information published in the church leaflets despite at least one primary source and three learned secondary sources which suggested a different occupant of the tomb. My attention was drawn to the identity of the occupant of this tomb by a chapter in Curry and Hughes' Arms, Armour and Fortifications of the Hundred Years War4. Kemp's chapter on church monuments of the time reviews the characteristics of monuments of this period and concludes that, judging by both the architectural style of the tomb and the style of armour which the effigy is wearing, the tomb is too late to be the tomb of Sir Roger. Indeed, the year of his death, 1337, was the year when Edward III fully committed himself to the first campaign of the Hundred Years War. Kemp's source for the identification of the box tomb is an article by Martindale (1989)5 which compares three tombs of similar and unique style, the knights lying uncomfortably, with arms and legs crossed, on a bed of stones. He suggests that the model for the tombs may be a classical statue in Rome which was mistakenly thought, throughout the Middle Ages, to represent Mars. Mars would have been seen as an appropriate inspiration for the tombs of heroes of the French Wars such as Sir Oliver Ingham, Seneschal of Gascony, and Sir William de Kerdeston who fought at Crecy in 1346. The third tomb in the group is at Burrough Green, Cambs. and is much more difficult to identify as it has been moved and greatly altered. The Reepham tomb is the best preserved of the three, though the Perpendicular canopy is badly damaged and the tomb is now recessed into the wall. All of these tombs, though displaying quality workmanship, had a considerable degree of painting rather than carving, much of which has now disappeared. The back panel of Sir Oliver's tomb at Ingham has been described by Stothard (1817) as still showing the remains of a hunting scene on the back panel whilst the de Kerdeston tomb still held vestiges of light blue and scarlet paint on the inside of the canopy at the time. Unfortunately, the colouring of the heraldic shields has also disappeared. Other characteristic features of the time which appear on the tomb of this hero, again comparable with features of the Ingham tomb; are the weepers along the side of the tomb chest and the angel high up in the west side, holding a shield, and the elaborate spires of the canopy, now somewhat damaged. Angels began to appear towards the end of the fourteenth century and, in this instance, the angel is intended to represent the transport of the soul of the deceased to heaven. All these monumental details date the tomb to the transitional period between the Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic periods, confirming the suggestion that this tomb is more likely to be that of the Sir William who died in 4 Kemp, B. English Church Monuments during the Period of the Hundred Years War in: Curry, A & Hughes, M (eds) Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. (Woodbridge: Boydeil Press 1994). 5 Martindale, A. The Knights and the Bed of Stones: A Learned Confusion of the Fourteenth Century , J. Brit. Arch. Assoc CXLII (1989):64-73 �1361 than the earlier Sir Roger. The final piece of evidence is documentary and much stronger. The Complete Peerage is a gold-mine for anyone wishing to trace old family histories and contains information on the de Kerdeston family for just this period. It should be pointed out that the family owned lands elsewhere, including at Claxton and others brought into the family by marriage. The entry for Sir Roger tells us that he was born circa 1273 and fought in the Scottish wars, being knighted with Edward II after a muster in Berwick (1301). In 1324 he attended the Great Council in Westminster as a Knight of the Shire for Norfolk. He acted as a Commissioner of Array, and in 1331/2 was Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk and Keeper of Norwich Castle and from 1333 was one of the custodians of the coast. (The 'Auld Alliance' was now in existence and there would be enemy ships passing between France and Scotland.) He was summoned once more to attend the King in the north and before his death appears to have been made Lord of Kerdeston. In 1337 he died and, here we have it, was buried in Langley Abbey. The Annals of Langley read as follows: Anno domini mcccxxxvii obiit dominus Rogerus de Kerdeston' miles et sepelitur in ecelesia Abbatie de Langley juxta matrem suam et ex parte australi eiusdem ecclesie. Sir William, his son, was born in 1307 and joined Edward III on both of his early campaigns in France and the Low Countries. He was present at the first battle of the Hundred Years War, the naval clash at Sluys in 1340. Two years later he joined the King's next expedition to France with 10 men-at-arms and 10 archers. In 1346 he fought as a banneret at Crecy and was present at the famous siege of Calais at which Queen Phillipa begged for the lives of the burghers of Calais. William was married three times and died in 1361 leaving no legitimate son. He had a number of children from the three marriages but, strangely, only Maud, born in 1324, was born in wedlock. Maud married John de Burghersh and from hereon the legitimate branch of the family moved to Essex. This appears to be the man who is buried in the elaborate box-tomb in Reepham church. He was certainly a hero of the wars and it appears that Norfolk would be all too aware of the war as demands to support both naval and land forces were made on the county. Norfolk churches contain a number of tombs of the leaders who fought in this early successful stage of the war when some of the battles best known in England were won. These two lords of Kerdeston would be the most likely members of their family to receive a local accolade for their services in the French and Scottish wars and the evidence for Sir William has already been explored. If we accept that the occupant of the box-tomb is Sir William, we then have to identify the knight and his wife represented on the brass in the chancel floor. It is generally accepted at present that the brass is of Sir William de Kerdeston who �inherited the Kerdeston estate from his father despite his illegitimacy. The son of Maud, another John de Burghesh, had been excluded from the Kerdeston lands by his grandfather's will because John had other lands in Essex and Lincoln and his grandfather obviously wished to provide for his other children. John's father died young and he became the King's ward. It was, perhaps, this which led the Burghesh family to continue to claim the Kerdeston lands. They were finally settled on William de Kerdeston's family in 1372. The brass, putatively dated to 1369, possibly belongs to this illegitimate Sir William. Unfortunately, the 'Complete Peerage' gives us very little on his career except for the details of the inheritance dispute which dragged on into the fifteenth century before the lands were finally settled on the de la Pole family. There is also the possibility that the brass may represent John de Burghesh who fought in France though he appears to have been buried at Hatfield Peverel in Essex. So far the evidence points to the box-tomb's occupant being Sir William (d. 1361) but whether the brass is that of the second Sir William has not yet been proven. More research is needed. The complications of inheritance through the female line and of second marriages by widows have confused the picture. The documents in the case, however, show some interesting links with well-known families (see also genealogical table). Maud's granddaughter married Thomas, son of a certain Geoffrey Chaucer. Their child, Alice, married William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk. Once the Poles retained the manor of Kerdeston, their tenant until 1498 was Sir Terry Robsart who had married an Elizabeth Kerdeston, great grandson of the Hero of Crecy. His granddaughter was Amy Robsart. Kerdeston may be a Norfolk backwater now but it was on the edge of great affairs five hundred years ago. Kate Nightingale January 1998 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/RS/Publications Title A name given to the resource Reepham Society Publications Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Reepham Society Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976 to 2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Printed documents Box *** Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1976 to 2014 Reepham Description An account of the resource Reepham Society Publications Text-digital Any text item for which there is no previously existing hard copy in the Archive. The text can be stored on CD, DVD, memory card, USB stick, on hard drive or 'cloud'. It may have been sent electronically to the Archive or it may be a text owned by someone else which we have scanned or photographed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Hero of Crecy? Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 1998 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1337 - 1498 Reepham Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1705061129 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource K Nightingale Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Verbatim CD-R (585) Digital PDF document Local History/K Nightingale [File 10] Description An account of the resource An account of the box tomb located in St Mary's Church, Reepham Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved Crecy Pre-1500 St Mary's https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/57134afd936640dd490622fdeecf04c3.jpg eaf81c4f418c80d3ccd91ab90bff95b8 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/e3ed98b506f8aaadb8d67b633764d18a.pdf 7f6b772a715dd4d2efedb05ee7c06e09 PDF Text Text REEPHAM'S THREE CHURCHES M. J. Sayer, B.A. (Oxon) 1972 GB/REE/2410091050 ��������������� Text - printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham's Three Churches Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2410091050 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource A5 32pp booklet Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Reepham Description An account of the resource Detailed descriptions of Reepham's three churches, including memorial inscriptions & parish registers, plus secular historic details of the three parishes. A second edition was published in 1977. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource M. J. Sayer Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society All Saints Sayer St Mary's St Michael's https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/acfe8e84243b0300ffe6caddb2055f34.pdf 5912b777064836fbc862de714bddc544 PDF Text Text GB/REE/2207201545 Gibbs' Seed Business Marjorie Gibbs ���� Text - printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gibbs Seed Business Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2207201545 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 4pp A4 typescript Families & Businesses/Gibbs [File 6, Archive Box 106] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1900-1966 Description An account of the resource An account of Gibbs' Seed Business describing the seed room, the granary and the process of mixing different seed mixtures. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marjorie Gibbs Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/2bd655368c6378863884a48beb9c342e.pdf 6a15b42313cde517e7b40bae63056106 PDF Text Text GB/REE/2207201600 1 Gibbs' Premises Marjorie Gibbs �2 �3 �4 �5 �6 �7 �8 �9 �10 �11 �12 �13 �14 �15 �16 �17 Marjorie Gibbs' account of the seed business is itemised separately � Text - printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gibbs' Premises Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2207201600 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 17pp A4 typescript Families & Businesses/Gibbs [File 6, Archive Box 106] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1767-1966 Gibbs' Shop, Reepham Description An account of the resource Marjorie Gibbs' description of Edward Gibbs' Ironmonger's shop in Reepham Market Place begins with a brief history of the previous tenants, i.e. William & Mary George, followed by the Leeds family. She describes the original premises with details of all the outbuildings, the Paint House, the Rake House, the Iron House etc., & their particular uses. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marjorie Gibbs Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society Gibbs Gibbs Shop https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/730b568463e173ac15fd80df82f44d1e.pdf 86d2b4898cd6afbde24834742223912c PDF Text Text Whitwell Hall According to the 18th century Norfolk historian, the Rev. Blomefield, the history of the manors of Gambon and Whitwell Symonds (which today includes the areas of Whitwell Hall and Hackford Hall) can be traced back to Anglo Saxon times. The land is listed in the Domesday Book (1086) as being owned by Rolf de Bellofago who was given the land after the Norman Conquest. In 1659 Augustine Messenger held the manors of both Whitwell and Hackford and in 1680 these were inherited by Robert Monsey who became rector of Bawdeswell in 1683. In 1689 he was obliged to take an oath of allegiance and supremacy to the new King William but he declined to do this and was subsequently deprived of the living at Bawdeswell. He was more fortunate than many other members of the clergy in that he owned a small, yet comfortable estate so he retired to Whitwell to live. He was able to indulge in his passion for growing plants, particularly oaks, and some of the oak trees that he planted at Whitwell during these later years still survive in good order today. It was here that his son Messenger was born in 1693. It is said that the 18th century was rich in “interesting physicians” and one of the most remarkable (and certainly the oddest) was Doctor Messenger Monsey. He is recorded as being uncouth, unwashed, able to deliver the most outrageous remarks and generally to behave in the most unseemly manner, was generally unpopular yet always tolerated on account of his wit and malice. He is mentioned in most of the contemporary records of the time. �Messenger spent his formative years at Whitwell being educated by his father until 1711 when he entered Pembroke College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. in 1715 and returned to Norwich to study medicine. He finally settled down to practice at Bury St Edmunds and might have remained there for the rest of his days had it not been for a fortunate accident which occurred when the second Earl of Godolphin was taken ill at Bury, on his way to his house at Newmarket. Monsey was summoned to attend and the patient made a swift recovery although history does not record whether the recovery was fully or partly due to the professional ability of Messenger. Godolphin was a nobleman who was fond of a good talk and a quiet life and so delighted was he with the doctor’s conversation that he invited him to go and live with him. He also introduced him to all his friends and in due course obtained for him the post of non-resident physician at the Chelsea Hospital. Monsey was able to live at the Earl’s house at St James’s in London. In London, this extraordinary doctor from Norfolk, with his appalling manners and scathing tongue, was a novelty and became an instant success in the broad social circle of friends of the Earl of Godolphin. He became a great friend of Sir Robert Walpole (who was the first person to hold the office of Prime Minister) and it is reputed that Messenger was the only man who dared to contradict him and to beat him at billiards. The Doctor had a prodigious output of general verse and literature but his celebrity owed little to the pen but everything to his conversation and his habits. He never did anything in a common manner; when one of his teeth ached, he would tie it by a length of catgut to a perforated bullet and fire the bullet from a pistol: he claimed this method of dentistry to be painless and urged all his friends to remove their painful teeth in the same manner. He never said anything unless it was unexpected or outrageous, his talk was vigorous and incessant, anecdotal, highly flavoured and crowded (like his letters) with classical quotations and deplorable puns. He was also renowned as a teller of scurrilous afterdinner stories once the ladies had retired and left the gentlemen to their port. Lord Godolphin died in 1766 and none of Messenger’s other patrons could quite endure the possibility of having him as a permanent resident in their houses. He had married when he lived at Bury but his wife was dead and his only child, Charlotte, was married to a linen draper in London and was preoccupied with her large family. The idea of retiring and moving back to Whitwell was the very last thing he wanted to do, so he had to leave St James’s and retire to apartments in Chelsea Hospital. �He continued to maintain his contacts and his remarks were as much quoted as ever, but he grew old and soured and intensely disagreeable, and his dress and general deportment became even more eccentric. He was much disliked at Chelsea, particularly by the junior doctors who were eager for his post and salary. Messenger would aggravate them by refusing to give up the position and by saying that they would all die before him anyway: a statement which he did his best to fulfil by living to the age of ninety-five. He became increasingly lonely as the years wore on, for he had by now outlived all his friends, and his scathing wit and unpredictable conversation was too strong to be accepted or appreciated by this later era of London society. His daughter spent as much time as she could with him but this was limited as she had eleven children and a husband who was in business. During these later years he maintained a regular correspondence with William Wiggett Bulwer of Heydon Hall. William lived only a few miles from the Whitwell estate and generally kept an eye on the place for Messenger. It is known that Messenger and Charlotte would occasionally visit Norfolk but it seems that while they would visit Whitwell, they would always stay at Heydon; in any case the hall would have a tenant living there. Travelling from London to Norfolk in the 18th century would have had its limitations and in these later years the old age and failing health of Messenger coupled with the family ties of Charlotte would have made journeys impossible. In 1767 he began these letters to William and they continued with the last one being written only a month before his death in December 1788. While outwardly he appeared the same disagreeable and awkward person he had always been, these letters displayed him in a mellower and less savage mood. Amid the wit and general buffoonery there runs a pleasant current of affection and kindness, particularly for his daughter and especially for Mr and Mrs Bulwer and their daughters Molly and Sally. He wrote of Heydon as the place “where I have always met with so much cordiality, pleasure and hospitality – for I do assure you I have passed no moments of my life with more satisfaction than at Heydon”. He died at Chelsea at the age of ninety-five on 26 December 1788. His will was worthy of him. It was nineteen pages long and was extremely detailed and complicated. He insisted, with elaborate and ghastly directions, that his body should be dissected and the remains thrown into the Thames. The recipients of his clothes were detailed down to his “old shoe buckles”. Many people received sums of money ranging from five pounds to six hundred and fifty pounds, but all his property and lands “in the parishes of Whitwell and Hackford in the County of Norfolk” went to his daughter Charlotte. A complicated entail that the Whitwell estate should pass to her �female children and to their issue only was included and it seems that Messenger’s intention was to exclude the male line of the family from any long-term inheritance. Like her father, Charlotte did not appear to have lived at Whitwell Hall during the rest of her lifetime. She had eleven children and a husband who was in trade in London as a linen draper. Their home and business was firmly rooted in the capital and there seemed little sense in moving up to a rural estate in Norfolk and so for a few years longer Whitwell Hall and its farms continued to be let to tenants. Faden’s 1790 map of Norfolk marks the hall as being occupied by a Thomas Cooke. Charlotte only lived for a few more years and she died in 1798. Her eldest daughter Caroline inherited the Whitwell and Hackford estates and on 18 March 1800 she married John Bedingfield Collyer. John was the second son of Daniel Collyer of Wroxham Hall and he and Charlotte moved into Hackford Hall. The Collyer family and their subsequent generations were to live at Hackford until Brigadier-General John Collyer left during the 1930s. The exact date cannot be established but at this time the Whitwell Hall estate was sold by Caroline either just before or just after her marriage. In the Land Tax Return of 1801 for the parish of Whitwell the proprietor is shown as Edward John Ellis. The same Edward Ellis is listed in the Morningthorpe Return for 1800 so it is probable that he purchased the estate between April 1800 and March 1801. The Land Tax Return for Whitwell continues to record Edward Ellis as living at Whitwell until his death in February 1821. His subsequent will shows him to have been a somewhat wealthy man; he left a number of specific cash bequests totalling nearly £3,000 with several bequests payable per week or per year for the rest of the life of the recipient. The whole of the estate was left to his nephew, James Ellis of Hackford, with the provision for him to “be kind to his father Arthur Ellis, if not the estate was to pay him an allowance of 20/- for the rest of his life”. Unfortunately, history does not record the actual outcome. Also included in the will was £100 to Robert Leamon the Younger of Fakenham who was also appointed as sole executor and was to be paid expenses and a reasonable allowance for carrying out the necessary executive duties. James Ellis was a harness and collar maker (also the trade of Robert Leamon) who lived with his wife Alice and their eight children in a house on the comer of Reepham Market Place, on the site which was later occupied for so many years by Barclays Bank. James, however, declined to move into Whitwell and it was left to Robert Leamon as executor to find a tenant for the hall and its surrounding arable and pasture land. The letting was advertised in the Norfolk Chronicle in early June 1821 �and the hall was initially occupied on an annual tenancy by Matthew Breese Copeman. However, it was only eight months later that, in the same newspaper, the following notice appeared on five consecutive Saturdays in February and March 1822: To be sold by Auction by Mr Burt at The Angel Inn, Market Place, Norwich, this day 2nd March between the hours of 3 and 5 in the afternoon (unless sooner disposed of by Private Contract). All that very desirable Estate called Whitwell Hall, in Whitwell, in the County of Norfolk, late the residence of Edward John Ellis, Gentleman deceased and now in the occupation of Mr Matthew Breese Copeman, as tenant from year to year; comprising a capital Mansion House with attached and detached offices of every description, fit for the residence of a Genteel Family and 130 acres, three roods and 17 perches by survey, of excellent arable and pasture land, with barns, stables and every other requisite farm buildings, for the occupation of the same. Also a Messuage, now used as Cottages and a convenient and well planned Tan Yard, containing 14 handlers, 17 vats, six taps with necessary limes and grainers, convenient drying shed, mill house, leather house, bark barns, stables and other outbuildings, requisite for carrying on the Tanning Trade. The Mansion House contains an entrance hall, with keeping room, dining and drawing rooms, six bedrooms, three attics, kitchen, store room, good cellars and other domestic offices; it is situated on an eminence with a lawn in front surrounded by growing plantations, which inclose a trout stream, a greenhouse and large gardens, well planted with choice fruit trees, a capital orchard, etc. The Estate may be viewed upon application to Ihe tenant. Printed particulars and conditions of sale are ready for delivery and may be had of the Auctioneer and at the place of Sale and for price by Private Contract apply personally or by letter post paid to Mr James Ellis at Reepham or Mr Robert Leamon junior at Fakenham. The auction sale did not, however, produce a buyer and Robert Leamon obviously felt the time had come to move up from the status of harness maker to that of country gentleman and so he purchased and duly moved into Whitwell Hall during the summer of 1822. This move was confirmed when the following notice appeared in the Norfolk Chronicle in November 1822. Fakenham − To be sold by Auction on Wednesday 13th November. The remaining parts of the valuable stock in trade of Messrs Leamon and Son, Saddlers, Collar and Harness Makers. To be sold without reserve. Robert purchased not just the hall and its surrounding farmland but also one of the two Whitwell tanneries. The tannery had been an essential part of the estate �business since the 18th century and it was to remain so throughout the next 50 or more years. Robert’s ownership introduced a period of considerable change at Whitwell. He enlarged and modernised the tannery during the 1840s. He made sure the estate was properly farmed and also built up a thriving timber business. Robert was obviously a man of some wealth and in 1840 he pulled down most of the old red brick hall and built in its place the white brick and slate-roofed Regency style house that remains to this day. In 1842 he moved the road some 100 yards to the north and built a new carriage drive which ran to the front of the House. On the southern boundary of the present park are some springs, the presence of which no doubt gave the origination of the name “Whitwell”. The springs flow up from the chalk and if the surface chalk is disturbed the water runs a muddy white. In old English “Whitwell” means white spring. At the time of the enlargement of Whitwell Hall embankments were constructed to contain the flowing water and so, some four hundred yards east of the hall, Robert constructed a reservoir (or spring pond) to supply the hall with a supply of fresh water. Research has shown that at the eastern end and a few yards below the reservoir a brick-lined pit was built to contain a hydraulic ram which was installed in 1842. This machine used a flow of water from the reservoir to pump a smaller quantity along 300 yards of lead piping up to a tank in the hall. The water was (and still is) very hard and this quickly coated the inside of the pipe which in turn minimised the danger of lead poisoning. The rise from the ram to the tank was about 80 feet and it took ten gallons of flow to pump one gallon of water into the tank at the rate of one gallon each minute. The original installation pumped the water into a large slate tank mounted on brick piers in the boiler room. Water was then piped to the kitchen and from here it was collected by the maids and carried by them to the parts of the hall that required it. In later years tanks were installed in the attics and these were primarily used to supply the bathrooms and the flush lavatories. The waste flow of water which drove the ram was channelled along the southern boundary of the park and a dipping place was made with brick steps leading down to the water so that the families living in the Orwell Cottages could come with their pails to get the water they required for their domestic purposes; this was in everyday use until 1939. The reservoir filled from the chalk springs; it has always run constantly to overflow and has never been known to freeze over. It maintains a constant temperature of 10°C throughout all times of the year. The ram supply was used for the hall until 1970 when the increasing use of agricultural sprays in the arable field next to the reservoir was judged likely to pollute it. �Robert’s change of status in life to that of country gentleman was achieved by hard work and a shrewd ability to turn all aspects of the estate into a profitable business. He died on 7 March 1853 and was succeeded by his eldest son, also named Robert. In his lifetime Robert (2nd) was to greatly enhance his inheritance and also to enjoy a reputation as a considerable personage. He owned an estate of nearly 800 acres and his business interests thrived. He was involved in politics and was the sponsor for Clare Sewell Read, a well known Norfolk MP of the time. He was also secretary to the group of country gentlemen who in 1850 erected by means of public subscription the large Corinthian column erected as a monument to the memory of Thomas Coke at Holkham Hall. He is also known to have had a financially lucrative contract to supply timber to the government, probably for the navy and he bought large amounts of oak from other Norfolk estates such as Felbrigg. He must have had considerable capital available to be involved in and to sustain such a venture. Robert had obviously inherited some of his father’s business acumen and he continued to take the Leamon family through a period of financial prosperity, a period that was to eventually decline and end so unhappily a few years after his unfortunate death in 1878. While there were a number of reasons for the decline in the family fortunes, they can be initially traced to a disastrous fire which occurred in 1874. The fire which burned for three days destroyed the many stacks of tan bark which stood in a yard near to the tannery; some of the tannery buildings were also burnt down. The tan bark was not insured and to replace this and also to update the tannery Robert had to borrow capital. Skins for tanning had to be obtained from slaughterhouses and these mainly came from Norwich where most of the completed leathers were transported back with much of the trade going directly to the shoe manufacturers. The untreated skins were delivered to Whitwell in relatively small loads by carriers’ carts and this slow and limited form of transport was unable to compete with the new railways. The extension of the Victorian railway system enabled hides to be transported quickly and in bulk. Small country tanneries began therefore to suffer from serious competition at this time from the large urban tanneries, notably in Bermondsey. Much of the work in the larger tanneries was helped by machinery while the local tanneries’ output was achieved almost wholly by labour-intensive means. Robert realised that his tannery was becoming uncompetitive and with the additional burden of the 1874 fire he decided not to just rebuild and replace his loss but to modernise the overall tannery enterprise. Money for the venture had to be raised and it appears that Robert borrowed from a local group of businessmen known as the Springfield Group of trustees. �In retrospect it is ironic that the coming of the railways was the death knell of the country tanneries yet Robert sold some of the estate land to the Midland and Great Northern Railway to enable Whitwell Station to be built in 1883. When it was sold Robert insisted on the condition that the M&GN plant trees along the new line of the road to screen the sight of the new station from the hall. The trees subsequently planted were Scots pines; they grew quickly and fulfilled the screening condition. Most of them remain standing today. He greatly extended the tannery by making additions of other tan pits, drying sheds and by building in 1876–77 an engine house fitted with a steam engine. This was used to grind the bark which was essential to make the tan liquor in which the hides were steeped. The outflow from the skin washing and particularly when the tan pits were cleansed gave off a dreadful odour, so Robert moved the course of the beck further to the east of the hall by having a new course dug out. This is still referred to locally as the “new cut”. Despite all the investment, business did not upturn and the local community, and his family, were all greatly shocked at the severe loss when Robert committed suicide in August 1878. He hanged himself in one of the Whitwell Hall bedrooms. He was succeeded by his son, Phillip. Phillip was unable to stop the decline and the Leamon fortunes went from bad to worse with the whole enterprise eventually being declared bankrupt in 1883. Phillip went to India to try and recoup the fortune but he didn’t succeed; while he was away his wife remained at the hall until 1887 when the Springfield Trustees foreclosed and she and her family were forced to leave. Her six small children were placed in the care of various relatives and she went to live in Norwich. Sadly, the considerable strain these years placed upon her affected her mental condition and she finished her life in an asylum. The three generations of the Leamon family who lived at Whitwell all had large families and today their descendants are widely scattered throughout the world. In recent years Tony Ivins has enjoyed a correspondence with branches of the family living in Canada, Tasmania and in many parts of this country. The Springfield Trust retained the ownership of the estate for the next 40 years and the hall was let to various tenants. In December 1921 Mr C. Banan bought the estate but by 1925 he had sold the 320-acre Hall Farm to Arthur Stimpson and also sold to Capt. E.H. Barclay the hall and 40 acres of parkland. Capt. Barclay lived at Whitwell with his wife and three daughters until 1937 when he inherited Colney Hall and subsequently moved there. The property was then sold to Forest School Ltd (1928) Ltd (a private company registered as an educational charity) which has owned the hall to this day. Forest �School had outgrown its original premises in the New Forest and moved to Norfolk in the spring of 1938. The school remained here until early 1940 when the threat of invasion along the North Norfolk coast caused the children and teaching staff to be evacuated to south Devon. The army requisitioned the hall shortly afterwards and remained there until late 1945. The school did not return but a Forest School Camp was held during the summer of 1947 and during the next 20 years the hall was increasingly used for Easter and summer holiday camps and for staff training courses. In 1965 tented camps and house accommodation was offered to schools during term time and this pattern of term-time activity and holiday camps continues today as the Whitwell Hall Country Centre. Tony Ivins joined the staff of Forest School when it moved to Whitwell in 1938 and, apart from war service with the RAF from 1940–46, he has been actively engaged with the school to this present day. Suzanne Dommen joined the school staff in the summer of 1939 and Suzanne and Tony were married in 1946 and made Whitwell their home. Brian and Sue Evans, assisted by Paul Mortimer, are now responsible for the management of camps and house parties and also for the estate. Tony still maintains an active interest as he is chairman of the company directors. From an article published in the Reepham Society Magazine 1994 �Robert Leamon, who bought the Whitwell Estate in 1822. �The reservoir which originally supplied the hall with all its water – very little of the original ram can be seen today, what is left is situated at a lower level and in the trees at the far left of the picture. Robert Leamon (2nd). �Mary Gill, wife of Robert Leamon (2nd) �Whitwell Hall in the 1880s showing some of the notable changes and additions made by the Leamon family: 1. The site of the tannery. 2. The new course of the beck (the “new cut”) which supplied the tannery with water. 3. The two cottages (now �“Hillside”) let to the Midland and Great Northern Railway Company as homes for the stationmaster and signalman. Bought by the company in 1919 and turned into one house for the stationmaster. 4. The line of trees built to screen the new station from the front view of the hall. 5. The reservoir and hydraulic ram installed in 1842 to pump water up to the hall. The front of Whitwell Hall in the 1880s, looking towards the east; Robert Leamon (1st) built the hall in the 1840s and also constructed a new carriage drive which led to the front of the building. This was closed up in the 1920s and since then all traffic has used the rear driveway only. Phillip Leamon, taken in 1879, a year after he inherited the estate from his father. �Robert Leamon (2nd) had married Mary Gill in 1847 and, like most other Victorian families of this period, they had a large family; their first child, a son, was born in 1849 and 10 more children followed during the next 12 years. The first son was called Robert (as had been the first son of the previous three generations). Sadly, he died at the age of two and the estate was in time inherited by the next eldest son, Phillip, who was born in 1853. Another son was born into the family in 1854 and he was subsequently christened Robert. In the Whitwell Road cemetery there is a large memorial to Robert and his wife Mary and also to their 11 children. On the other side of the cemetery, and almost parallel to this memorial, is the family grave of the Collyer family. It is perhaps ironic that the two families who lived and worked as neighbours should end with their final resting places so close together. �Mrs Phillip Leamon with her six children; Mary, the eldest, looks about eight years old and so the picture was taken about 1889, some two years after the family had left Whitwell Hall. �The three eldest children with their mother, nurse and Mr Preston the coachman. Taken in 1884 it also includes a lady, at the back of the trap, whose name is unknown, although it is probably one of Mrs Phillip Leamon’s sisters-in-law. Members of the Whitwell Hall staff in the late 1870s. �The large memorial to Robert, Mary and their 11 children in the foreground. The family grave of the Collyer family may also be seen almost directly in the background. Whitwell Hall, 1993. The outline of the conservatory from the 1880s picture can be seen on the side wall of the main building. � Text-digital Any text item for which there is no previously existing hard copy in the Archive. The text can be stored on CD, DVD, memory card, USB stick, on hard drive or 'cloud'. It may have been sent electronically to the Archive or it may be a text owned by someone else which we have scanned or photographed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Whitwell Hall Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2406261000 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource A4 PDF, 18 pages Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994 Description An account of the resource A history of Whitwell Hall and Estate from Anglo Saxon times to the present (1994). Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From an article published in the Reepham Society Magazine 1994 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Reepham Society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Michael Black Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Scanned and edited by Geoff Fisher Ellis Leamon Monsey Whitwell Whitwell Estate Whitwell Hall https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/23d78cbbd7ff5fe8c2f3ecb28a1fad63.pdf edb4334a5b2ac2249f538eb76ec19674 PDF Text Text Reepham Market Reepham Market was founded in 1277 when Sir John de Vaux, whose lordship of Hackford extended into the parish of Reepham, obtained a charter from Edward I for a weekly market on Saturday and a fair on “the eve of day and morrow” of the feasts of Saint Peter and Paul − the 29th June. This fair was for many centuries one of the highlights of the year to people living in and around Reepham. At the turn of this century the Market Place would be invaded by travellers’ vans, roundabouts, coconut shies, shooting galleries and stalls selling all manner of sweets, rock, souvenirs and general cheapjack items. Such a large gathering of fair people lasted longer than the original charter condition of an evening and a day and usually they were here for at least a week, with some of the last to leave taking up to three weeks. Although the fair offered a time of great delight and excitement to the children, the adult part of the population was glad when they went owing to the noise, disruption and general inconvenience that was caused. Edward Gibbs, the ironmonger, once gave credit to one of the Norwich fairground families for the supply of a quantity of paint so that the “cakewalk” could be repainted while it was at Reepham. The fair moved on, the bill was not settled and for years afterwards the annual visit of the fair meant an attempt by Mr Gibbs to obtain his money. It is said that he never was successful in receiving payment. This annual fair occupied the whole area of the Market Place; the vans (or homes) of the fair people were drawn up side by side outside the King’s Arms with the horses being put out to grass on a meadow near the outskirts of the town. The various rides were placed on the remainder of the area and at night the whole scene would come alive with a blaze of sound, light and colour. There was a large and majestic steam engine which provided the power to run the roundabouts, the organ with its wide repertoire of tunes and to provide lighting for some of the stalls. All the stalls were gaily or gaudily decorated and those not lit from the steam engine were illuminated by paraffin flares. It was an annual occasion that was greatly looked forward to. It brought life and vibrancy to the town and temporarily increased the takings of many of the local businesses, particularly the public houses. In these present times our children clamour for a trip to a theme park but in those past days the thrill, entertainment and overall fun of the fair made its way to Reepham and doubtless this once a year event was appreciated, enjoyed and remembered far more than the expensive outings of today. The fair was held on the Market Place up to the outbreak of the Second World War. From 1939 the limitations imposed on the fair people by the war made such events impossible. Although visits by fair people resumed in the late 1940s and continued until the 1960s, they were on a much smaller scale and the stalls and rides were moved from the Market Place to a field on the outskirts of the town. The size and grandeur of the fairs of these earlier years had gone forever. While this annual fair gave Reepham a week or more of local supremacy, the dominance of a market in this area of Norfolk was for many years with the neighbouring town of Foulsham. Around 1300, Foulsham was the metropolis of the Eynsford Hundred and �for at least the next three centuries the Reepham market was not to be compared with that of its neighbour. Market Day However, the size and status of Foulsham slowly declined while at the same time Reepham steadily prospered and during the 18th and 19th centuries established itself as a typical market town. With a population of about 1,000 in 1845 it had acquired, apart from its Market Place, a number of activities which distinguished it from a “village”. These would have included a bank, several inns, a brewery, clock and watch maker, chemist, grocer and draper, coach builder and stone mason. For generations, until it finally closed in the early 1970s, the farmers of the neighbourhood looked to Reepham to provide a weekly market for their products. The original market was set up in mediaeval times and this allowed a convergence on Reepham of all manner of people who wanted to buy, sell or barter and the market would also have offered a type of “employment bureau” where arrangements could be made to hire a craftsman’s skills. For instance, a carpenter would have lived in the town or he may have come in and set up a stall from which he would take orders or arrange work. He would then go to carry out the arranged work in the house of the person who wanted furniture made. This type of service would have been the same for many other trades such as bricklayers or builders, dressmakers and tailors. With the large influx of people for this particular day the town would have had to make specific arrangements, water had to be available and the requirements were probably satisfied by communal wells or by the town pond which was situated where the fire station stands today. The stalls would have been organised into fixed lines with passages between and market latrines would have been dug; in the winter cut reeds or old straw would have been spread about on the roadways to soak up the mud and rain. Special beer was often brewed and bread would have been baked for the refreshment of those attending. Market Day in those times would have been a difficult experience for the many who attended. The main street (now Back Street) would have been narrow and hold-ups would inevitably be caused by the traffic passing through. This moved at different speeds − there were riders on horseback, singly or in groups, horse-drawn carts of different sizes and probably slow, solid bullock carts, swaying and moving at a walking pace or less. There would have been piles of stinking street rubbish to negotiate, children playing, stray animals and many a drunk unintentionally sleeping in the gutter. Parking of animals and carts was a problem and the length of parking time was much disputed. Although this was probably the manner of Market Day in Reepham for centuries it became somewhat more organised in later years and particularly during the 19th century. By this time, the familiar layout of the centre of Reepham that we have today had been built. Back Street was no longer the main thoroughfare and the roads leading into the town would have allowed a much easier passage for those wishing to travel through on Market Day. In 1845 Reepham is recorded as having a hiring fair; this was one of the many customs associated with the farming year which had prevailed for centuries but which like so many �others died out during the early part of the 20th century. Towards the end of September the hiring fair would have been held and those agricultural workers who wanted to “break fresh ground” would gather in the Market Place wearing a piece of coloured ribbon or cord in their buttonhole. This was a sign that they were seeking a new situation. When the labourer had agreed terms with a farmer, he would accept a shilling (usually) and this would bind him to serve his new employer for a year. While St Michaelmas day is officially the 29th September, in this area the payment of all due rents and the various necessary farm movements would become effective on the 11th October. New farm engagements would commence on this date and should the labourer have defaulted then the farmer was entitled to sue him. Although considering the wages offered and the limited possessions of the labourer this was not much of an option to the farmer. It is further recorded in 1845 that Reepham had a weekly market, which sold stock from within a wide catchment area. What isn’t known is the date when the day of the weekly market changed from Saturday to Wednesday although it had been held on Wednesdays since at least the early 1800s. It was with the coming of the railways in the mid 19th century that the movement to market for both man and beast became easier. While this transport change initially benefited Reepham, the drawing power of the great market in Norwich, with its need to feed a large population, gradually stifled all the smaller markets that offered competition. Although competition with Norwich was never something that was particularly appropriate from the much smaller local markets like Reepham, it was a major element that contributed towards the eventual closure of the Reepham saleground in March 1972. Until the setting up of the new market saleground by Irelands in 1877, the Wednesday market is recorded as being a corn and cattle market with the 29th June as the annual fair for stock and horses. Little is recorded of the corn market and it was probably a small affair compared to the much larger ones held elsewhere in the county. The indoor facilities of the Corn Hall in Exchange Street, Norwich (now the home of Jarrolds Department Store) were palatial indeed compared to the open Market Place at Reepham which subjected the buyers and sellers to the vagaries of the weather. Corn and Cattle The corn market would commence in the autumn once the grain to be sold became available on the local farms. With harvest over and the barns full the threshing would begin; in the 19th century this was a boring, arduous task, carried out by four or five men at a time who would use a flail, the tool that was like a wooden jointed whip which when used in a steady rhythmic way would shake out the individual grains of com. After threshing was completed, the “winnowing” or “dressing” of the corn would be carried out and the remaining grain was scooped up into “bushels” − the standard measure, levelled off and tipped into sacks. Grain would be taken straight to the mills after dressing or samples would be taken to the market so that it could be sold. “Stock and staple” were the terms given to the types of corn sales; “staple” or “sample” was when the farmer would bring samples of his corn and book the order; he would then arrange delivery where and when required and then collect payment. This would save cartage in bad weather, an important �consideration on the bad winter roads prevalent in this agricultural area at that time. “Stock” was when the farmer took the corn in sacks to sell direct, collecting payment at once. This method of sale often favoured the buyer as he would try and beat down the price, knowing the farmer would let all go cheaply, rather than have to cart the corn home again. Earmarked – A Red Lincoln steer receives his ear mark, necessary under the fat stock subsidy scheme, at Reepham cattle market. The “operation” is being performed by Mr L. Blythe, July 1954. During the 1880s there was obviously a good demand for grain in this area and a number of local businesses were actively involved in the buying and selling. There was Bircham & Sons who purchased for their brewery, William Hannant and George Wright, both corn dealers, Squirrell and Utting, corn and cake merchants, S & S W Leeds, corn and seed merchants, and Coller & Sons, coal and corn merchants. Three of these businesses were established at Reepham Station and the coming of the railway to Reepham at this time boosted the local corn market, albeit only for a few years. There was an initial spirit of optimism as the following letter placed in the local press in November 1882 indicates: The reopening of this market took place on the 4th October 1882 and has continued every fortnight since with remarkable success quite beyond the most sanguine expectations. The next market will be held on Wednesday at half past two (instead of half past three as therefore) at which time a train will arrive at Reepham Station (Great Eastern Railway) and those coming from Norwich and elsewhere will find a conveyance ready to take them into the market. The principal buyers have consented to find sacks and do all they can to make the delivery to sellers of corn bought at this market as easy �for the farmers as possible at the railway station nearest. Seeing there is every facility and good prospect of making a good corn market for the neighbourhood, the farmers are solicited to support this project in every way they possibly can. We are expecting a full attendance at the next market. Your obedient servant, R P Gooch Reepham Auction Mart Messrs. Irelands saleyard, an area that was to become an integral part of Reepham’s prosperity was originally an orchard. It was the property of William Bircham who owned the Reepham Brewery (now the Old Brewery House Hotel), various areas of land in and around Reepham and a number of public houses, including the King’s Arms. The orchard, which for a number of years had been let to the landlord of this establishment, was triangular in shape and is recorded in the subsequent Bircham Estate sale catalogue as occupying an area of 2 rods and 13 perches. It was obtained from Michaelmas 1878 on a 30-year lease by Messrs. Irelands at an annual rental of £5. The orchard also contained a small barn with a yard and sheds and these continued to be let to the King’s Arms at the annual rental of £7.10s.0d. The orchard had been leased for development as a cattle saleyard and it was subsequently advertised by Irelands as the Reepham Auction Mart. In summer 1883 the Bircham Estate was put up for sale by public auction and the 16 lots were sold at the Norfolk Hotel in Norwich. Lot 12, comprising the auction mart and the barn, were purchased outright by Irelands. In 1883 cattle were still being sold on the Market Place although Irelands’ fortnightly sale is recorded as a “large stock sale”. A notice in the Eastern Daily Press for a fortnightly sale in July 1883 informed interested parties: Messrs. Irelands offer for sale at Reepham Auction Mart PRIME FAT BULLOCKS, COWS, HEIFERS, STORE STOCK, FAT SHEEP, HOGGETS. FAT AND STORE PIGS and OTHER EFFECTS. Commencing at 12.30 P.M. It is unclear as to whether local competition was prevalent between buyers and sellers in the Market Place and the new saleyard but Irelands would appear to have established the major level of business. �This picture, a study in expressions, was taken during Messrs. Ireland’s sale at Reepham on Wednesday 22nd March 1950. War and Depression At the outbreak of the First World War the selling of cattle still continued on the Market Place; Irelands had become a weekly sale with the annual fair still taking place from 29th June. The 1914–18 war and the resulting period of depression which greatly affected agriculture in this area severely altered these arrangements and by 1925 the annual fair was no longer recorded. With one or two notable exceptions all market and sale activities had been moved to Irelands’ saleyard and they rook place on a weekly basis. The outbreak of war in 1914 did not immediately change the pattern of agricultural life in this area with the harvest of that year being brought in before farm workers of military age began to trickle away to join the “great adventure”. The greatest threat was the requisitioning of farm horses by government agents with many a local farmer losing good stock to provide the army with the means to haul the artillery and above all for transport. Although the weekly market continued, this loss was the cause of great inconvenience to many farmers who relied upon horses as their only mode of transport. With bad harvests in 1915 and 1916 and with the continued success of the German U-boat campaign, the government acted and set up a Food Production Department which had wide powers to purchase domestic produce and agricultural products. Many items which would have been disposed of through the system of the local markets prior to the war were now purchased direct and the market as a vital element of the local economy began to decline. �This decline was compounded further when, after another difficult harvest in 1917, rationing of food was introduced. The farming industry was able overall to make a positive contribution to the war effort and farmers did rather well from August 1917 when an Act was passed which was initially to guarantee minimum cereal prices for the next six years and also introduced a minimum wage for farm workers. This however was repealed in 1921 and prices and wages fell sharply. The 1920s is recalled as being the most depressing period for farming, a depression which in turn affected those areas of business which relied heavily upon it. Market prices that had been high during the war years plummeted, the price of cereals fell so sharply that profits could only be gained by farmers who worked the best land and could produce a high yield. The introduction in 1919 of death duties on large estates meant that a great deal of land was placed on the market. Land values were still high and during this post-war period there were huge sales. It was estimated that by 1921 more than one quarter of all local farm acreage had changed hands. The auctioneers suddenly found a short-term boom for their services in dealing with the many land sales that occurred. These high prices failed to last and from the early 1920s the state of farming generally went into a sharp decline, farm prices fell sharply and farmers dismissed their workers and tried to make ends meet by using family labour, machinery or by reducing standards and grassing over previously arable land. Many farms were sold as the owners went bankrupt and landlords of large acreages found the land could not be let at any price. The wages of farm workers which had reached 46/- a week in 1918 had now been eroded down to 19/- a week; there was no alternative to these labourers but to work at the low rates as many men were already out of work due to the high number of farm closures. The period from a farm workers strike at the Easter time of 1923 until the General Strike in 1926 is seen as the lowest point in these bad times but after this date things began to slowly pick up. During the war, the government had introduced the new crop of sugar beet, ironically as Germany had supplied 80% of Britain’s pre-war demand for this crop. From the mid-1920s the government gave the farming industry a much greater financial backing by offering a contract price for growing this root crop. It helped to get the farmers back to a healthier state by giving a level of financial security coupled with a crop that assisted crop rotation. Previously farmers had grown mangolds, swedes and turnips which were a root crop to feed cattle with. The import of cheap beef particularly from the Americas undercut the market price of cattle raised in this country. Farmers could not afford to keep them and in turn they no longer grew the root crops required as fodder. The lack of animals to sell meant a severe reduction in trade for the local markets and the auctioneers. The introduction of subsidies on wheat and also on slag and lime greatly helped. Many fields in this area had become sour and underproductive. They needed liming to increase yields, basic slag (which is a phosphatic fertiliser) was sent from the coalfields by train to Reepham. It was delivered to the nearby farms and spread onto the fields. Among those who survived the depression were farmers who were able to rear or support a flock of sheep and to many farmers the yearly cheque for lambs was the largest single item �in their annual income. While many locally raised sheep were sent to the large sales in Norfolk such as the June lamb sale at Diss (the largest in East Anglia), there was still a large number sold in Reepham. An annual spring lamb sale was held by Irelands at Briston, an event which coincided with the local fair. However this sale, like the sale of sheep at Reepham, did not have the pulling power and higher prices of markets like Diss. Sheep driven to the fair at Diss attracted buyers from far afield and these buyers were prepared to pay higher prices than those that could be expected in Reepham. There was a wholesale improvement in farming from 1936 onwards, but the results of the worst times were felt right up to the outbreak of war in 1939 and it was generally felt that the land fit for the returning heroes of the First World War did not materialise under the wide Norfolk sky. Animals have always been sent to market; the buying and selling of beasts and fowls has always been an integral part of farming life, and profit and fortune were only to be had if a farmer was able to raise his stock to a standard which commanded a good price. Until the latter part of the last century many animals would have been driven to the local market although some were often driven longer distances to the larger or seasonal markets as better prices could be obtained. The demand of the Norwich and King’s Lynn markets and the annual sheep sales at selected towns throughout the county would mean long days for the drovers who were entrusted to take care of the animals being sold or bought. However, the time and effort taken by the local farmers and the hired drovers would generally be well rewarded by the higher prices obtained. First the Railways then the Cattle Floats Reepham had for many centuries enjoyed a standard rural catchment for those who attended its weekly market, the numbers attending as with most rural areas was limited to the daily journey made possible by horse and cart, a distance of some four or five miles (or a ten-mile round trip). Initially, Reepham gained a shift in importance with the coming of the �railways, with two lines and two stations positioned at the north and south of the town. Farmers from a wider area were able to buy and sell stock and for a number of years, particularly up to the First World War, the market prospered. However, from the 1920s this prosperity, brought to Reepham by the railways, declined as more and more trade was switched to the more lucrative Norwich Saturday market with the loading of mostly cattle onto the early trains from Whitwell and Reepham stations and then being unloaded at the Trowse and City stations in Norwich and driven through the streets to the Castle Hill market. This mode of transport slowly began to change as more and more farmers started to use the competitive cattle lorries of the hauliers for their market transport. The old order of the farmers, the local markets and the cattle drovers, all reliant upon each other for so long, were to be so radically changed in just a few years by the transport changes that accelerated during the second half of the 20th century. The cattle lorries took the trade from the railways and the trade went to the larger markets or direct to the abattoir. The cattle drover had all but disappeared by the 1940s, the railways closed during the next 20 years and many of the smaller and more local markets had gone by the mid 1970s. Reepham Stock Mart (as it was originally known) reached its peak during the years 1900– 1914, when it was among the best in the county, with local people adamant that it was only inferior to the larger markets on Norwich Castle Hill and at King’s Lynn. It served faithfully and well a wide inland agricultural community – with the nearest opposition as far distant as Dereham, Fakenham, Holt, North Walsham and Norwich – and weekly entries of 200 cattle in addition to plentiful supplies of sheep, pigs and poultry were of quite common occurrence. Beasts and Drovers Animals would be brought in by a mixture of boys, farm labourers and drovers. The former two would have driven animals from the local farms or from the two railway stations while the drovers would have come from some distance where it was impractical to use rail transport. The driven animals would low and bellow as they had always done, mostly moved in slow but seemingly organised groups. Occasionally an animal would bolt from the herd or flock but this would quickly gain the attention of the drover’s dog, which would increase the noise level as they barked and chased the animal back into place. While the drovers could exercise tight control with their charges, this was not always so with the groups of animals that were being led, even short distances, by some of the local lads. On shorter journeys that were not worth the bother for a drover the farmers would sometimes get their labourers to drive animals to market. Some farmers were reluctant to do this as they felt that the labourers were having a morning out at their expense, so they paid some of the local lads a few pence to do this particular job – a decision not popular with the labourers but the farmers felt it was money well spent. While this offered a financially prudent arrangement to the farmer, he tended to turn a blind eye to the difficulties that the lads often encountered or unwittingly caused. �A small herd of young pigs would want to go in every direction except forwards and certainly not on the most direct route to the sale pen. A sudden noise would send the frightened animals scurrying in all directions; if an open garden gate or a gap in the hedge was discovered many a Reepham resident ended the day with an upturned flower bed or a vegetable crop dug up earlier than was intended. After the market it was a similar story but in reverse; if a farmer had bought animals and wanted them taken home by an experienced hand, he would seek out one of the drover brethren and arrange for “Jimma” with his “ol dorg” to go across and take the animals to their destination. If a shorter journey was involved the local boys would still be willing, despite their early morning problems. A local drover was Sidney Frost who lived in Whitwell Street, a man who was renowned for his large size and his infrequent change of clothing, although this was blamed on his droving which often meant many days at a time away from home. With his dog trailing beside him he would be at the Acle marshes by 4 am to receive cattle which were then walked back to be in Reepham by sundown ready for delivery to the saleground for the following day’s market. During the latter part of the 19th century and the early years of this century large numbers of Irish cattle were sent over to be sold initially at Norwich market. The cattle were landed on the west coast and then sent by rail to Norwich. Local drovers were employed to receive and if necessary to look after the cattle for a few days and then to bring them to the market for sale. Irish cattle were very popular at Norwich because they were ideally suited for the lush coastal marshes. They would be sold and then sent to the marshes for fattening up, the rich grazing ensured they were ready for sale again after about three months. The cattle would be brought off the marshes by the marshmen ready to meet drovers like Sidney Frost, who then had the slow but steady task of walking them to a local market. The Irish cattle were often in a bad state when they arrived in Norwich. They had lived very poorly in Ireland and some of them were in a wild state, often the drives to the marshes were very difficult for the drovers and a great test for their skills. Once this difficult task had been achieved the cattle thrived quickly and the long return journey to markets like Reepham was much easier with a bunch of fat and contented beasts. After the First World War the work of the drover was gradually but irretrievably taken over by the motorised cattle float; although in the early years the size of the vehicles was small and the number of animals that could be carried was limited, they were obviously much quicker and the services of the drover and his dog, who had been part of the local agricultural life for so long, soon became obsolete. In later years, the cattle floats would be brought into the saleyard, reversed up to the pens and the animals would be loaded up for a journey to their new home or on their final journey to the abattoir. The animals with a degree of initial reluctance, would anxiously climb the boards with the lorry driver and yard helpers banging empty pails on the sides of the lorry to encourage the hesitating beasts along. The shrill yap-yap-yap of the drover’s dog had now been replaced by the sounds of grinding gears and labouring engines. The old order of centuries had changed. Although most of the drovers stuck to their known trade some of them would buy and sell for dealers and butchers and eventually some moved fully into the dealing business when the old order changed. �Some animals would be brought in by other means. One or two horses would be harnessed to pull a cattle float which would hold two beasts, pigs would be put into the back of a tumbril and then covered over with a net and nearly all the poultry was put into crates which were conveyed in the back of a farmer’s trap or driving cart. Billy Easton, landlord of the Ratcatchers public house at Cawston, was typical of many at that time who dabbled in the ways of the market by buying and selling poultry and small stock. He would journey into Reepham every Wednesday with his horse and cart and would have two or three crates of chickens and perhaps some rabbits to sell. After a day at the saleground he would go home with some other poultry, which had been bought at an advantageous price, ready to sell at a higher price a week or two later. In those days everyone in this rural area kept chickens, mostly for the eggs but also for the kitchen pot. When the birds had finished laying, they would be disposed of. There were no household freezers for the birds to go to so they would be sent to the local market and sold. There were large numbers of poultry sold at Reepham each week with most of the purchasing carried out by specialist poultry dealers. A number of dealers came each week from Briston, Hevingham and Norwich but there was also the regular attendance of buyers from further afield and particularly those who purchased for the meat trade in the Jewish areas of East London. After having been sold the birds destined for the dinner tables of Bethnal Green and Shoreditch would be put into crates and pushed on a hand cart up to Reepham Station; they were then packed in the guard’s van and sent to Norwich ready to catch a late afternoon train to London. Market Day and the Public Houses There were a diverse number of people who regularly attended Reepham Market Day. Local buyers and butchers were joined by many from Norwich and other East Anglian towns. There were also Midlands buyers and some coming from as far north as Manchester. These longdistance buyers would travel to a number of local markets until they had purchased all their requirements. Attendance at Reepham on Wednesdays would be followed by a journey to Acle on the following day. Added to these were the drovers who have already been mentioned and of course the farmers, butchers and dealers, who reached the town in a variety of carts, traps and even occasionally the elegant gig. The horses were taken out of the shafts and stabled under the watchful control of “Duckety” Rudd at the King’s Arms or Billy Hall at The Sun and these two hostelries in the Market Place did a thriving business while bargains were driven and settlements made. Some farmers preferred the lesser hostelries such as the Lord Nelson, Greyhound, Duke of York or George and Dragon. In this pre-motor car era, the caring for the horses and storing of carts gave much opportunity to the rival ostlers, whose frequent encroachment beyond their own bounds upon the frontages of residences and other business establishments often grew to dimensions which presented quite a problem. Another popular place was The Crown, mainly due to its proximity to Reepham Station and the roads leading buyers and sellers in from Holt, Cawston, Aylsham and Wood Dalling. This particular public house was open all day and would pick up a lot of business during the �afternoon as farmers, butchers and various other traders made their way up to catch a train home or were journeying past by horse and trap or on foot. During this later part of the day many had already imbibed at the public houses in the town and were often a little worse for drink. Memories still exist locally of some of the Briston dealers who regularly made their way home in an intoxicated and fighting state and who would stop and have “one for the road” at The Crown. Some local businesses were indeed cautious and Hunts Stores on Station Plain would often lock their shop doors until these particular dealers had passed by. In the centre of the town, farmers would congregate and talk to each other, exchange news and gossip and bargain with the merchants to sell their corn or go to the bank for wages. They would take the opportunity to carry out necessary farm shopping with visits to the ironmongers or the agricultural engineer. Their wives would come too and would make their way around the shops, market traders and cheapjacks drawn in by the one day of the week when everyone came to buy and sell. A horse-drawn Sainsbury’s van was a regular feature before the First World War. It would be based in the Market Place and would buy eggs brought in by the farmers’ wives; these women also brought in and sold farm-made butter to the local shopkeepers. Many of those attending would return to the hostelry of their choice to invest some of their profit in the liquid refreshment available. The local public houses were open from 10 am to 10 pm and both The Sun and the King’s Arms enjoyed considerable trade. There were the early drinkers who had taken advantage of the relaxed market day times, the farm hands who had brought in or were to take home animals and then there were the farmers, butchers, dealers and other traders. Later in the day, after all trading had been concluded, the auctioneers and their staff would arrive. They all came to eat, drink, strike deals, catch up on the gossip and converse with their friends and acquaintances. The bars would be full and the beer would flow and many would contend that although market day was primarily business, the best part was undoubtedly the socialising which took place after the organised buying and selling had been completed. The day would conclude with many people heading home in a befuddled but contented state. The market thrived during the pre-war years but with the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 and its subsequent restrictions it entered upon a general decline from which it never recovered. The heights of the sales during the Edwardian era were never again achieved and the slow decline continued during the next 60 years. There were periods of re-establishment, notably in the late 1930s – when the Hitler War cried a halt – and again in the early/mid 1950s after the limitations of the Second World War were finally lifted. Until the introduction towards the second half of this century of the larger and monopolistic abattoirs, all killing of animals was carried out by butchers at local slaughter houses. Reepham butchers like Pratt, Utting and Spriggs all bought animals at the market, kept them until required and then carried out the slaughtering. Mondays was the quiet day of the week for the local butchery trade so the fateful animals were dispatched on this day. �Food Rationing and Other Controls The market continued during the years of the Second World War but the sale of the majority of the animals was strictly controlled by the government. After the introduction and general success of the scheme of rationing in the First World War, the government felt that this would be an essential element of their war programme. It was decided in the first week of war in September 1939 that food rationing would inevitably come, but for the time being food production was to be controlled so that food supplies available would be well looked after and evenly distributed. This early control was an attempt to prevent anything like profiteering and to avoid a dislocation of food stocks. Controls were introduced on Wednesday 13 September 1939 with an order made for fixing maximum prices for fat cattle, calves and sheep primarily destined for slaughter. While it was possible to sell poultry and young pigs to the highest market bidder it meant overall that the sale of animals had to be carried out through the local livestock market and direct sales from the farm were prohibited. The controls, in various forms of intensity, lasted for the next 15 years although the first few months of the “phoney war” caused the government to lift the restrictions in December and for a short time the market reverted back to a normal state. However, with the initial introduction of the controls, many farmers had assumed that with a market of fixed prices it would not pay for them to retain beasts for fattening and many beasts had been disposed of at control prices during the previous three months. Though the shortage pushed up Christmas prices that year it was a simple fact that local farmers had received no encouragement to hold on to their animals as they usually did for the Christmas trade and the relaxation of controls was short-lived. �During the early years of the war there was pressure from the government to put as much extra land as possible “under the plough”. Millions of extra acres were planted with cereals and although this compensated the levels of foodstuffs that could no longer be imported it had an initial and drastic effect on farmers who kept livestock. There was tremendous propaganda pressure from the Ministry of Food, who seemed to have an insatiable bias for more potatoes, to plough up more land and there was an argument that one acre of average arable crops fed far more of the population than one acre of average grassland. It was widely promoted that an acre of average wheat saved at least as much shipping space as seven acres of the best grass in England. Farmers who had kept livestock before the war had relied increasingly on cheap imported feeding stuffs; these were no longer available and those locally produced were all strictly rationed. This coupled with the subsidised plough-up policy caused many animals to be sold and slaughtered during the autumn and winter of 1940/41. This resulted in a severe decrease in the keeping of animals and particularly of poultry and pigs which gave little back to the soil in return for what they ate, and by 1943 the output of eggs had fallen by half and that of pigmeat by two-thirds below the pre-war level. The camera catches the atmosphere of the market as the crowds gather around the auctioneers, some to bid and buy, some just to watch and listen. While this had an initial drastic effect on livestock there was a need to maintain a balance as British farming at that time was essentially mixed. It was appreciated that to reduce too much would affect the level of meat and milk production and there was an effort to retain fat cattle and fat pigs, prices would be guaranteed and the production and sale would be strictly controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture. After 1940 all purchases of livestock for slaughter were made on the government account, farmers were asked to maintain orderly �marketing of stock in the normal quantities through the appointed market and to co-operate with the various stages of control as they were introduced through the war years. Reepham was nominated as a market that could grade cattle and pigs and for the next few years, until the regulations were finally decontrolled in 1954, the regular Wednesday sale day continued. Grading When the animals were sent to market they were no longer sold by auction. The stock would be sent in by the local farmers and inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture would grade the animals, although in the early part of the war some of the grading was often carried out by experienced local butchers and farmers like Thomas Hudson of Bawdeswell. The animals would be weighed and checked and the decision of the grading fixed by means of an ear tag. The resulting grade would determine the price the farmer received. The controls would also determine the particular butcher or slaughter house to which the animals were to be sent. Grading at Reepham would start at 10 am and would usually take up to three hours to complete. While the animals were sent to market it was a very controlled procedure and somewhat alien to many farmers who had always been used to the ways of a more open sale environment and to those who had been used to selling animals direct from the farm to local dealers and butchers. There was also a level of resentment to the Ministry officials who would sometimes grade animals to a lower price than that expected by an individual farmer. However much the system of control was disliked it allowed Reepham Market to remain open during these dark years even though it had become no more than a local point for the control of basic food production. The number of people, particularly farmers, who attended the market declined during these war years. Unless a farmer had animals to buy or sell, he did not go – times were hard, fuel was rationed, there was much to do and few people to do it and no time for standing about socialising in Reepham saleyard. �Dealers An essential element contributing to the local market system was the role of the dealer. They were men who were mainly farmers or who had access to land upon which they would graze or store cattle until such time as the animals could be profitably sold. These men would travel around the various daily markets in Norfolk and beyond, buying and selling animals although they dealt primarily in cattle. �Prospective buyers Mr G. Childerhouse and Mr F. E. Falmer, inspecting geese at the Christmas poultry sale, Tuesday 14 December 1965. The buying and selling would not, however, always be carried out at the saleground. In Reepham the various dealers would be found in their usual seat at a favoured hostelry and many a deal was struck between them and their customers without the help of the auctioneers. One of these exceptions was “Latcher” Woodhouse, a cattle dealer who lived near Aylsham. He would never sell through Irelands’ market but always sold his animals privately so as to avoid having to pay commission to the middle-man. He would drive over to Reepham in a pony and trap and the 15−20 cattle that he had for sale would be brought in by a local drover. He would position himself (and the animals) near the outside railings of the Brewery House and from here conduct his business, a manner of sale that he continued throughout the inter-war years. Edward de Grey Seaman had extensive farming interests locally at Foulsham, Kerdiston and further afield at King’s Lynn. He would always sit in the King’s Arms and conduct his business with the aid of a pot of tea which was constantly refilled during the dealing between him and his customers. John Perowne, who farmed at Brandiston, could always be found in The Sun, and Fords the bakers in the Market Place was the usual haunt of Sam Pye who had butchers’ shops at Cawston and Swaffham. Deals here were often concluded over a cup of tea and a hot meat pie or a plate of “hollow” biscuits. �During the depressed years of the 20s and 30s many farmers lacked the finance to buy cattle but had the land to graze them on, so they would come to an arrangement with a dealer. Young cattle would be bought by the dealer and then fattened and looked after by the farmer; when ready the dealer would sell the cattle and a financial settlement from the profit would be shared between the two of them. Many small farmers during this period had no alternative but to seek out the dealers on market day and to try and set up such an arrangement, a deal that would give the farmer a small but greatly needed level of income. There were also buyers like Fred Wright who purchased for the Norwich Co-op Society and Billy Brooks of Horsford and Hubert Large of Swanton Morley who bought for slaughter houses who in turn supplied the butchery trade. There were many local butchers who bought for their own shops; Sam Pye from Cawston has already been mentioned but other regulars included Chris Payne from Foulsham and Charlie Howard from Lenwade. The relationship of dealers, butchers, farmers and the weekly market was a structure that sustained for many years but was broken with the advent of the Second World War when all sales were strictly controlled through the nominated markets by the Government. The Christmas Sale and Fat Stock Show In the early part of this century Messrs. Irelands in conjunction with many of the local shopkeepers, introduced a Christmas Sale and Fat Stock Show. The local traders contributed to the prizes for the many classes and there were cups and rosettes provided by Irelands. The groups of animals and fowls including pigs, sheep, cattle, domestic birds and turkeys were divided into many classes and the showing, judging and selling was a great social draw for many people in Reepham and from further afield. Like all stock shows the animals were the main attraction; they won the prizes and then suffered the unfortunate dignity of being sold to the highest bidder for slaughter for the Christmas trade. This annual sale and show began early and finished late and it ran with considerable success for some ten years until 1914. It attracted large entries in all sections and was a very popular event for exhibitors, buyers and the residents of Reepham generally. Competition among the exhibitors was always keen and very high standards were reached. Among prominent Reepham exhibitors at that time were the farming brothers John, Ernest and Tom Sharpin while others included John Perowne from Brandiston and Billy Payne from Cawston. Rivalry among butchers was even keener and when a Reepham butcher was fortunate enough to obtain a prize beef, the carcase was early displayed prominently and proudly in his shop with its prize rosette. Needless to add, its delicately marbled fat in its appetising red meat was eagerly sought by his patrons, while its suet was a prize indeed. There was many a proud head of the household in Reepham in those days who brandished the carving knife above the roast beef of his Christmas dinner knowing that he could offer his family nothing finer. The Christmas Fat Stock Sale and Show of 13th December 1911 was a good example of Reepham Market at its most successful. In the week before, the local press had carried the market notices which indicated that the following number of animals had been provisionally entered: �On the day, all those preliminary expectations were exceeded and Irelands dealt with possibly the biggest sale ever held at Reepham. The following report from the Eastern Daily Press of the next day tells it all: REEPHAM. A SUCCESSFUL SHOW. The market town of Reepham yesterday was crowded with farmers, butchers and dealers, on the occasion of Messrs. Irelands’ annual Christmas show of fat stock. This year proved to be one of the best yet held, both in quantity and quality. The fat cattle comprised 140 prime over-yeared box bullocks, may of great weight and superior quality. There was also a larger supply of very choice sheep, black-faced and half-bred hoggets. The trade for beef was vert good, the highest, in fact, for several years, 1 cwt. live weight fetching from 45s. to 47s. Mutton trade was also very much better. Appended are a list of the prize winners for cups presented by gentry and tradesmen of the district: Best fat beast, silver cup, value £5 5s. – Won by Mr G.F. Boddy of Bolwick with a black polled homebred, weighing 14 cwt. 2 qrs., 2 lbs., and purchased by Mr Thomas Stimpson, Dereham, for £34 10s. Mr Boddy was, however, disqualified in consequence of his farm exceeding the radius of six miles. Mr George Seaman was therefore awarded the cup for a black Angus weighing 16 cwt. 3 qrs., and purchased by Mr F. Bayfield, Foulsham, for £39 10s. Best butcher’s bullock, fed by tenant farmer, silver cup – The winner was Mr John Perowne, of Guton Hall, with a red shorthorn, weighing 15 cwt. 2 qrs., and sold to Mr Charles Diggens of Holt for £37 10s. Best pair of fat beasts, fed by tenant farmers – This was won by Mr John Perowne, of Guton Hall, with a pair of Scotch bullocks, bought by Messrs. F. Bayfield and Robert Stimpson for £32 10s. and £31 5s. �Best fat bullock fed by tenant farmer, presented by Reepham tradesmen, silver cup, value £5 5s. – Mr George Seaman, of Oulton, was awarded the prize with a black Angus, weighing 16 cwt. 2qrs., and sold to Mr B. E. Smith, Bunwell, for £41, the top price of the day. Best pen of five cross-bred hoggets − Won by Mr John Green and sold to Mr Dickerson (Norwich) at 59s. each. Best pen of black·faced sheep – Won by Mr John Perowne and bought by Mr W. Bayfield (Dereham) at 63s. There were several other very good hoggets shown, which realised much better prices than of late. Twelve choice Suffolk shearlings realised 69s., 70s. and 69s. each; they were the property of Mr George Seaman. Mr Edward Stimpson of Sall won both prizes in the swine class, the best pen of three fat pigs and the best single pig. They were sold at an average of £8 each to Mr Rump, Reepham. Mr Purdy of Cawston took the cottagers’ prize for the best pig. The best pair of turkeys went to Mr W. J. Comer of Weston. Mr Bartle took the second prize. The best pair of fat geese were sent by Mr R. Dawson and the second pair by Mr G. Brown. For the best pair of fat ducks Messrs. Lowe Bros., Guestwick, were awarded the prize, with Messrs. Gibbs Bros., Guestwick, second. Fat chickens, first prize Mr Lock, second prize Messrs. Gibbs Bros. The pigs included some very heavy weights, and trade ruled rather better than recent prices, several making from £5 5s. to £8 10s. each. The poultry show included an exceptionally large supply, from 1,500 to 2,000 head being penned. Turkeys made up to 23s. each, ducks 4s. 3d. each, geese 7s. each, chickens 3s. 9d. to 4s. each. The attendance was very large, and buyers attended from all parts of Norfolk, a large number of Norwich butchers, as well as the principal butchers from Fakenham, Dereham, Holt, Sheringham, Cromer, Overstrand, North Walsham, Aylsham, Foulsham and neighbouring villages. In the evening several of the company sat down to dinner, the chair being occupied by Mr Aubrey Radway, during which the cups were presented to the prize-winners. Dinner in the King’s Arms club room The conclusion of the press report mentions the dinner held in the evening. From the early years the bustle and enjoyment of the show was concluded (and some would say enhanced) with a dinner in the King’s Arms club room, although in the latter years up to the Second World War it was held in the Sun Hall. Mr Hubbard was the publican at the King’s Arms and he was responsible for the decoration of the room and the preparation of the meal. It was wholesome fare, greatly appreciated and hungrily consumed to replenish the sturdy frames of the dealers, farmers, auctioneers and other men who attended − men who had spent the day in the business of showing, judging, buying and selling. Though no doubt they had found it necessary to replenish their �energies with a draught or two of ale and a hastily eaten pie, their stomachs hungrily awaited the evening repast. The meal offered copious amounts of beef and pork (generously supplied by Bayfields of Dereham) with the plates further filled with ample supplies of vegetables. This was followed by trifle or a fruit tart and custard and cheese was available for anyone who felt he had a space left to fill. All of this would be washed down with draught beer and whisky chasers. The meal was followed by speeches and the presentation of the show cups. In some years, the patrons enjoyed entertainment with recitals or monologues performed by the more musical or artistic members of the local community. The hall would hold up to 100 diners and it was strictly an all-ticket affair. The tickets were keenly sought after and would be sold out long before the day of the dinner. Some of the diners would stay in Reepham for the night but the locals who attended would find their way home, late but happy and many a horse returned to its stable with a rider or driver oblivious to the world and encapsulated in a fug of sleep and alcohol. The Christmas sale suffered mixed fortunes, particularly from the effects of the two World Wars and it took a long while before it returned after 1945. At the first post-war Christmas sale in 1954 the Reepham and District Chamber of Trade challenge cup was won by a Hereford steer exhibited by Mr Simmons of Witchingham and the beast was bought by Mr F. Sutton of Acle. There were many other classes to be judged for cattle and pigs. There was a heavy entry of cattle for this particular show sale although the entry of more than 450 pigs is reputed as being down on the previous week. Although the Christmas sale and show was revived the dinner was not and something that had figured prominently on the Reepham calendar for so many years had disappeared. The largest post-war Christmas poultry show ever recorded, when over 800 lots changed hands, had been held the previous year in December 1953 when loading and dispersals were maintained by the aid of torches long after dark. There was a fine show of turkeys with some birds realising up to 6/- (30p) a pound. Apart from the turkeys that year, the sale offered a wide range of poultry to grace the Christmas dinner tables of the local area, this included caponised chickens, coloured birds, best quality hens, cross breeds and a number labelled as “inferior fowls”. There were geese and ducks and for those who did not want poultry they could have purchased a rabbit, wild or tame. Although it was Edward VII who made the eating of turkey at Christmas fashionable, the present popularity of the turkey is very recent. The high price paid at the market in 1953 was for the purchase of a bird that was, at that time, considered a luxury. Goose and chicken were routinely eaten on Christmas Day until the late 1950s when the turkey, with the help of a certain Mr Matthews, began to dominate. More than 10 million are now sold every year at Christmas. The saleground (now occupied by the Station Road car park) was not large compared to the size of other markets in Norfolk. It was of a triangular shape with two large entrances: one situated where the present car park entrance is and the other further down the hill towards Towns End Corner. There was also a small pedestrian entrance into Chapel Walk (often �called Saleground Alley). There was no pavement alongside the area as there is today and the saleground went right up to the edge of Station Road. Along the east side were the uncovered sheep and cattle pens. On the opposite side along Station Road was an area covered in corrugated sheets used for the penning of pigs and calves and next to this was a small brick and tiled barn. This had been built originally as part of a small group of buildings when the land had been part of a farm; when the area was bought outright by Irelands in 1883 it was still being used for the winter storage of cattle. The west wall of the barn fronted directly onto Station Road and is remembered by many people for the profusion of bills and notices that were plastered over the lower brickwork. The barn was used as a storage and display area for the limited amount of deadstock sent for sale. Anything not sold would be stored here until the following week and in particularly cold weather calves to be sold would be put in the barn away from the icy draughts of the open barred cattle pens. Next to the barn were the toilets and this area was also occupied by a stall which sold cockles, mussels and other shellfish to those attending the market. The market was small yet busy and the close proximity of the animals, the effluent generated by both men and beasts which was dealt with by limited drainage and the smell of shellfish must have offered a rare cocktail of heady yet rustic smells. Indeed one abiding memory offered was the trail (and odour) of animal urine that found its natural way from the saleground pens and downhill towards the street drains at Towns End Corner. �A nice white turkey, among those presented for sale at the first of the Christmas 1968 poultry auctions, has an anxious look in her eye, as though aware time is getting short. Holding the bird is Mr J. Haggerty. In the centre of the saleyard was a row of poultry pens which individually held up to 10 birds. The pens were made of netting and the whole section was covered with a pitched roof to keep off the rain. Also in the centre was the wooden office used by Irelands on sale days and the weigh bridge. The site originally contained at the northern end a tall American prairiestyle windpump, used to raise the water required by the saleground. In later years, a motorised pump was installed in a small shed situated over the bore pipe and the tower was removed. In recollections of the saleground this tall wind pump was remembered clearly by many people. In the early part of this century there were few houses along Station Road and the tower was clearly visible as people approached Reepham from Kerdiston, Wood Dalling and Cawston. The Saleground Owners Irelands was founded by Anthony and Henry Ireland who had extensive farming interests in Guestwick and Wood Dalling. They opened offices in Guestwick and Foulsham from which �they conducted business as land agents and auctioneers and were well established when they purchased the orchard in Station Road which was to become the Reepham saleground, or Reepham Auction Mart as it was advertised in the local press of the time. Henry’s son Edwin took over the firm in the early part of this century and continued with its expansion particularly in selling at the large and lucrative market at Castle Hill, Norwich. By the 1930s Irelands had become a large and active organisation in the farming and general agricultural life in Norwich and North Norfolk. At this time, their main office was based in Norwich and they were holding regular sales and auctions at Norwich Castle Hill, North Walsham and Holt as well as Reepham. During the 50 years, until his death in 1953 at the age of 92, there were few members of the farming fraternity in Norfolk who had not had dealings with E. B. Ireland. Early days of Irelands: centre seated is Henry John Ireland of Wood Dalling; standing on the left is Alfred George Gibbs. Hubert Sheringham started work with Irelands in 1946 as an articled pupil and he had to pay the firm a premium of £100 a year to work there and learn the trade of auctioneer and estate agent. Thankfully, this form of apprenticeship lasted for a relatively short time and within two years he had become qualified and remained with Irelands for the next 40 years until he retired as a senior partner in 1986. During his time with Irelands Hubert was a regular auctioneer at Reepham. Immediately after the Second World War the rural areas of �Norfolk still relied heavily upon the established system of markets to buy and sell and the many local markets held on different days of the week provided employment to a number of company auctioneers and other staff who would attend and carry out their particular tasks. Other well known auctioneers at Reepham included Alfred King from Trunch, Brian Boning and Arthur Gibbs from Norwich and more locally William (Billy) Ewing who had been employed by Irelands until he was called up for war service in 1940. During the war he would help out at local markets when on leave and when demobbed in 1946 he was re-employed by Irelands and continued to sell at Reepham until its final closure. The saleground was often a bustle of activity, there would be three auctioneers working at the same time selling poultry, pigs and cattle and assisting them would be the porters, helpers and clerks all going about their business in this relatively small area. These market years are connected with the names of many people who had a direct and indirect association with the saleyard: Ernie Lines, “Ikey” Wright and Les Blyth who did the portering; Tom Bacon who looked after the poultry; Herbert Vardigans who used to help wash down the yard and take away the days accumulation of straw and manure; Billy Freestone who unlocked and locked the saleyard and carried out the general caretaking duties; and Tom Hall who helped with the clearing up. There was Fords the bakers in the Market Place who supplied the bread and meat pies which fed many of those attending and Clifford and Violet Watson who between them were licensees of The Sun, the local public house favoured by Irelands for 42 years until Violet retired in 1964. Violet Watson lrelands carried out a number of local farm sales and in the depressed inter-war years the appropriate page in the Eastern Daily Press would carry the auctioneers’ advertisements for “excellent pair of brick and tile farm cottages”, “desirable lots of household furniture and effects” and “Capital Holdings”, “Live and Dead Stock”, “Agricultural Carriages”, “Choice In- �calf and heifers”, “Pedigree pigs and poultry and useful working horses”. There were many of these sales but much more went under the hammer than the items in the catalogues. In many cases the farm sale was not simply a sale but the disintegration of a way of life for a farming family and for some the breakup of a wider farming community. Irelands Meadow Irelands also held spring and Michaelmas deadstock sales. These sales were held on the meadow (known as Irelands Meadow) which was bounded by Kerdiston Road and Smugglers Lane – an area which in the last 20 years has been built on and is now covered with houses and bungalows. Before it was sold for development the meadow was used in later years for the parking of cattle floats and other vehicles but twice a year and for a few hours only it came alive with the bustle of Irelands’ spring and Michaelmas sales. Apart from the limited use every Wednesday in connection with saleground parking the field was used as a general recreation ground and particularly by the Band of Hope football team who played here during the 1920s. Market day squeals: December 1954. With a squealing and a shooing, Mr W. Cook’s pigs tumble helter-skelter out of the lorry to Reepham Wednesday Market. These two annual sales consisted of all manner and classes of agricultural machinery and miscellaneous dead stock that farmers wanted to dispose of. The sales would be held on �Wednesday and would start at 10 am so that the majority of items could be sold before the sale of beasts and poultry commenced at the saleground nearby. The Michaelmas sale in October 1949 was typical of many successful sales held in these postwar years; the car park is recorded as having handled 54 cars and six lorries and a fine autumn day brought out a large number of people, some buying, some selling, others who were interested to buy if a bargain came their way and the majority who just came for a morning out. More than 350 lots were offered and many were cleared at keen prices; it was probably not a day for the bargain hunter. The more important items sold on the day included a Fordson Major Perkins diesel tractor £475, chicken houses to £31, Morris 8 van £60, tumbril £29, deep digger plough £30 and pitch pole harrows £32. On such days, a large number of people would attend and the Market Place would be full of parked vehicles. Wednesday was the one busy day of the week for the local police with a constable controlling the influx of people and traffic by standing on point duty at Towns End Corner. Parking Problems In the days of horse-drawn travel parking had never been regarded as a nuisance but the increasing numbers of motorised vehicles caused the residents of Reepham to consider from the early 1920s that it was a problem and after much public agitation the use of the Market Place as a car park was brought about by the former St Faiths and Aylsham RDC. The council purchased the property from the then Lady of the Manor (a member of the Eglington family) for £400 in 1937. The ancient market was bought by the district council on the urgings of the parish council who had been concerned for a number of years at the way the Market Place had been managed, after being let to a lessee of the Lord of the Manor. The End of an Era The market finally closed on the 8th March 1972. During the previous week, the Eastern Daily Press had carried a notice from Irelands which stated: The Auctioneers wish to announce that the weekly market for live and dead stock will be discontinued after 8th March 1972, periodic sales of household furniture and effects will be held in future and the first of these will take place on Tuesday 28th March. Like many other local markets it had suffered a severe decline in trade by the early 1970s and it was inevitable that a market that was small compared to others in the county was no longer financially viable. Irelands decided to concentrate their interests on the much larger and more lucrative Norwich market. Keys weekly market at Aylsham had been established in 1954 and as Reepham dwindled so Aylsham succeeded with a lot of the people involved in the general market business preferring the Aylsham saleground with its much larger range of pens and cages, much of it under cover, and easier parking on the actual site. There had been a drastic decline in the number of animals being sold; fat cattle and calves were no longer being sold here and the market relied entirely on the sale of pigs, rabbits, �poultry and dead stock and the occasional sale of furniture and household effects. The spring and Michaelmas sales went when Irelands Meadow on the Kerdiston Road was sold. The number of fat pigs and sows sold each week fluctuated greatly, sometimes it reached 150 animals but the weekly trade was often much lower and far too often the numbers sold were less than 50. The heady times of the early 1950s had gone forever; market days when record entries of more than 500 pigs, up to 200 cattle and on one particular occasion in September 1952 when more than 2,500 head of poultry were auctioned would never again return to Reepham. The annual Christmas Show had been held in December 1971; the animals were prepared, shown and judged as they had been for the previous 100 years but the day was tempered with an element of regret and the knowledge that this was probably the last one. The market was held in the early weeks of 1972 and then on Wednesday 8th March Irelands finally called it a day. Without ceremony and fuss the 32 fat pigs and sows that had been entered on that day were sold and loaded up for their various destinations. The dead stock was auctioned and the few traders, dealers, farmers and local people who attended drifted away in the early afternoon. The straw and manure was cleared away, the yard swept and washed down and in the failing late winter gloom the few electric lights were switched off, the gates closed and an area that had served Reepham and its rural catchment so well for nearly a century settled down to await its future. A brief report appeared in the Eastern Daily Press on Friday 10th March but it was linked in with the closure problems of the Dereham Auction Mart. The few words offered about Reepham were a small, yet unfitting epitaph to the death of a market that has once stood with the best that could be found in Norfolk. The traffic problems in Reepham had been viewed with growing apprehension for a number of years and the closure gave Broadland District Council the opportunity to purchase the site from Irelands and in 1978 to open the area as a car park. The preparatory work and subsequent landscaping to achieve this has been very thorough and all trace and vestige of its former use has disappeared. As surely as Irelands Auction Mart buried all traces of Mr Bircham’s orchard more than 100 years ago so the asphalt, bricks and ground covering shrubs has removed all traces of the saleground. We can only speculate as to what the next 100 years will bring to this area! From an article published in the Reepham Society Magazine 1996 � Text-digital Any text item for which there is no previously existing hard copy in the Archive. The text can be stored on CD, DVD, memory card, USB stick, on hard drive or 'cloud'. It may have been sent electronically to the Archive or it may be a text owned by someone else which we have scanned or photographed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham Market Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2408071035 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource A4 PDF, 28 pages Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1277-1972 Description An account of the resource An extensive history of Reepham Market from its establishment in 1277 to its demise in March 1972. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Michael Black Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived From an article published in the Reepham Society Magazine 1996 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Reepham Society Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Scanned and edited by Geoff Fisher https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/f4e47ab48ba4841c26622db71ec0a6f3.jpg 8be6ed813f1556b9aed89dfe311b1a17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham Band Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/Groups/Reepham Band Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource E. T. Ruffles with Aylsham Fellowship Band Description An account of the resource E. T. Ruffles with Aylsham Fellowship Band, prize-winners at a Cambridge festival. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1930s Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1610051047 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norfolk Chronicle Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource B&W photograph 210mm x 160mm Groups/Reepham Band [+File +Archive Box +Photo Box] Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society 1930s Aylsham Ruffles https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/438cce2d37c0b83ceaeeb2aa88a0a1d4.jpg 69401c131c5d727d9eac6e6d2921d632 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/1229bc9ce223976c60ead00c71c0cff4.jpg 535d8330864db2f0d21337c15ae3be24 Artefact-physical Physical objects other than texts, photographs, maps etc. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham Conservation Area 1972 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2208201147 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource A4 landscape booklet Damaged plastic spine Card front cover with image of Rookery Farm. 18 pages of text and images with inset A3 folded map of Reepham Town Centre. Local Plans [[File 11, Archive Box 111] Maps [File 23] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1972 Reepham Description An account of the resource Norfolk County Council Town and Planning leaflet on the proposed Reepham Conservation Area prepared by R.I. Maxwell, F.R.I.C.S., F.R.T.P.I., F.I.Mun.E., County Planning Officer. The report gives a detailed description of Reepham in 1972 noting the recent neglect and decay of obsolete buildings and seeking ways to rehabilitate the town. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norfolk County Council Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource The Reepham Society 1972 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/bf882c339159284ae7d5dd0f802453ff.jpg a2df0ad233151038c7318d34c093241c Photograph-printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1601211818 Title A name given to the resource East Africans Visit Reepham Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norfolk News Co. Ltd. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 16 May 1956 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource B&W photograph (mounted on card) 255 x 204mm Events [File 5, Archive Box 105] Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1956 Reepham Market Place Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society Description An account of the resource Participants L to R :- <br /><br /><em>L. C. Goose (Clerk to St. Faith's &amp; Aylsham RDC)</em><br /><em>D Kendall Chapman (Clerk to Reepham Parish Council)</em><br /><em>M. G.Mwandike (from Tanganyika)</em><br /><em>F. N. Kulubya (from Uganda) </em><br /><em>Mrs W. M. Simmons (Chairman of Reepham Parish Council)</em> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Norfolk News Co. Ltd Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Norfolk News Co. Ltd. 1956 Chapman Goose Parish Council Simmons https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/44a8e92c6fc04c204fd6b26e29defcf0.pdf 228b7b36ef4ebf3a06c387c209635f1b PDF Text Text Part of GB/REE/2301231230 Reepham Fire Station Courtesy of Philip Leeder �Part of GB/REE/2301231230 Reepham Churches , Spar Shop & Malthouse Yard Courtesy of Philip Leeder � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Aerial Views Description An account of the resource Original aerial photographs & digital copies. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource To the present Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/Aerial Views Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Archive Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource B&W & colour photographs Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant To the present Reepham & surrounding area Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Aerial Views of Reepham, Salle & Booton Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2301231230 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Aerial Views [File 1] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2018 Reepham, Salle, Booton Description An account of the resource Over 70 views of the Reepham area taken from a drone by Philip Leeder. Two examples shown here, the remainder can be viewed in Reepham Archive. Subjects covered include :- Reepham Churches Whitwell Station Station Plain Area Collers Way Christmas Trees Salle Estate Salle Church Booton Church Eves Hill Overton Way Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Philip Leeder Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Anglia Aerial Images, Reepham aerial https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/f4aec2b1980240952a42b635791503c6.mp4 da5cc4393e5f11a8a5982014e05b163e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Harvest at Eves Hill Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2301231330 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP4 Digital Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2018 Booton Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Philip Leeder Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Anglia Aerial Images Description An account of the resource 40 second MP4 drone file of the harvesting process at Eves Hill.<br /><br /><em>Click on the film icon to view.</em> aerial https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/c1623aaa7bdaf09b8d08c9b09d2f2cb0.pdf 9b013bb0fb8a1f5ca5ff6442a1da11ef PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham Band Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/Groups/Reepham Band Text-handwritten Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1945 Royal Visit : Letter of Thanks Description An account of the resource Letter of thanks from Queen Mary after the concert given by the Reepham Junior Band on 30 August 1945. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 31 August 1945 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1945 Reepham Band Hall Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1607271453 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Queen Mary Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Single sheet of notepaper 120mm x 190mm Groups/Reepham Band [File 7, Archive box 107] https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/221e951b0f3a7192337d56fbd41ec657.pdf 09d4b39dedfc0118816e4d269adb3e77 PDF Text Text The Reepham Archive www.reephamarchive.co.uk Education in Reepham from the earliest date known. Volunteers’ Notes on Contents held in the Archive Details held in the Archive on Schooling in Reepham are sketchy and few. We have some good group photographs and would welcome help with the identification of individuals and corrections to the information given on our website. We hold very little about the present schools, only a few example copies of school magazines. We always welcome additional information. In the local returns to the Select Committee for the Education of the Poor dated 1818 Reepham had a population of 299, Kerdiston 152, Whitwell 355 and Hackford 503 people. Sunday Schools and evening lessons were organised by the curates and supported by voluntary contributions. Children of Dissenters had their own Sunday School. It was observed that ‘the poor children are taught to read and have sufficient means of education’. Booton, population 193, had 18 children attending a school. It was stated here that ‘the poor have not sufficient means of instruction’, while Salle had no school and ‘the poorer classes send their children to the daily school in the neighbourhood’. One has to wonder where they went and how they got there. The Norfolk Directories and Census returns for the period from 1830 - 1851 mention school masters and school mistresses and several day and boarding schools for boys and for girls. In 1851 Orlando Horace Cooper ran a boarding school for 5 boy boarders at The Mill Hill Academy, his home at The Limes in Ollands Road. It was a school for farmer’s sons according to Harry Hawes. In 1866 Hawes then aged 3 attended Old Buck’s School in Back Lane and remembered the cots for babies. In the school holidays he went to Rebecca Goose’s School in the house now known as Swiss Cottage with eight or nine other boys and girls. His mother paid threepence a week. There were other schools in Sall Lane and The Market Place. In 1847 St Mary’s School, Norwich Road, was opened for the children from the parishes of Reepham and Kerdiston. It was closed in about 1920 shortly before Wesley Piercy started at the new Hackford and Whitwell School aged 4. He says it was later used for cookery and woodwork classes for children from other schools. Between 1859-1873 there are records of a small private school at Whitwell Common. There is an Indenture dated 1781 with a decision of a public meeting to repair Hackford Poor House and to appoint a School Master and School Mistress. The parishioners of Whitwell agree to pay £30 towards the costs. In 1837 the Rev. Holley came to live at Hackford House, now The Bircham Centre. and started a school in the building now known at The Town Hall. He employed 3 teachers, Mr and Mrs Buck and a Miss Kemp. His daughter ran a Sunday School. This school was demolished and �rebuilt in 1860 as The Hackford and Whitwell Parochial School. A notice on the wall of the present Town Hall in Church Street states that this work was paid for by public subscription. John Burgoin was Head Master from 1862 – 1877. It appears he was also responsible for the Infant School in Whitwell Street which was open before 1859. In 1862 both William Spooner and Leonora Woodhouse earned about 6/- a week as infant teachers. When she resigned due to ill health in 1890 she was earning 12/- a week. In 1873 there was a proposal to unite several local parishes and to extend St. Mary’s School and to build a new school at Whitwell Common. This was rejected by the Managers of the H&WPS who felt the present school met the needs of the parishes and did not like the idea of a school for boys and a school for girls. The School in Church Street closed in 1893 and on 11 October the Hackford and Whitwell School opened in Whitwell Road. This school is also referred to as Hackford School, Reepham County Primary School and The Primary School. It is now Reepham Primary School. In 1921 when Wesley Piercy was a new boy the Headmaster was Mr C H Thompson who taught standards 7 and 8 while Miss Ethel Boone taught standards 5 and 6. In all there were 4 teachers for 180 children. There was no electricity, no school uniforms, the toilets were outside and boys were caned, but only occasionally. A new Secondary Modern School was built and opened in 1961 with 200 pupils. The first Head Teacher was Edward Riddell Smith. A sixth form college was opened in 2009 and the school is now known as Reepham High School and College. It is a specialist Science, Applied Learning and Mathematics & Computing Centre with around 1050 pupils. Mark Farrer is the current principal. References: Tony Ivins’ research in the 1970’s based on records held by Reepham Parish Council including Hackford Parish Council Minutes Books 1894-1920 and 1921-1935, an Indenture dated 1781, correspondence, letters and WEA course work study sheets. Wesley Piercy: My Town Page 16, School in Reepham in the 1920’s. Harry Hawes’ Walk Page 5. The Norfolk Heritage Explorer. Photographs, Magazine and information held in Box 10, Shelf 2 in the Reepham Archive. Original Documents held in Ring Binder 6. Last updated July 2016 Prepared by: AM. � Text - printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Education: Volunteers' Notes Description An account of the resource Notes on items concerning education, schools and schooling in Reepham, Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Last updated July 2016 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1607231101 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Archive Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 A4 typed sheets Schools [File 16, Archive Box 116] Cooper education Goose Hawes Mill Hill Academy Piercy https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/c64b9ad5aa95fc0f11d75d5c94c7298e.pdf cddd04817c28b97efeba360dc276ebb5 PDF Text Text ROBERT PARKER GOOCH Robert Parker Gooch, Farmer and Veterinary Surgeon and later publican. Robert Parker Gooch married Jane Heslop, they lived in a public house in the Randalls Yard area – Ollands Road. 1871 Census pub called The Horseshoes 1881 Census known as The Shoes. Robert and Jane had three daughters. The eldest married Mark Eglington, their second son Sidney (Togo) Eglington was brought up by the Gooch’s after his mother died. The eldest son was brought up by his paternal grandparents. The youngest daughter Catherine Richardson Gooch married Arnold George Beaver. Robert Parker Gooch bought the property at 5 Hackford Road (now Norwich Road) and gave it to Arnold and Catherine Beaver. GB/REE/1610011203 � Text - printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brief history of Robert Parker Gooch Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 2015 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1871 Reepham, Hackford Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1610011203 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Archive Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1p A4 typescript Families & Businesses [File 6, Archive Box 106] Beaver Eglington Gooch Heslop Randells https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/195ff54f090d988bf4a45d53a3f788d4.pdf a1f83b95b5b38fc22e7025feeed2d564 PDF Text Text Reepham Archive Exhibition 2014 WWI Display Boards GB/REE/2203281600 �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham Archive Exhibitions Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WWI Exhibition 2014 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2203281600 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 8 pale blue boards 84 x 69 cms plus a set of A4 copies Extra large black storage box marked:- Reepham Archive Exhibition 2014 WWI. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914-1918 WWI Description An account of the resource Exhibition collated by C. Peakome for the Reepham Archive commemorating the start of the First World War. All the material came from the records held by the Bircham Centre and the Reepham Society. Most of these are independently recorded on the Reepham Archive website in the WWI Collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Archive 2014 exhibition WWI https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/2956b233af03a15654b3b34c684092da.pdf 74ff5db0e66ab7eff88ce89f88fa0237 PDF Text Text Pop Up Museum July 2015 ����� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reepham Archive Exhibitions Photograph-digital Any photograph for which there is no previously existing hard copy in the Archive. The photograph can be stored on CD, DVD, memory card, USB stick, on hard drive or 'cloud'. It may have been sent electronically to the Archive or it may be a photograph owned by someone else which we have scanned or photographed. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pop Up Museum 2015 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2310131400 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Labelled box containing display items & explanatory texts. Description An account of the resource "Making, Selling & Servng in Reepham - Images from our Past" Reepham Archive, Reepham Society & Gressenhall Museum combined to present an exhibition in the Bircham Centre on Sat. 18th July 2015. The exhibition included, as well as a display of photographs & documents, a large number of objects which were originally kept in the Memorabilia Room of Reepham Archive, a selection of saddlers & harness makers tools and a collection of items found in Motts Pharmacy when it was based in what is now the Norfolk Farm Shop/Delicatessen. Also presented were copies of advertisements from a Reepham Guide, probably dating from the 1920s, showing the wide variety of shops & traders in the town. Photographs of the exhibition were taken by John Tym & a few are shown here. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 18 July 2015 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Archive 2015 exhibition https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/5a6c5d124bcffb6b12fbc2484e334d7a.jpg 20406075a27d5a52ec37a2344dcf8320 Photograph-printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Evening Description An account of the resource Canon Gordon and Mrs Pat Dodson in fancy dress for the Victorian Evening in Reepham in 1991. This was a charity event held to raise funds for the RAYS Hall. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 6 December 1991 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1701120935 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Photographic Club Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Events/1991 {File 5, Archive Box 105] Families & Businesses/D/Dodson [File 6] Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bircham Centre Archive Originally received as a framed photograph Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1991 Reepham 1991 Dodson RAYS Hall Victorian Evening https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/119ef6b4ce18e92eafd3ee4490e69b16.jpg 702cd22f74512b99d1bf879fb6fadfb7 Artefact-physical Physical objects other than texts, photographs, maps etc. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1607051617 Title A name given to the resource Reepham Primary School visit to the Reepham Archive Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Primary School Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Red folder containing thank you letters and photographs Schools [File 16, Archive Box 116] Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Archive Description An account of the resource Reepham Primary School Year 4 visit to the Bircham Centre to support their WW1 Project. Thank you letters from the children and staff. This was the first 'Open Day' for the newly opened Reepham Archive. 2014 Reepham Primary School Text - printed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/1602211712 Title A name given to the resource Whitwell Common, Broadland Green Award 1992 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reepham Society Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1992 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Foolscap 15 pp Reepham Society [File 15, Archive Box 115] Local Villages/Whitwell [File 12 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1991-1992 Whitwell Common Description An account of the resource In 1992 the Reepham Society nominated Whitwell Common for Broadland's Green Award. Whitwell Common did not receive the award.<br /><br /><em>The notes are held for the background information they contain:-</em><br /><em> nomination forms and reports on Whitwell Common Volunteers' Group 1992, report on Management Work to February 1991, draft fact sheet based on Tony Ivins' knowledge of the history of Whitwell Common.<br /><br />The only copy of the correspondence is held in the RS Archive Box 115</em> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society RS Database 109 1991 Whitwell Common