5 20 1026 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/e4bb8877c12edc5dabc0e5feeb03cee9.pdf 7818da0cdb1a4b217162ebe42ca9cab2 PDF Text Text Reepham Junior Band GB/REE/2502111400 � 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 - 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 Junior Band Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2502111400 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 newspaper cuttings Groups/Reepham Band [File 7, Archive box 107] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1995 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1944 Description An account of the resource Down Memory Lane article from the Eastern Daily Press A photograph of the Junior Band playing in 1944 at the Theatre Royal, Norwich, sent in by Ken Adcock. The second cutting is a letter from Pam Kemp (nee Reeder), also a band member. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource MH 2024 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Eastern Daily Press 1944 Frankland Reeder Ruffles https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/66d0d05806ca9fb24480848a42ac372b.jpg bef03e7a9d09074a0de6d94f46238190 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 First Prize-Giving Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2502111330 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Newspaper cutting Schools [File 16, Archive Box 116] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 1962 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant July 1962 Description An account of the resource Two images of the first prize-giving at the newly-named Reepham High School. The headmaster Mr. E. Riddle Smith giving his address to the pupils & staff. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Journal July 1962 1962 Reepham High School https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/08ff72fc9829b5459ab09370ab613e9c.jpg b8b3e35f2257bfcdd54fd4c1229ce081 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/21089475008af536fae9f92b35a3a02b.jpg 51e4e47810d5dfa70b21ea330bb6d7b9 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 Description An account of the resource Information relating to the use of Hackford House & Reepham Town Hall as a Red Cross/VAD Hospital during WWI plus photographs of troops assembling/parading in Reepham Market Place. Many of these images were used in the Reepham Archive Exhibition in 2014. The display boards are shown in the RA Exhibition Collection. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/WWI Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource [File 21, Box 121] 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 Reepham VAD Hospital Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2502101600 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital WWI [File 21, Archive Box 121] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1916,1917 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1916,1917 Description An account of the resource Annual summaries for Reepham's hospital in WWI, dated 1916 & 1917. They detail the number of beds and names of staff, the numbers of admissions & discharges made and a report on additions made since 1914 when the hospital opened. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bircham Centre Archive Dewing Gibbs hospital Keeley Stelling VAD WWI https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/88ed5dc8f53057580a8b225c8a7bcb5f.jpg 3bfb567b2d3f3fee7c7b9b648a0dd0ff 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 Randell's Lorry Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2502101500 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Families & Businesses [File 6] Description An account of the resource Walter Rudd & his grandson David in Randell's lorry. RL Calendar 2016 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/42e51a7f8e13e549f521565d2fe45002.jpg f94b49de0d0bf061375c24d89fd80104 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 Baxters Butcher Shop Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501311130 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Streets & Buildings/Church Hill [File 17, Box 117] Description An account of the resource Baxters premises occupied what is now known as Magpie House on the corner of Ollands Road. The building had a long association with butchers, e.g. John Abel Rump in the early 20th century and Joseph Burton a butcher registered in the 1861 census. Televisions can be seen in Randell's shop window in the background. https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/fdf1869b4ff148b0319789c800e47403.jpg 46c999ad977f0b9799fded459b448df7 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 Market Place West & South Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2502051500 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Streets & Buildings/Market Place [File 17, Box 117] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970s Description An account of the resource Wide angle view across the Market place showing businesses on the west side i.e. Barclays Bank, Skippers for floor coverings and Atkinson the butcher. Possibly a copy of a newspaper image. https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/4e1bd357f9ff2d3b4ad47867ef035eec.jpg e16cc6920d01eba8d0ab7ac7353edb9a 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 Market Place South Side Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2502051430 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Streets & Buildings/Market Place [File 17, Box 117] Description An account of the resource View across Reepham Market Place showing the buildings on the south side. Bus shelter can be seen in front of the Bircham Centre. Postcard marked RPM23 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/f9b6d6087a234b24cb6068149f1bd48b.pdf cee061fe7a8fd11ec0766b17abb12473 PDF Text Text Reepham Society Magazine Millennium Edition April 2001 �SOLICITORS Hunstanton & Guestwick DIVORCE WILLS LANDLORD AND TENANT (PRiVATE OR BUSfNESS) COMMERCIAL LEASE PROBATE EMPLOYMENT CO-HABITA nON CONVEYANCL'IG PERSONAL INJURY DEBT CIVIL LmGATION Legal Services Commission Franchised Firm So Public Funding may be available FREE HALF HOUR Office Hours Tel. Fax 01485532662 01485534802 After 5.3()pm Tel. 01362 68423 JHlJilll JB3 elJrJnl Residential Care Home, Church Lane, Sparham, Norfolk Tel. 01362 688702 email: ronny.hill barn@virgin .net Hill Barn is an attractive family-run Home for the elderly, offering an informal and homely atmosphere. It stands in attractively landscaped gardens with open views across the countryside. The proprietors have over 20 years experience in elderly care, and with their daughter Nicola Bryant, RG N, Dip MCS and a team of highly dedicated and NVQ trained staff provide 24 hour care tailored to the needs of the ind.ividual. Var ious hobbies are catered for and a wide range of entertainment is tegularly offered. There is also a visiting hairdresser, chiropodist, optician, mobile library and shop. All meals are home-cooked and special diets are catered for. The Home has held a Good Food Hygiene Award from Breckland Council since 1997. All rooms have call bells and TV points. Accommodation is ground float with mainly en-suite facilities. For further information or to arrange to visit the Home please contact the proprietot Mrs. Ronny Hawtrey-Eastwood or the manager Mrs. Bryant at the above address. �Editorial Contents Editorial 3 Why Reepham? 4 Public Access and Right of Way • Tony Ivins on Whitwell 6 9 Hackford through the last Millennium Childhood memories of Reepham A Thousand Years of Salle 13 20 22 Reepham Personalities and Institutions 26 The Reepham Society is established for the public benefit in the area comprising Reepham, Hackford, Whitwell, Kerdiston, Salle and Booton. The aims of the Society are: 1. To stimulate public interest in the area. 2. To promote high standards of planning and architecture in the area 3. To secure the protection, preservation, development and improvement of features of historical or public interest in the area Front cover. )olyon Booth, Chairman of the Parish Council, with the competent help of the local Fire Brigade, erecting the banner advertising Celebration 2000 which marked the turn of the Millennium in january 2000. Typeset by eRB Associates, Reepham Printed by Norwich Colour Print, Drayton We have to mark the Millennium Year in some way. The Reepham Society nearly let it pass but, seizing on the fact that arguments hav.e been made for both 2000 and 2001 as the definitive Millennium Year, we have jllSt about squeaked in with a Millennium Edition of the Magazine. Not before time, did I hear someone say? Well, it is true that the last magazine went to print in ... well, quite a time ago . As a result we d o have quite a lot of material to draw on. To mark the Millennium, we want to look back at the history of Reepham and our group of parishes. We have included articles on the history o f Reepham, Whitwell and Hackford because that is what this magaZine has always focused on but we also thought it appropriate to celebrate some of the weU-known people who have contributed so much to the work of the Society and to the community. We had intended to bring out new publications and hold a History Exhibition to mark the Millennium in 2000 but the renovations carried out on St. Michael's and SI. Mary's churches made that impractical. Doesn't the tower of St. Michael's loo k splend id after its renovation? The work on St. Mary's is m ostly internal so do go inside and take a look. There is male to come. However, we have d ecided to bestride the two Millennium years by publishing this magazine and another book, Poems froml<eeplw/II and by holdin g the History Exhibition in May 2001. A preview for Reepham Society members will be held on May 10th, and the exhibition will be open to the public on May 11th, 12th and 13th. You may even have bought your copy of this magaZine there. If you have not heard of I'oems from Reep/ulIlI, let me tell you that this is a charming collection of poems entered by local people for the Reepham Literature Festival in 1999. They were too good not to have a larger readership than the six judges of the competition so the Reepham Society has published them - with an ISBN number so that a copy will be retained in the British Library and Reepham will have made one more permanent mark on British history! 'Poems' is on sale in Very Nice Things and Echo Antiques. The Reepham Society is not, however, solely concerned with the past . We are a member of the Norfolk Society (CPRE), we have links with other Amenity Societies in the county and we are also consulted on planning for our area. This is a time of great and rapid change so we must look forward as well as back. Within the limits of our constitution we in the Society are concerned with preserving, protecling, improving and developing features of historical and public interest in our area. We have already embarked on the promotion of environmental awareness in relation to safe and effective waste disposal. These issues affect al! of us at a time when we can no longer go on ignoring our individual res ponsibility for keeping our increaSingly crowded planet a safe place in which to live and bring up children. What better time to look forward constructively than during the first year of a new millennium. Oh, in case you were wondering what Reepham did to mark the Millennium, we should remind you that Ce/e/)mtiol1 2000 was held in SI. Mary's in January 2000. This was a rea lly effective event in which over 200 children and a smaller number of grow-ups joined together to look back at the last 2000 years - not to mention parents and others fro m the town who formed their audience on three occasions. This was a very moving even t and drew people together in a very appropriate way. 3 �Why Reepham? Wesley Piercy One of the older and better known Reephoffl residents is Wesley Piercy. Now in his eighties, he has lived 01/ his life in Reephom and has always taken an intense interest in the history of the town. He completed the local history course run here by Chris suggest, would have been called Reepham. The AngloSaxon ' ham' ending is generally thought to be ea rlier than 'ton' and Olhe r suffixes. The question then arises as to where the original settlement was likely to have been. This, I suggest, was somewhere in the vidnity of the market-place and churches. If we try to put ourselves In the minds of a party of immigrant farmers looking for a place to settle, this area seems to be the one they would be most likely to pick for the fo lJowing reasons: Barringer in the 1970s and, later, went on to receive on Open University degree. Whilst completing his history course he wrote 1. this specu/alion on the origins of Reepham. Why does Reephom stand where it does? Why is il so different from the surrounding parishes? Perhaps most puzzling of all, why did its churchyard contain three churches, now reduced by fire to two. Read on if Z. you wont to know some very believable theories of the origins of this fown. ' Ree pham is a small market town which extends into four parishes'. So says the White's Norfolk Directory of 1845. Why these four parishes, Reepham St. Mary, Kerdiston, Hackford and Whitwell, should collectively be known as Reepham whe n Reepham St. Mary is the smallest and least important is a puzzle. People are puzzled, too, by the fact that three of these parishes had churches in the sa me churc hyard, which is said to be unique. This paper is an attempt to give l>ossible answers to some of these questions. If one looks at the district, either on a map or on the ground, the four parishes, with the addition of Salle, form a compact whole with bounda ries followi ng streams for most of the way. Salle has to be included as the boundary with Reepham is so complicated that it seems that they m ust originally have been one. It seems possible that these parishes formed one large pre-Conquest estate . This, I 3. It is high e nough and far enough from the River Eyn (Booton Beck) to be in no danger of flooding and yet is not so exposed to the wind as other parts of the parish. Wit h an underground stream running through, it is easy to sink wells to give an adequate water supply, wells being the only water supply until very recently. The soil in this area is a good medium loam , easily worked and well drained, with a sandy sub-soil under much of it, whereas much of the outer area is sliff clay. A good deal of this land was gTazing land and was not ploughed until very recent times. It can on ly be surmised where these early settlers came from . !-l ad they come directly from the continent or from a previously settled part of Norfolk? If the former is correct, it is possible that they landed at Caister·by-Yarmouth and fo llowed the Roman road that led inland from Caister and crossed the Eyn at some point in the Reepham area before contin uing on towa rds Bawdeswell. If this was so, they would have passed through many miles of hea th and woodland with very poor soil. The sam e applies if they came from the Norwich direction where much of the ground between Norwich a nd Reepham grew nothing but bracken unti l a few years ago. For people approaching from either of these directions, the fertile valley of the River Eyn would have appeared very allractive. If, as we suppose, neepham was an early Anglo-Saxon settlement, the original inhabitants would have bee n pagans. Though no pagan cemete ry has been found, it seems possible that the present churches stand on what was origi nally a sit e of pagan worship. 1 This we can only surmise but the si te does appear to be very old if the heigh t of the churchyard, several fee t above the roadway, is anything to go by. It is a fact that when sewer pipes were laid in Church Street a great many human bones, apparently very old and crumbling, were dug up. This seems to indicate that the original churchyard was much larger than now and that the churchyard was originally on the level of the street. If this is so, it may be supposed that the early burial ground must have been associated with a church. TIlat would mean that there was a church on the site at a very early period, any remains of which would be many feet below the present churches. Who knows what might be fou nd if they could be excavated. The fl oor levels of the existing churches, being only a little below the level of t he ChurChyard, seem to indicate that the churchyard was a considerable height above the street level even in the very fourteenth century. These must be indicators of a ncient site. 2 ,I ReproduC/ion drawing of All Sainls Church, Hackford mode in '784 before mosl of the ruins were pulled down. All thot now remains is 0 fragment of one wall. 4 2 WIth the development of metal dNectors and increasing interest In historical research, further evIdence is slowly emerging of early settle. men ts In and around the Rcepham area. [Ed.l It;5 ;n tcrc~tlng 10 nott also that lmtead of stepping up into the chancel of St. Mary's there Is a Step down 10 a lower level. Was thiS the original slit of a church? �This was the opinion of the late Rev. H.G.B. Follard, Rector of Bawdeswell and Foxley, who had studied Norfolk churches for man y years. A si milar situation was discovered at Bawdeswell during the building of the present churc h there. The previous church was destroyed during the last war when an aeroplane crashed onto il. Under the fo undations of the old church were found the base of a Norma n tower of flint and the foundations of the body of the churc h which was apparently built of timber or wattle and daub. There would have been plenty of limber available which, being less durable than flint, may explain why so few Saxon churches remain in Norfolk. The first church in Reephllln, then, was probabl y also of limber and not replaced until, perhaps, the thirteenth century. This does not, however, explain why there came to be three medieval churches in one churChyard. If, as was suggested above, Reepham was a large Anglo-Saxon estat e consisting of the four parishes of present-day Reepham and Salle, and the original settlement was in the present church and market area, it is possible that the other parishes were off-shoots of Reepham. This may explai n why four or fIVe parishes are still collectively known as Reepham. Reepham Itself was known as Reepham SI. Mary with Kerdiston. If these names came into general use for the separate manors, as in similar cases elsewhere in the county, it would be si mpler to explain why they arc still, and apparently always have been, called Reepham. Salle, of course, is not called Reepham. If, as suggested , it was part of an original large estate, it may have become a separate parish with its own church at an early dat e. Hackford and Whitwell, which could have become Reepham All Saints and Reepham St. Michael's, but did not, evidently take their names from topographical features. In the case of Hackford (the fo rd at the bend), it must be from the ford in Hackford Vale where the bridge now is. This is also the only ford in Hackford. It may see m logical to suppose, then, that this was the o riginal settleme nt in Hackford. There is anothe r small hamlet in I-Iackford which is known as Pettywell, another name from a physical feature. This is probably a later dat e than Hackford, otherwise this could have been the name for the parish. 3 However, I-I ackford extends into the town itself and includes the whole of the Market Place which must have been part of the original sett lement of Reepham. There do seem to be some good grou nds for assuming that these settlements were ex tensions of Reepham by people seeking new land as the population grew. " For Whitwell, the details are rather similar to Hackford. It joins Reepham and Hackford near the churches. The parish boundaries have been arranged so that they m ~t at a point in the churchyard with each church standing in its own parish. The former Duke of York public house is said to stand in all three parishes. Bar 1...1ne, the former GraciOllS S~reet , leads from the church into Whitwell parish. Whitwell Street could be the origina l Whitwell settlement but a more likely spot seems to be ncar Whitwell Hall where excavations have revealed traces of an ancient settlement. TIlere is anothe r group of houses o n Whitwell Common and the White House, though now showing a Georgia n fa\ade, has been identified as on the site of an older manor house. Another small settlement on the outskirts of the parish, Jordan's Green, was probably fairly late as it has grown up on very stiff clay. Kerdiston appears to have had two centres, o ne connected with the 'Giant's Moat' near the Old Hall and one with Kerdiston House, a farmhouse now demolished at View m:ross the moot into the Kerdiston mooted site known locolly as the Gionl's M oot. The moot itself is now surrounded by trees, b(Jt the remains of on old well can be seen inside the moot. the other end of the parish. The population was, apparently, never very large and there was never a public house or shop, though there was a blacksmith within the last fifty years and, form erly, a brick and tile works. Much of the parish, il seems was wooded llntil fairly late. Th e last remnant of ancient forest , the 26 acres of Haw Wood, was only cleared and ploughed aft er the Second World Wa r. Much of Kerdiston is also heavy clay and a good proportion of the present arable was grazing ground until the 1940s. The question remains, why th ree chu rches? And stranger, why are they all in the same churchyard? The old story of three warring sisters is nothing but a legend though it may contain a grain of truth. It is natmal, when the original manor split , that each lord should wish to have a church on his manor or estate. Unless some pre-Conquest documentary evidence turns up we shall never know the truth. If, as seems likely, there was already a church on what may have been an ancient sacred Site, what can be more likely than that all the daughte r settlement's should wish to worship on the same site as tbeir forefathers, and be buried there, leaving us with the puzzle of our three churches. 1 Apparently the origi nal name was Peller's \'Jell which seems to include a mime, ~rhaps o f the oWner. \'Je should nOI forget, howe\"Cf. Ihal Iho:!rc b also ~ suggesllon Ihal Reepham Moor was the site of Ihe ori ginal SClllemenl which cou ld offer another explanalton fOI the den-Iopmenl of the lown. 5 �Public Access and Right of Way Kate Nightingale Reephom has many footpaths and lakes in the centre of the fawn which are public rights of way. There ore also many other footpaths and green lanes around the town which have been there, as they say, 'for time out of mind'. Having a public right of way on your doorstep makes you wonder what the phrase, 'right of way: actuolly means. It also gives you some insight into why some landowners should be so keen to (elis! the use of rights o( way by the general public! After all, the general public does include some people you might prefer not to walk over, through or along the side of your property for a number of reasons. Having started this article, I was goil19 to wait unti{ the new Access to the Countryside Bill hod passed through Parliament but, having waited some months, I decided thaI we could not afford to hold back a new edition of the Reepham Society Magazine any longer. As a result I must remind readers that some legal details on access and rights of way may have changed by the time they read this article. What is a right of way? It is one of those phrases which people use free ly wit hou t really understa nding what it means. When rights of way were first gra nt ed, they were granted by owners of land to others In their own local com munit y who wished to cross their land, perhaps to access their own land or to work in the fields. They knew the people who would use this access, personally. and both the community and the landowner, however large or small their holdings, respected each others' rights. Respecting others' rights was taken for granted in a small community where everyone knew everyone else. After all, Jiving in community depends on mutual give and take. [n our modern world, as communities grow in size, we do not all know each other. Different groups have different va lues and aspirations. It is much easier to infringe ot her's rights and liberties if you do not know them or have some lack of respect for those who belong to different SOCia l groups or are in a different age group from yourself, even if you do not mean to do so. There is also a tendency, in these days of consumerism, to put more emphasis on righ t's and rather less on those responsibili ties which are the other face of rights. One reason that there has always been such contention over access and right of way over open land is due to the fact that the public right of 'way' across land and the rights of those who own the land on and around a road or path are not the same. You can only expect your right of way to be respected if you act responsibly in respecting the rights of the owner or owners of land and property around the road. Some people will know of the celebrated case in the 19305 when the Manchester Ramblers made a mass trespass onto the grouse moors of the Duke of Devonshire in Derbyshire. Seventy years later, a IIIO(/IIS vivel1di has been worked out between those wishing for access to beautiful areas of countryside and large landowners. Not least was the initiative of the National Trust in buying up large areas of land to allow public access. However, we should remember that it is the preservation of moors and coverts for game by landowners which has preserved much of the countrySide now 6 available for access by the public. It seems only fair, in the circumstances, to respect the landowners' right s to dose areas when needed to prevent disturbance to game or stock. It is this care and seclusion which keeps the land undisturbed for other wildli fe and, we have to admit, not all members of the public exercise t heir responsibilities effectively. At the other end of the sC;lle we could consider those rights of way in a small market town such as Reepham. Those who live on lokes and narrow paths and roads are all 1'00 aware of how inlrusive the passage of others ca n be. People passing late at night, despite the lack of street lighting, chat loudly under bedroom windows. (You wou ld be amazed at what can be overheard!) We wiJI not embarrass them by recounting some of the late-night activities or describing the debris left behind. During the day people look over fe nces inlo gardens; a young man stops to smoke an illicit cigarette whose smoke drifts into garden or silting room, passing dogs make resident dogs bark or leave less pl easa nt evidence of their passing! Others sometimes park blocking the road, usually when a resident is lale fo r an appointment or when there are several cars behind as you want to drive in. In this context it is also appropriate to mention the new European legislation on Human Rights which states that a person has the right to 'peaceful enjoyment of his personal property'. That would also include noise bein g created outside someone's property on any right of way, including a metalled road. This can include thoughtless noise and lill er created by children who often have no idea of how disruptive to others their play can be. All of this makes you have some sympathy with farme rs and landowners who discourage walkers from using rights of way on their land, especially when a path goes righ t across a growing crop. Is it too much of a disadvantage to walk round the edge of the field? It is far more difficult for the farmer to keep that path clear when he is sowing the crop. He did not cover the path wit h malice aforethought and the law makes allowances for this as the farme r does have a duty to indicate and clear the cOllfse of a right of way, even if it does go across the midd le of a field. I, for one, can never understand why anyone wan ts to walk across the middle of a field with a standing crop just because there is an old right of way there. Why wiJfulJy damage a crop? And if you are looking for interesting wildlife it is going to be in the hedge, not in the middle of the field. Another aspect of this Issue is that of 'common rights'. Until very recently, land always belonged to somebody, ultimately, of course, to the Crown. In feudal times anyone who owned land held it of someone else. Although the feudal system and its associated communal agriculture was replaced by money rents fo r tenancies and personal ownership of farms and land, the question of common land and rights of access has taken much longer to resolve. In the manorial system common rights did not mean that common land was open to all and sundry. A common belonged to the 'commoners', a group of specific· ally designated people who held specific rights, in common, to a piece of ground. Those rights of access were for prescribed purposes which may originally have been to graze beasts, gather kindling, dig turves and so on. The ' fen tigers' were particularly notoriOUS for their riotous defence of their common rights when Charles I enclosed and sold off tracts of the Fens to ou tside landlords. This led to drainage and loss of their common rights on that fenland. �Commons were the last flicker of the age-old style of communal farming and were retained for the very purpose of ensuring that villagers did retain a place to graze their beasts and to gather wood for their fues. In this area they com prised the heath land and marshy land along the streams. Much common land has, of course, been sold off or enclosed. By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries some common land became 'poor allotments', which were used either directly or indirectly to provide for the poor, and other commons have been opened to public access by a variety of means. During the last two hundred years the concept of a common has changed and commons have been defined under a series of parliamentary acts. The Commons Registration Act 1965 defined a common as follows: over our countryside. The Countryside Access Charter defines both rights and responsibilities in relation to rights of wily: Countryside Accen Charter I. a] footpilths - on foo t only bl bridleways - on foot, horseback and pedill cycle cl bY'vays - on publiC roads deSignated as bY'vays (sec also below). NB. Public rights of way are marked as such all Ord nance Su rvey maps. Public rights of way have been closed in the past around reservoirs or if land was sold to the Forestry Com mission though many of these paths are now being opened up again. Land which has been allotted under any Act for the exercise or recreation of inhabitants of any locality or on which the inhabitants ... have a customary right to indulge in lawful sports or pastimes ... or have indulged for not less than twenty years. 5 Th is demonstrates very clearly how attitudes to and ideas about common land have changed si nce enclosure of commons and th e demise of communal far ming practices. The only registered common in the Reepham area Is Whil'well Low Com mon though there are other remnants of former common land indicated o n old maps. Since 1981 l>ublic Rights of Way in the County o f Norfolk, as elsewhere, have been defined under the Wi ldlife and Count ryside Act 1981. Any changes had to be obtained under a Modification Order from the surveying au thority, the County Council. This involved taking evidence that included a description of the path or road and local statements of the traditional use of the right of way before the Modification Order could be confirmed, published and marked on the map. Local authorities have a duty to protect rights of way and must record them. They also hold a register of commons and village greens. II is to them that you should report any problems. In the 1990s, 'green' elements in the population have been much more insistent on the rights of access to the countryside for all. At time of writing (March 2001) the new Ad conflTming unlimited access rights to specified areas of open land is to become law. My own feeling is that there is already conSiderable access to open country and to extend this will mean disturbing land which not only needs to be undisturbed for farming but to protect the way of life of the anima ls and plants which live there. One aspect of unlimited access that is only now becoming clear is that farmers and landowners will have the right to close areas temporarily if necessary and that areas with unlimited access will be mapped. The Act will not be effective until the maps arc complete and this coul d take one or two years However, in 1992, the Countryside Commission published the Countryside Access Charier which defined rights of way but also gave information on the responsibilities of those making use of rights of way over land belonging to others. This is particularly relevant fo r town dwellers (and some country dwellers) who may have limited undcrstilnding of the disturb,lIlccs, not only to farmland and farm anima ls but to wildlife, from the irresponsible exercise of any rights to roam uncontrolled 5 I am Indebted 10 sara Blnln for tht' inform~tjon on commons in 'The Impact of commons registration: a No.folt study', 'lamhcape Ilistory' and 'Common land, poor relJef and enclosure'. Pus/ & PIrM"/, No.16S. November 1999. You have a right of wily 011: On a Right of Way you are allowed to: 2. 3. a] take a pram or pushchair or wheelchair (if practicable) b] take a dog on a lead or under close control (this means within ten feet of you) cl circumvent or remove an obstacle suffiCiently to allow you to pass. You have a right for recreation on: al public parks and open spaces - on foot! bj most com mons near older towns and cities - a ll foot, sometimes on horseback c] private land if the owner has a formal agreement with the local authority. Some areas are open to the public by custom or consent. a] open mou ntain, fell or moorland and coasiline. (Much of this belongs to the National Trust whose aim was to open the countryside for general recreational and aesthetic use, especially to town dwellers.) bJ most commons c] some woods and forests (This includes those owned by the Forestry Commission.) dl count ry parks and picnic sites e] most beaches f] towpaths on canals and rivers. III ad(iitiQfI; • • Land being rested from agricultural use may be temporarily open to public access - notices will display the fact. This may include use by horses and pedal cycles. Some private tracks and paths may be opened to the public by the owner on a concessionary basis. This means you can use the footpath as normal but that the owner is reserving his rights to close th e footpath, usually in response to some abuse by users. We have to remember that it is those who live and who have lived in and used the countryside who maintain it. It is they who have made the English landscape the beautiful place it is. This is not a natural, tota lly unspoiled environment. It is because it has been managed and developed over centuries by farmers and other landowners, great and small, that the cou ntryside is as we sec it today. If it is made uneconomic for them to continue their way of life, the land will lapse back, not to its previous state, but to overgrown scrub. Without our protection and sympathetlc usc of our rights of access to our fragile countryside it will be 7 �irrevocably damaged. This is a particular risk at a time such as this when farming is depressed and there is li ttle money to spa re for conservat ion, even as more and mOIC people come into the cou ntryside. You shoul d always remember that the OS map that you are using could be out of da te. Surveys are only done at len&'1hy intervals and reprints have, in the past, been based on surveys which could have been carried out some time previously. In this age of IT the whole process is being speeded up and the natlonal map is available on-line. This allows the sale of up-ta-date maps through authorised agen ts. These maps can be centred on your own home or other specified site and you obviously have to pay the agent to cover the copyright fee. Needless to say, Norfolk has been one of the last areas to be computerised in this way. Further information about rights of way and countryside access can be obtained from: Countryside Commission Posta! Sales PO Box 124 Walgrave, Northampton, NN6 9Tl For a Rights of Way Action Pack (CCP 375P) please contact: Countryside Commission Publications Printworks Lane Levenshulme. Manchester M19 3lP The Country Code In relurn for your right to enter or cross someone else's land you have responsibilities that the Countryside Comm ission has enshrined in the Country Code: 1. Apart from main roads, motor vehicles are only allowed on byways and roads used as public paths (RUPP), which were indicated on the OS map. RUPPs are, however, in the process of being re-categorised as bridleways. 2. Respect the work and life of those whose living is earned from the land. 3. Close all gates and do not damage locks and catches on them . 4. Guard against all risk of fire. This is a very real risk as global warming results in hotter summers with tinder dry grass and undergrowth - even quite early in the year. 5. Keep dogs under control, especially in lambing time . In sheep farming areas the farmers can shoot a dog seen in the field and off the lead, however well behaved or just having fun. And there may be young birds and animals or pheasant poults in the undergrowth in any part of the country. Untrained dogs can do much damage quite unintentionally. 6. Do keep to the public paths, especially in farmland . Not all paths are open to the public. You can check this on the OS map. 7. Always use stiles and gates to cross fences, walls and hedges. 8. Never interfere with crops, farm machinery or livestock. Protect wildlife - plants, animals and birds. 9. Keep water clean. 10. Take your litter home with you. 11. Take care on country roads. The road may be empty but there is no pavement, the road is narrow and what is round the next bend? 12. Make no unnecessary noise! 8 �Tony Ivins on Whitwell Part 1 Tony Ivins was a founder member, and remains the President of the Reephom Society for his life-time. This article is based on a recorded talk on the history of the parish of Whitwell, where he lived for many yeors. Unfortunately, the beginning of the transcript had some damoge bur I think we hove recovered most of it. The talk began by acknowledging a debt to two wellknown local historians, Chris Barringer and David Yoxley, both of whom hove, in the past, carried out a great deal of research in the area. At least two lopes of the original presentation are held in the Reephom SOCiety Archives. Anyone who wishes to lislen to or copy the tape should contoct the Chairman or Secretary of the Society. A good place to begin the history of this parish is to consider its name. Whitwell is said to me'ln 'ctear spri ng'. There are a number of live springs in Whitwell. In partiClIlar, there is a good clear spring ncar the sout hern boundary of the park of Whitwell Hall. This was embanked in 1842 to provide the water supply for the Hall itself. It has never failed and, coming from deep underground, it maintains a consta nt tempera ture for its population of frogs, toads and small fishes. POSSibly, that old Roman Road, after the Roman's went horne, was an access route for variOlls Saxon groups who ca me looking for land to settle in. That really brings us to the earliest Whitwel.t village records. In the north-eastern corner of Whitwell Hall there arc the remains of an old village. We knew t hrough o ral tradition tha t there was a village there but it was not until the early 19 70s that an archaeologist came along called Helen Supcrmeisl'er. Sadly, she is no longer with li S but she spent that summ er, wi th a group of friends, excavating there. They found the footings of medieval brick walls, quite a number of the m. Underneath those she found staining in the soi l that could indicate a possible Saxon settlemen t. The last mention of that village Ihat we know of is on Fayden's 1797 map of Norfolk and on the site of this Village he has marked 'Whitwell demolished'. And we think that the last few, possibly empty, cottages were pulled down so that the owner of WhitweU at that time could enlarge hi s park. At the southern end of the hall grounds, getting towards the south-eastern corner, there's a sit'e which we think may have been the first Whitwell Hall, probably an old timberbuHt Saxon Hall. There is a little clearing, still clear, strangely enough, surrounded by what our man called 'bottomless ditches', in other words very soft muddy ditches. An arc haeologist friend who came to look at the site some ye.lrs ago thought these ditches indicated a moat, possibly a drainage moat around the old halt. Of course, it would have had the advantage of bei ng quite close to the Whitwell Hall when it was opened before the last war as the Forest School. • The earliest history of the parish can be traced back to Roman times with the presence of the Roman Road which TUns from Biltingford and Bawdeswelt, through Booton and on to CaiSl'or-by-Yarmouth. The actual route of the road is not clear across Whitwell but in Whitwell Hall grounds it can be seen as a sort of sma ll curved emban kment. It goes on through Jorda n's Green to Bawdeswell along Common Lane. 6 6 One Indication of The sHe of a Roman load is The use of the telm 'Street' In a vU1age name. We Should remember th is when comidering the rOUle o f the lOad through Whi twell even though th e OS map marks it differe ntly and the word 'Street' Is common in Norfolk vmagts with no e'l1dencc of Roman presence. springs I mentioned earlier on so it would have had a good water supply. Getting away from Whitwell Hall and back to the parish, there is a seventeenth century map, of which I have a copy, which shows the Whitwell Field with its cultivated strips. That Whitwell field lay between the present Whitwell Street and what is now called Whi twell Road, wilh Mill Road in the middle. That made quite a big cu ltivated fic ld, one of the common fields of the Whitwell village. This map seems to be a copy of an earlier map, copied later to show which of the strips paid tithes to which of the three chu rches in Iteepham because the various strips arc ma rked 'W', 'R' or 'H'. 9 �• • This map of 'Whitwell Field' was probably used in the eighteenth century to establish to which church tithes should be paid. It is almost certainly copied fram on earlier mop as it still shows all three churches. The railway line now cuts across the west end of the field. The buildings of Leeds Farm are dilapidated today but they occupy the site of the Leeds Tannery. In the field behind here il is possible to see the remains of at least one of the tannery pits. The other piece of common ground in the vi llage is still there. Whitwell Low Common, some 40 acres of rather wet common has no ownership as far as the Commons Commissioners know . Their feeling is that it was a piece of manorial waste but, among the early Enclosure Awards, is an early nineteenth century one that says that this bit of ground should be set aside for the poor of Whitwell to gather fuel and, possibly, to dig peat as well. Such rights are . known as the rights of tl.lrbMY. One little bit of medieval history that is quite interesting is that there has been a long tradition of a chapel of St. Nicolas in Whitwell. We think this may have been si ted on the Whitwell Hall groundS, just south of what we call the New Wood because there is an acre of ground there which, until 1880, belonged to the Dean and Chapter of 10 Norwich Cathedral. This migh t possibly indica te that this was the site of the chapel of St. Nicolas. However, there have been no excavations there but we should note the site as a possible site of interest for the future. There was also, near the vi1lage, an old water mill that worked from the little stream that rises near Themelthorpe and runs through the Hall Farm grounds and then through Whitwell Hall groundS, eventually running into the Blackwater River and, thence, to the Wensum. Th is mill possibly ground the corn for the old Whitwell village. After the Village became derelict, the mill itself was probably abandoned but was rebuilt in the 1830s to break up the tan bark for the Whitwell tannery, of which [ will say a bit more later and it did that sort of work until the 18705 when it was replaced by a steam engine. �Coming right along now to the njnetcenth century, the principal landowners then were the Leamons of Whitwell Hall . They came to Whitwell in the early nineteenth century and Icft by thc end of that century, three generations of the m. They had a tannery. The Leeds of Wh itwell Green Tannery were tan owners and farm crs, too, whilst the Collyers of Hackford Hall also owned quit e a lot of land in Whitwell. 1 There is a map of 1824 that shows interestl n g road changes in the parish. It shows how the first Robert Leamon, like many another landowner of the time, pushed the road away from the Hall because he felt it ran too near his house so he had it moved about SO yards farther to the no rth. Several other little tracks were cleared out and a riding alley was o pened - that is the little lane and a bit of footpath that runs between Whitwell Street and Mill Lane, crossing Mill Road and through to the Whitwell Road. It is stil l called Riding Alley. Fiddlers Alley runs from the top road above the Hall down to the bottom road through Whitwell. Bar Lane is an interesting road that runs o ut from Back Street in ){eepham as a little foo tpath but until 1816 it was a cart road. A good many years ago now, I was given a bit of a notice board that had been used as a shelf in a cottage when o ne of the corners was cut off. It was a white painted board, and on it in black lettering were words to the affect that this road had been shut up 'By Ordcr' at a certain session. The date was 1816. As it was found in a cottage o n the corner of Bar Lane we are pretty sure it referred to the shutting up of Bar 1...1I1e. Another in tcresting little fact that o ne of my loca l friends told me is that when Bar Lane was open as a cart road it was called Gracio us Street. I cannot tell you any more abou t how it should get that name but that is how it was. Nineteenth century people Some years ago I was able to get a copy of the census returns for Norfolk and I tho ught it might be interesting to look at what Whitwell parish looked like, the people who lived and worked the re, wha t sort of work they did and how many of them there were. And it goes ra ther like this. The biggest group of people was those whom the census ca lled 'agricultural labourers'. Whitwell parish comprises just over 1500 acres so it is about the area of a reasonably sized modern farm. In this parish the Whitwell farmers employed 69 men, 30 boys and four women on 1500 acres. Now, those of you who farm o r have connections with farming will contrast that with what happens today perhaps at the most haIf·a·dozen chaps. There were len farmers. Interestingly, eight me n and two women were farming then. Most of the farms were fairl y small. I will go through them because quite a lot of the names keep going ove r the years and arc still known now. Mark Eglington farmed 270 acres and employed nine men and five boys. Jo hn Biliham - now that's interesting because a number of people will know that at the cnd of Whitwell Street is an area known as Billham's HiJI and that is where he farmed. He o nly farmed 22 acres, but to do that he had three m en and a boy. II Peter Wilkin , his acreage is not recorded. Most villages used to tan th~ hides of their own ocasts In the past so it Is possible that these tannert es are on much older slt ~. Ill' is also named as a ' machine own er' In one census so he probably had a hor:se-drawn thres.hh\g machIne wh Ich would be hIred out to ot h ers. [Ed·l Sarah Barrelt farmed 40 acres and she employed o ne man to help he r. Step hen Leeds I mentio ned earlier on he was one of the prinCipal landowners in Whitwell, farmed 880 acres and employed 30 men and 16 boys. He also had his tan yard, those bui ldings near Whitwell Common, JUSI beyond the White House. That was Leeds Tannery wh ich, inCiden tally, finish ed work aOOut'1903. As a tanner he also employed ten men, three boys, three carpenters and a blacksmith. Thomas Dunger farmed 332 acres up by Jo rdans Green and he had seven men and three boys to do the work of that. Elizabeth Neil farmed 50 acres with 'one man and two sons', whether they were he rs or the man's it doesn't say. Ma ri anne Secker we would really call a sm,lllholder now. She farmed an acre and a quarter. Robert Leamon of Whitwell Hall farmed 340 acres o n whi ch he employed 21 men ancl ten bays. As 1 said earlier, he was also a tanner employing 17 men and five boys. John Bacon farmed 22 acres. I don' t know where he farmcd . If you have added up all those acreages, you will find that it comes to a lot more than the 1500 acres in Whitwell parish. The answer to that is lhat Stephen Leeds, who farmed that 880 acres, had a Jot of land in other parishes. In total there we re 89 farm workers, m en and women . I will not list all those, although, here again, you find names tha t have persisted through to the present. There were th.rce pages of farm workers then we come to the blacksmiths there were two blacksmiths in the parish. John Smith, who was a qualified tradesman, aged 46, and J ohn Rudd . Rudd must have just come out of his apprenticeship because he was aged 16, born in Reepham as a jo urneyman blacksmith. The name of Rudd goes o n in Reepham today. There was one brewer - Mark Brett, a man who combined the job of being a bricklayer and an inn.keeper. That happened quite oft en, I found , especially with the little beer houses. V~ ry often the man followed a trade and his wife looked after the beer house. William Springell kept the pub called the Cock Inn which was in Whitwell Street and is now the house ca lled 'The Old Star'. There was another inn· keeper at the FOldgate on Whitwell Common - Samuel Vile. A high proportion of these villagers were born in Whitwell, Reepham or the surrounding parishes. Hardly anyone comes from very far away. Well, o ne chap came from Cawston - that's a lo ng journey. He was one of the three bricklayers. In a 10 1 of Norfolk Villages there was a brickmaker and bricks were made. I do n't think bricks were ever macle in Whitwell, but I suspect he worked at the Reepham brickyard which is just up where the road turns sharp right by Reepham StaUon. Now carpenters - there were lot of those. It is interesting to rcflect for a minute that in these early records one never finds t hc term 'builder' - they're all of a named trade. If you wanted a job done you didn 't send for a building firm, you sent for the tradesman you wanted to do the job carpen tcr, bricklayer, mason if it was stone work, and so on. As a result, you never find 'builder' listed. As for carpenters, I see there were a lot, about len of lhem living in Whitwell, not necessarily all working there. One of them, Thomas Sawyer - good name for a carpentcr - was also a wheelwright. 11 �Now, cattle dealers and shop-keepers - four of those. Three of them seem to be related - Ihey all named Neil; and then dealers in fish - two of them - William Guymee and Peter Wilkin, both born at Whitwell. This again shows the big variety in trades and tradesmen. There were seven dressmakers, so it seems quite obvious that no one went and got something ready 10 wear - you ca lled in someone to make it fo r you. The seven dress· makers were Jane Ware, Feank lins, Galimee, Roland , Vile, Vane, Secker. There was one washer-woman, Elizabeth Hunt and one char woman, Deborah \Vilsoll. In the parish there were two grooms. They would probably have worked either at the White House on the common or al the hall. Shoema kers - again you see no buying of the ready-made things. Three shoe makers working here - Guymers again and a Rudd . Also a turf maker and fowl dealer. Quite how he made his turf I don't know but I imagine he would be drying the turf for burning, possibly turf gathered on Whitwell Com mon. paupers lived with their grown-up children - their famities. I didn't find one in Whitwell who was living alone. They were all in their seventies. One man was 84. The census gives the professions of some of them. Rebecca Whur, was formerly a stay maker, Thomas Barker a carpenter, the o thers were all agricultural labourers. In t he parish at that lime there were a 106 dwellings occupied and three empty. That includes the two listed as big houses, Whitwell 1·lall and the White House, but they were mostly cottages or very small farm houses. Listed in the census was a total of 477 people includ ing children, 224 males and 253 females. Of that total, 173 were in jobs, leaving 304 not work.ing. TIlat is what the parish looked like in the middle of the nineteenth century. I think that there is one really significant thing. That is how occupations and jobs were very loca l because they are pretty we)) all working in the parish or in the neighbouring parishes of Hackford, Recpham and Kerdiston. As I mentioned earli er, their ancest ry, too, was loca l. Most of them were born in Whitwell and I think Whitwell Low Common is Ihe only pi(!(e of regislered common len in tM modem parish of Reephom. 1/ is no longer used as grazing land 001 is an important area for wild life. Finally, there was one wheelwright and then the house servants - nine of them. That is not very many compared wit h Ihe other parishes. Admi ttedly, Hackford parish is a la i bigger than Whihvell and Reepbam is about the same size. Though there were not many houses in the parish at that time who would keep servants, or keep many of them, there were nine of them living in the parish at the time. The directory shows another interesting fact about what happened when people got 100 old to carryon with their job. The only pensioners you fin d are men who've been in the armed services, and here we had two Chelsea pensioners, Henry Rudd and Jo hn Right . Henry Rudd was aged 73, born at Whitwel l and at the time of the census he was blind. John Right was aged only 45, also born at Whil>vell, and he was a pensioner of the 77th Regimen t of Foot. Then we turn to the lanners, of course, Robert Leamon and Steven Leeds, plus the number of men working for the tanneries. The two tanneri es em ployed between them 27 men and eight boys. There's one woman listed working in the tannery and she was called the 'bark cleaner' - Lydia Wilson, aged 36, and she was born in Reepham. The other group of people listed are the paupers and, in all the cases I've looked at in the census returns, those 12 p ractically none, in this particular census, were born o utside Norfolk. The other place I have mentioned is Whitwell Com mon. We thought Ihal it would be a sensible thing to make it into a local nature reserve because of local interest at the time. This then happened - with a management group made up of a number from the parish council plus myself, as a trustee under the old Pa rish Commissioners who managed the common from the beginning of this centu ry, and representatives from Nature Conservancy and from the County. Two other people, John Barkham, Environmental Scien tist, who advised us on the management of the common and Lyn Garland, who lives in Whitwell and was very enthusiastic about enrOlling groups of vol un leers to do necessary dearing work on the common, made up the numbers. This article comprises about half of the content of Tony Ivins' presentation to a meeting of the Reepham Society. The second half, which considers some different aspects of Whitwell parish, will be printed in a further Reepham Society Magazine which we hope to publish later in the year. �A Brief History of Hackford Parish through the Last Millennium Jennifer Roberts • Jennifer Roberts lives in Pettywell and has been there now for severol years. She is a qualified archaeologist. Though no longer proctising thot diScipline she has a deep interest in local history. She ;s another of our authors who has completed Q local history course under the aegis of Chris Barringer. This article is the result of the research carried out on her course and since. The view from a slightly different standpoint, that of Hackford, gives new details about the history of Reephom and its Sole/lite villages. Hackford-by- Reepham is one of the three parishes sharin g the communa l churchyard in Recpham . The parish includes most of the town of Reepham and land on either side of llle Eyn Brook. It is possible that the bou ndaries of the parish were determined by the heath and com mon on either side but this is by no means certain. It is possible that the name Hackford was derived from Iwca, a hook or Iwecc, a fl ood or sluice gate. 'Ford' is Anglo-Saxon for river crossing. The name then could either mean a 'ford at the bend of th e river', or 'the sluice gate (for catching fish) at the ford'. At the turn of the last millennium, just before the Norma n Conquest the principal lordship of f-/ack(orr/n was held by a freeman called Withe r. It is possible that Reepham was at the centre of a large AnglO-Saxon estat e. After the Norman Conquest it was given to Earl William de Warrcne, just one of the 139 manors he held. Although William de Warrene resided frequently at nearby Castle Acre, at the time of the Domesday survey the manor of Hackford was held by person ca lled Turold. There were few inhabitants, probably only 17 or 18 families lived in the area. The land was farmed , some was put down as meadow but cereals must have bee n grown as the re was a mill. Honey and wax were important products. Beeswax was used for church candles, 9 and it was the tradition for beekeepers to supply their local church. Hackford at that time had fi ve skeps of bees. It had woodland able to support 30 swine. Sheep, rounceys (horses) and cattle were also kept. There was a church supported by II acres of land. It was valued at IS marks. The manor passed through Will iam de Warrene's heirs for the next 200 years. [n 1276/7 a Saturday market il nd ann ual fa ir ch arter W':IS granted to Sir John de Vaux, who owned both the manors of Hackford and Reepham. An unofficial market had existed in the 'cemetery of Reepham' for many years before the Bishop of Non..,ich, in 1240, ordered the Sheriff of Norfolk to ensure that a new market place was found. The market was held on Saturdays, with a fair on the 'eve, day an d morrow' of the feast of 55. Peter and Paul (29th June). The present market-place lies in the parish of Hackford, but it Is not known if this was the site decided on in the thirteenth century. By the following century the de Roos family held land in Hackford, probabl y as tenants of the de Warrenes. A few years later they are mentioned as being t he holders of the knight's fees and paying return s to the Duchy of Lancaster. ,I 'I lIls Inlefrstlng to n(){e that a former name for the Cardinal's Hal In Dad: Streel wa~ Candle COurt. Some of the local inhabitants during medieval limes m ust have been fairly rich for t he church of An Sa ints had a collection of rich vest ments, communion ware and church ornaments, including silver chalices, a portable cross and a holy oil vessel. The vcstments included some made from worsted, fusteyn (fustian) and velvet and silk. Margaret and Ralph Vernon , Hackford landowners, were possibly some of the major benefactors, during the later part of the fourteenth century. During that century several of the Hackford residents stood surety, along with citizens of other parishes, to locals who were in trouble wit h the law. Brice of Hackford stood surety when Agnes Renandgo and her sister Emma were released on bail after being arrested for the m urder of Richard Brightman at Billi ngford. A Richard of Hac kford also stood surety in a m urder case, when Robert of Holden was accused of robbing and killing Henry of Cle rmont. Other fourteenth century crimes include rObbery. One night William Rilla had one quarter-a nd-a-half of barley, worth 5/-, stolen from him. A Roger Willok was charged but acqUitted fo r the offence. Some informa tion about the medieval inhabitants of neepham and Hackford parish can be gleaned from the o ld wills. For instance in 1429 Robert Baxter, a ci tizen of Norwich is mentioned as owning lands in Hackfo rd . Fifty years later Hugh atte Fc nn madc a will leaving 6/8d. towards the upkeep of the church. He also left moncy, to be obtained from the salc of hi s la nds and manors in Hackford to help scholars at C uubridge and Oxford as long as they were not wasters and haunters of alehouses. William Cubit, the Rcctor, in a will dated 1505, gave to the town and the church of Hackford a drinking house wit h two acres of land to have a yearly obituary kept in the church. He also mentioned that the guilds and 'drinkings' of aU the four parishes i.e. Iiackford, Wh itwell, Reepham and Kerdiston be kept there if they desired it. In a will dated a few years later John Godd ying gave 6/8d towards the making of a chapel in thc south p,lrt of the church if one happened to be erccted there. If not, the money was to go to the upkeep of the church. [n 1543 a fire burnt down most of All Saints, the parish church of Hackford, along with its church goods, ornamen ts and jewels. The fire also destroyed most of the tOWIl. The tower a nd parts of the west gable wefe the only parts of the church that survived. Thcy were pulled down in 1790/6. [ t is, however, possible that a part of the gable can be seen in thc tower of St. Michaels. A drawing in 1784 by E.F. Boon shows that the surviving tower had a chequer-board parapct and di,lgonal buttresses. The south wall of the tower had a square sound hole and the porch an elaborate doorway. As a resuit of the fire, Hackford parish lost its independence and was joined with Whitwell. On the 18th April 1544 an agreemen t was made between Robert Coke, owner of the fee simple of the church of Whitwell, Christoph er Lockwode, clerk, parson of Hackford and vicar of Whi twell, and Thomas Bayfield, William Brese, John Biofield parishioners of Hackford, that the chmch and rectory of Hackford was to be consolida ted with Whitwell by William, Bishop of Norwich . According to this indenture all t he parties were in agreement. However, some of the parishioners obviously intended that the church shou ld be rebuilt. One, Anthony Stlgat c, bequeathed 20 marks (1 mark 0:: 13/4d or 66.6p) towards its rebuild ing. Some of the surviving church plate was sold in 1547 for £20, probably to stop the ministers of Edward VI gelling t heir hands on it. Some of the church materials were used to 13 �repair roads in the parish and some were used to build the transept in Whitwell church. During the reign of Elizabeth I each parish had to provide a militia. The parish was involved in a muster in 1577. An in ventory was taken of 'of all Common Armor, Artelery munition and weponne and every p tecular pson shewed' It was found that t he town had 'one Corselet, o ne peke, too Curreors et Dam furnished'(!) Three people were also able to support arms. Vynse Hawude, Thomas Crotche and Roger Hase were able to furnish a few bows and arrows, pikes and helmets between them. The Bishops court had some d ealings with local drunks. Jo hn Twithney and Henry Bagrave were brought before the Bishops representative on a charge of being common drunks . Henry Hagrave who swore and resisted arrest later confessed to being drunk every day of t he week and was o rdered to do penance. Around this time the inhabitants were havi ng problems with a person ca tled Robert Kirk. [t seems he was extracting money from the people as fines and then keeping it for his own use. The parishioners paid him 6/- as payment fo r a fine for not planting hemp. A Thomas Croehe then paid h im 2/6d and then swore on 'h is book' to make a payment of 5/- yearly. Mr Berte, 'Gent,' a lso agreed to pay Kirk 5/a year fo r all yea rs to come. Nathaniel Bacon sct up an enquiry into Kir k's misdeeds bu t the outcome of this appears to be lost. Hackford gai ned some notoriety during the Commonwealth when the parish refused to bi llet a party of troops because the commanding officer referred to the parish as Reepham instead o f Hackford. At the same time the parish was paying £3.3s.1 0d per month towards the upkeep of troops and the furnishi ng of ammun ition for the Royalist cause. As in Elizabeth's time, the inhabitants were expected to attend musters. Hackford men formed a Foot Militia u nder Sir W. Doylys, which mustered at Heydon Ollands on September 24th 166 1 to be inspected. During the seventeenth century, weavers in Hackford, as in many of the local parishes supplied worsted. During 1657 Henry juby a local worsted weaver must have been having a period of prosperity. Surviving records show that he took on several apprentices; Matth ew Bale, Roger Hammo nd and john Humfrey were ind ented for seven years whilst a john Crotc h was indented for eight years. The social make-up of th e parish changed during the next h u ndred years. The worsted weavers gradually d isappeared, a result of cheap products from Yorkshire, and tan ning became important as a 10GI I industry. The tanners were wealthy enough as a group to make wills. There was also an increase in the number of shops and professionals in the p arish . Grocers, bakers, brewers, a su rgeon and an excise officer were all wealthy enough to make wills. The provision of services increased rapidly so by the middle of the next century the inhabita n ts of Reepham and Hackford were weU p rovid ed for. The town of Reepham h ad all th e services that would be expected from a local m arket town. All needs were catered for, ranging from the people supplying the local brewi ng and malting industry with barrels, to those who m ade hats and dresses for the local female population. The town was well served by bakers, butchers, grocers, confectio ners, cabinetmakers, gardeners and drapers. There was even a hairdresser. The parish was also served by a n umber of inn s and taverns, most in the town bu t at least one, the Lamb Beer HOllse, stood in the countryside. Links with Norwich, and thence the o utside world, were maintained by a coach and carrier service. Local people believed it was the purity of the water which led to the excellence of the local ales. Although there were seve ral brewers and maltsters in the parish, the Bircha nts were the major producers, so much so that when they were bought out in 1878 they had fifty associated pubs. In the parish generally though the re was very little industrial a ctivity. Like t he worsted weavers of previous centu ries, tanning also seemed to have disappeared from th e parish, although there were tanneries in the local area . At the beginning of the nineteenth century the poor c hildren of Hackford were reported to have been receiving a sufficient education. They attended a mix of Sunday schoo l, evening school and day school. [n 1837, however, the Legend _ Woodland D Ara ble § New allotment E2d Pasture [9'>9! Orchard ~ Cottage garden (,':,;.=61 Stockyard []]] Un known land use in Hackford 1846 (based on the Tithe Apportionment Mop) . 14 • • �Rev. Holley established a school in the Old Poor 1·louse consisting of a boys' school and a girls' school and a house where the schoolmasters and mistresses could live. By 1844 the rector's d augh ter had bcgun to hold a Sunday school in the school building. Thesc wcre church schools for tbe children of Hackford and Whitwel l. The children of Reepham parish had to wait until 1847 when St. Mary's School was set up. An inspecto r'S report in 1869 said the National School was conducted in a highly satisfactory manner. The Methodists had also set up a schoolroom when they built the chapel in 1817. Mr Good wi n Kilburn had run a day and boarding school in Reepham since 1836, when in 1846 he decided to sell up and emigrate. A Mrs Wool m e r a lso ran a school for girls. The pauper childrcn received an education in the workhouse. The poor Hackford ch ildren at this lime went to Buxton. Their cducation must have been a somewhat patchy o ne for there seems to have been a problem in keeping and finding suitable mistresses. A Poor House had existed in Reepham for the inhabitants of Hackford for many years, but, by the 1840s, the poor of Reepham and Hackford were sent to the Aylsham Union Workhousc, 10 which also included the old Gilbert Union workhouses at Bux ton and Oulton untillhe new workhouse was built in 1849. Hackford parish paid around £100 annually towards the cost of housing its paupers. Some of the older inhabitants were receiving outdoor relief, which allowed them to live in their own homes. This came to around 2/6d per week. There were also several charities, which provided relief by paying out money for emigration and for people who had sudden illnesses and acciden ts. Most of the charity payouts were under the control of Willia m Bircham . REEPHAM To Be Sold By Auct ion By Mr J VERDON Wed 21 Oct 1846 Neat and modern Household Furniture and other effects of M r G Kilburn who is removing to a distant cou ntry. Cata logues had on the premises and of the auctioneer, Great Witch ingham. TO SCHOOL MASTERS The hou se and premises where a profitabl e school has been In April 1846 smallpox made its appearance in Hackford and the workhouse medical officer was asked to vaccinate the inhabitants. They protested. The outbreak continued and by October it had been decided to give extra money so all in the Recpham area could bc vacci nated . Ufe m ust have been miserable for the poor of Reepham and Hackford, with the majority living in little more than hovels. However, the more able poor and the lowermiddle classes were able to emigrate to a better life in the colonies. Mr Goodwin Kilburn , the schoolmaster, is an example of this trend. He was 36, married with two small children, when he pul the above advert in the Norfolk C hronicle. He was not the o nl y local to emigrate between 1836-1842. The St. Stephen'S charilY had paid for some people in Heepham to go to America and it also paicl for a Widow 8ea les to go to Ireland. In common with the rest of Norfolk, by the nineteenth century Hackford was celebra ted for the growth of its barley. Other crops grawn included turnips, peas and beans, clover and wheat. A certain amount was kept under grass, especially by the river and stre,lItl margins. Stock kceping was also important and provided some local employment in the form of d rovers, tanners and cattle dealers. The annua l stock fair continued to take place on 29th June. In 1804 William Bircham who farmed 840 acres of the parish was the major landowner. He improved his soil by marling and liming, used a Six-year rotation but did not have any of the new threshing o r d rill machines. By 1846 the major landowners included the Rev. J. 8 edingfeld Coll yer who owned 182 acres and resided at Hackford Hall, the Rev. J. Hu m phrey who owned 144 acres and John Sewell who farmed 108 acres. Most of the land seemed to be fa rmed by sma ll tenant far mers. Hackford escaped the wholesale destruction of machinery and property, which the rest of Norfolk suffered during the Swing Riots. Maybe this was because the small tenant farme rs could only afford to farm in the traditional way. By the nineteenth cen tury around 23% of the local population were employed in agriculture on a permanent baSiS, although many more were employed doing seasonal work. Children were able to earn as much as Sd a day bird scaring, while gangs of women were employed hoeing, planting beans and thinni ng turnips. Many of the local clergymen wcrc concerned for the morality and welfare of the field-working womcn especia lly as the gang masters were 'rough bullying fellows who would bluster and swear'. A number of Hackford women, once the fieldwo rk was done, earned a few mOTe pence by weaving straw hats. In 1804 a farm labourer would earn 1/6d dai ly rising to 4/6d at harvest. During the last millennium Hackford has been an essentially rural parish dependent on the small market town of Reepham for its infrastructure. This has remained largely unchanged although recent changes in mobility have brought Norwich and the wider world into commuting distance, thereby b ringing new sources of money into the parish. carried on for the last 10 yea rs are now to be let with immediate possession. Enquire of M r Kilburn on premises. ". Union Workhouses se rved a 'union' of parishes and these larger work. hou5es replacl-d Ihe smaller parish workhouses. 15 �• An aerial view of Reepham's three churches. The lasl remnant of Hackf ord church can just be seen al the right of Ihe clump of yews. The photograph can be dated by some differences from a present·day view. For instance, York House (tap left) can be seen in the process of restoration in the background. • Hockford Hall. In 1846, at Ihe lime of the Tithe Apportionments, this was home to the Venerable John Bedingfield Collyer, Archdeacon of Norwich. 16 �Petty.vell Place now lived in by Howard and Margaret Blandford-Boker was formerly owned by the Eglington family. In 1846 it was owned by john Sewell but occupied by Margaret Rodham . • This plaque adorns the wall in lhe yard of Ihe Old Brewery. II marks the site of Ihe former Birchom's Brewery erected by William 8ircham in J 839. 17 �{ There was no piped water supply /0 Reepham until the' 9505. This well which has now been restored, also in the Old Breo.very yard, was the source of waler for the brewing of Reepham Ale until J816. The casl and audience of Celebration 2000 in 51. Mary's Of the end of the lost perlormance in January 2000. This was Reepham's Millennium Event. 18 �• This was the site of the shop formerly run by Mr and It has /lOW M~ Ron Gibbs a/ Towns End Comer. been pulled down and reploced by the new development containing the hoirdresser, DIY shop and elec/ricol shop. I I This model combine hervester was mode by Ron Gibbs and was later presemed 10 1M Reephom Society. In this photograph it was on display with other ogricullurol implements 01 our previous His/arkal Exhibition. 19 �Childhood Memories of Reepham Ann Dickinson This account of life in Reephom in the 1920s and 19305 was handed to the Chairman recently. Mrs Ann Dickinson now fives in Hunstanton but she was born in Reepham, Q member of the Gibbs family who have contributed so much to the records of the recent past of the town. Ann's parents were married in 1918 and she WQS born in '923. She looks bock on her childhood in Reephom with great affection. After receiving a copy of the ReeplwlII Society Magazille from my life-long friend Peggy Hum, J began to rened on my wealth of memories of Reepham. To begin ... the sermon to end when we cOlild hear the congregation in St. Mary'ssingi ng their last hymn. The Rev. Moore, in charge of SI. Mary's, invariably fin ished his service first! With the retirement of the Rev. Moore, and when the Rev. Geake left the parish in the early 1930s, the parishes of Reepham with Kerdiston and Whitwell with Hackford were finally united into one parish. The Rev. B.P.Lipscombe was installed and the present communicating door constructed between St. Mary's vestry and the c hancel of Sf. Michael's. Often I had to pump the organ for my mother, watching a lead weight rise and fall, paying ;I\tention so that it should not fa ll below a certain mark otherwise the orga n let out a tremendous sigh and faded out. Mother had played a church organ fro m the age of fourteen and she later took over St. Mary's from a Miss Jewel. The Rev. Lipscombe was extremely musical and could coax ability from the least able. Under his jurisdiction my mother became an excellent organ iSt. The Reephom Posl Office ond postmen in 1913. In those do}'5 it occupied what is now Meloncoulie Rose. /I is {JQ51ible to rf!C09nise the door into the cofe 01 Dione's Pantry on the lef!. At the age of th ree years, we attended Miss Bull's Kindergarten, situated at the back of the Brewery House. There was me and Peggy and her brother John, Pat Hall, Ken neth Hil ton and Joyce Wags. A year or two lilter we were attend ing dancing classes at Miss J-1olah's at Rookery Farm. The dancing school put on shows for parents and fri ends at the Town Hall. I remember dancing in Tlte Weddillg of tile l'a;lIted Doll with John Kerridge, son of the bank manager, who was JumpingJack. Sunday school was conducted by Mr Donald Chapman who, with his sister Olive, ran the Post Office ilt lana House. 11 Donald ran a flourishing and well-attended Sunday school. We had wonderful outings and prizegivings. Miss Wasey taught the senior children and, when we reached her class, she insisted that we learned the Collect for the coming Sunday off by heart and we had to recite it in turn. I remember her with greal affection and appreciation. My mother was organist at St. Michael's when Ihe Rev. Geake was the incumbent al Whitwell nectary. Botl1 churches were used for Sunday worShip then . Frequently, the congregation of St. Michael's would still be waiting for " lana House is in the Market Place and is now 'D1ane's I'amry'. The post· office was where 'Melo ncaulie Rose' now trades. 20 We had a fantastic choir under his leade rship, Si nging oratorios at special church festivals - the Messiall, Elijail, Olivet to Calvary, to mention just a few. Occasionally we incorporated the voice of Mr Broad from Heydon although Donald Chapman did very wen in solos, supported by his fe llow tenors, Fred Alford among them. Apart from church music, variOus members of the choi r founded a group to entertain during the year, putting on many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. This group included Donald and Olive Chapman, Elsie Varley, Mabel Utting and Mr Cocking. The latter ran a boot and shoe shop which later became Gwen Ha rdesty'S fruit and vegetable shop and which is now the Bridal Shop. The Market Place was a grandstand for the Reepham Town Silver Band under the baton of Mr Ruffles fro m Fakenham. When the weather was kind, and it invariably was, they played for the town's entertainment after the evening service at church on Sundays unti l nine or ten o'clock. Reepha m also boasted a fllle Salvation Army Ba nd. They shared the Market Place as their meeti ng place on alternate weeks. I have memories, too, of carol singing with the choir and the hand-bell ringers in the snow. In those days, the seasons seemed more seasonable! In the spring we would pick primroses at Broomhill; snowdrops �• Ron Gibbs. He was 0 mon o( energy ond imogiflOlion who refused 10 give in 10 illness. Rev. Gl!Clkel with members of his choir outside lhe porch of SI. Michael's. • grew like a carpet at Catchback and the perfume from the vio lets at Reepha m Moor was unbelievable. Father, who was invalided out of the Navy with tuberclIlosis, put his talents to good effect when he settled in Rccpham. ).1y mo ther loved to tell of when motor ca rs became the 'in thing' . My father built o ne around an engine and chassis and, so anxious to try it o ut was he, that one Sunday afternoon he d rove mother and an au nt and uncle to Cromer and back. Father, being t he driver, sa t on the kitchen chair and his passengers on upturned o range boxes. The sides of the ca r consisted of chicke n wire draped with old curtains but when Ihey reached 10 mph the curtai ns flapped alarmingly and had to be removed! In between bouts of illness, Father dabbled in pho tograph y, watch and clock mendi ng, garage and battery charging and, when confined to bed, built mode ls, two of which, a ship and traction engine, drum and elevator (threshing machine) were housed with the Reepham Society. 12 Mother started a business making hats, which fl ourished and this eve ntually became a fully-fl edged d rapery, millinery, tobacco and confectionery shop. The garage, erected to service the growing car trade, was built at the rear and side of the shOp, over an old Baptist immersion pool. This site has now been rebuilt as Lesley Tooley's hairdressers and Reepham DIY. I am sure it needed very little demolishing as it was built chiefly of corrugated iron but the side facing our garden was all glass, consisting of photographic plat es of almost every photograph m y father ever look. Part of the garage was given over to the engine room where I:ather had a generator from which he produced electricity and proudly wired our house - the first .1 WI.' still have the t hreshing machine OOt (\0('5 anyone know Whal has happened 10 Ihe ship? in Reepham to have electriC light. This was in 1928 or thereabouts. He also made me a do ll's ho use and fitted that with battery-powered electriC light. Towards the end of my Fathe r's life I reme mber that the trees in o ur orchard had to be felled as they were old and barren. They had given shelter to the goats and bantams tha t we kept tbere. Mother's ambition of havi ng a tennis court built in the old orchard began to take shape. Father want ed to oversee the project and make sure the ground was quite level. This proved a problem because he was now on constant oxygen. Not to be thwarted, he asked Dick Hatley, who worked with him, to get an inner tube from a car wheel and inflate it with oxygen, added a piece of rubber tube to connect with the valve and, by slinging the tube over his shoulder with a clip to control the fl ow of oxygen, he was able to walk up the garden and inspect the new tennis court fo r himself, returning before the tube was deflated . We were now able to have tennis parties, comprising Donald and Olive Chapman, Jean Hawes, Evan Symonds, Ricky and John Lambert, Ruby Barnes, Len Wilkinson, mother and myself. My great (riend, Peggy Hum , and I had other delights in common. Her fa the r, and both of my uncles, Edward Gibbs senior and junior, were among the company which formed the 'Black Minstrel Troupe'. We look back with such affectlon to o ur childhood in our beloved neepham. End Comer. Ann Gibbs (now Dklcinson) is sealed on the righ t nexl to her mother. A lellnis party 01 Towns 21 �A Thousand Years of Salle During the Millennium Year, Salle village, church and estate celebrated the history of Salle on a beautiful June day. Morning service was attended by tnmt of the villagers, foJlowed by drinks at the hall with Sir John White before evel}'One joined in a borbeque at the Village Institute. The afternoon WQS spent in watching a eric/eel match or climbing the church tower for a glimpse of the splendid view from the top. This was a real traditional vii/age event made all the better by the blessing of good weather. To bring memories of the past into the present, Claire Buxton, Chairman of the Parish Meeting, with help from long-lime inhabitants of the village, such as Ben Stimpson, hod organised an exhibition in the church. This included archive material and a faSCinating display of metal detector finds dating back across most o( the last two millennia and collected by Richard Saunders who lives and works in Salle. This article is based on a brief history o( Salle which was available as a handout on the day. Origins Salle lies on the top of the Norfolk watershed between the Bure and Wensum rivers. It is, in very many ways, a typical Norfolk village. Its history from before the beginning of this millennium illustrates what was and is happening in many other Norfo[k villages. The name 'Salle' is usually taken to deri ve from sallows, the old name for wi llows but other suggestions have been put forward. Is it a corrupt ion of 'a ul ' the old English word for hall? One of the manors in the village was once known as Kingshall wh ich could easily lend itself to shortening as 'Sail'. Or perhaps it is related to an old northern word describing a high, windy place that appears in the Cumberland name - Black Sail Pass. Salle is high a nd wi ndy - fo r Norfolk. The land of the village has always belonged to one or other of the manors in the parish. Now, it is almost entirely part of the Salle Farms estate. Before the improvements of recent cen turies this wou ld have been regarded as poor soil Salle church from the south on a winter 'S day in January. This hUge and beautiful church dominates the skyline. 22 and used for sheep, much perhaps remaining as common land which was im portant also for the poorer villagers. In the past, those with common rights not on ly grazed their animals on the common but also collected wood and kindling and wild fruit . This left their own small plots, or 'pightles', to be cultivated to feed the family. As in the rest of the county, e nclosure started quite early in Salle to meet the changing needs of the farms. Commons and small pightJes and closes have now long been enclosed and those old open fields, themselves, have been changed to meet the needs of mode rn farm ing practices. A small landowner in the village is the church but it is the large and beautiful church itself which is the jewel in Salle's c rown and perhaps the best known building in lhis part of Norfolk. Salle church has recently figured in Ellg/om/'s TllOlisollll Best Churclies by Simon Jenkins (1999). No one s hould leave the village without making a tour of this unique church. Built on the wealth of the wool grown on t he sheep which grazed the local heaths, its presence emphasises the change from stock fa rming to arable which has taken place over the centuries as the farm ing families who built it grew wealthier. Heath, pasture and woodland have now largely given place to open arable fields. The building of Salle church by a group of leadi ng sheep farm ers in the fifteent h century and its ma intenance, since, by leading local families shows how stich famili es have always been import an t in sli pporting the life and people of a vil lage and its surroundi ngs. The families and manors of Salle Perhaps the most im portant historian of Salle is Rev. Walter Parsons who was the parson here for over 30 years. As a former scholar of Pembroke College and Dean of Selwyn College, Ca mbridge, he took great interest in researching the history of his parish. Hi s book Sa lle saves all of us much time and effort when researching the early history of the village, the manors and the church. It provides invaluable information on the history of the village and is available from Reepham Libra ry. Salle also figures in llle Pasta" Lellers. One of the Sa lle manors belonged to the Mauteby famil y, one of whose daughters ma rried into the Paston family. Although litigious and concerned about keepi ng a grip on their lands, like so many medieval Norfolk farmers and lords, the letters concerning Sa lle directly are often concerned with the promotion of a courtship betweenJolln Paston and Margery Brewes. The Pastons remained close ly associated with Salle for the next 100 years. Salle itse.lf is mentioned in Doomsday Book when it was said to have four manors. The history of the manors is well testified. Today, Salle Moor Hall and Sti nton Manor House probably represent the site of two of the manors whilst a third was probably finall y destroyed when Salle Hall was built. Parsons specula tes that the fourt h ma nOf house was sited on the Wood Oalling side of Gatehouse Farm nea f the bridge over the strea m. Sa lle Moor HalJ was a Bullen (Boleyn) possession from the fourteent h to the six teenth century. Yes, that is the famil y of Anne Boleyn! Bu t there is no evidence that she ever lived in Norfolk! More recentl y in Ihe hands of the Sti mpson fami ly, Salle Moor Hall now belongs to Mr Ardishe r Naghshineh who is farming this land organically. Ben Stimpson is now the onl y member of the Stimpson family sti ll living in Salle. Though now past his ninetieth birthda y, he remains a forceful member of the community and was, �• until very recently, still a churchwarden . His knowledge of the past and presen t of Salle village and its chu rch a nd people is unsurpassed . Stinton Manor is the mallor which was formerly a royal manor but that was before the Conquest. Dooms(/flY Hook tells us th at this 'Kings Manor' belonged to Godwin - the father of King Harold. Harold, himself, held Cawston. By the time of Doomsday, both were held by one Ralph who was made Earl of Norfolk. He rebelled, and his lands were given to the new Earl, William de Warenne, one of William's major lords who bui lt Castle Acre. Stinton House, havi ng passed through the ha nds of the Townsends of Raynham and Bulwer Longs of neighbouring Heydon, is now pa ri of the Salle estate and is, at present, the home of Panl Hovesen, the Salle Farms esta te manager who ca me here from Den mark some 13 years ago. Many other well-known Norfolk families have held land in Salle, the Briggs, Founta ines, Pastons, Townsends and Earles, to na me but a few. After Edward Hase created th e Park and built t he hall in 176S it passed to thejodrell fa mily after Richa rd Paul jodrell of Lewknor in Oxfordshire married his daughter. She had inherited the right to a baronetcy from her uncle, john Lombe, which now passed to t.he jodrells. The jodrells were squires here un til Major Timothy White, who owned the chain of chemist shops, now absorbed by Boots, bought the estate in 1890. Bot h these fa milies have done a great deal to both preserve and to develop the estate and parish of Salle. Farms and farmers of Salle One interesting point emerging from early history is a suggestion that this was an area with many 'freemen' in t he Middle Ages. Their counterparts, after the sixteenth century, were the yeomen fa rmers, tenants of the remain· ing fa rms in the village, all of which now belong in one capacity or another to the esta te. These were the successfu l men who prospered by buying up and enclosing land after the collapse of the feuda l system. A nu mber of their old farmhouses hilve been sold off ilS private houses though some remain as part of the estate. A typical exam ple of an old farmhouse is Pilrk Farm, formerly Bog Farm, standing on the edge of old wilter meadows which lie between Salle and the former royal manor of Cawston. This is now the home of Andrew and Claire Bux ton. Andrew farmed wi th his brothers in Heydon and now works for himself whilst Claire is Chai rman of Salle Parish meeting. Park Farm stood empty for some years until it was used as a film set for the television producHon of Mill 011 t/le Floss which was filmed largely on loca tion arou nd mid-Norfolk. Since then, it has been restored with a considerable degree of sym pathy to retain much of its origina l character. The date 1770 can be discerned in the brickwork on the front of the house but the house is older than th is. Like many Norfolk houses it has been refurbished or rebuilt repea ted ly over the years. Manor t-arm, which may have been closely associated with Dorothy Repps, mother-in-law of the builder of Salle Hall, remains an integral part of the estate as the fa rm office. It probably started life as a common-edge manor house in the Middle Ages. The late eighteenth century estate maps ind icate t hat the area that is now Bl uestone Wood was then com mon land as was an area ncar t he bridge on the way to Cawston. The name ' Brake Past ure' of a field next to the 1J,;1rk, also indicates common_ A 'brake' was a field cut oul of common or heath. The insertion of an older sta ircase in to Manor Farm may have been carried out because Edward Hase lived in Manor Farm after the destruction of the former manor house. The date on Pa rk Farm also seems 10 link the improvemen ts to these two farms with the creation of the park and buildi ng of the hall in t he late eighteenth cen tury. Practically nex t door to Manor Fa rm lies Cherry Tree Farm. This still belongs to the Bulwer Longs of Heydon and illustrates how closely inter-linked all the villages, manors and farms of this group of villages arc. This probably stems from the old manorial system when stri ps of land were held in a variety of open fields, not always close together or even in the same parish. Later, we find farmers owning strips belonging to different manors. This is shown particularly clearly on the 1864 Tithe Map where the few remaining strips still held by individuals show where the old open fiel ds existed . This intermix also affected the parish boundaries. Until very recently a long strip of Reepham parish cut right across Salle Park, balanced by a strip of Salle, which reached down to Reepham Moor. The parish boundary has now been changed to adjust this anomaly which had been perpetuated over time, possibly due to old land ownership Manor Farm as i/ is today when the Salle Farms es/ale office. it is in use 05 23 �boundaries, perhaps to allow a manor or tenant to have a mix of arable land and water meadow. Salle Village The viJIage itself is not large, consisting of a scatter of houses leading down past the cricket pitch from the church. It comprises cottages probably built o n the siles of the old 'tofts and crofts', formerly worked by tenants who may also have been craftsmen and whose family would have spun and woven woollen cloth in the lime between all their other tasks. Even in the past t he number of brick built o r stone houses would not have been much more than now. There would, however, have been many more residents, working the land, carrying out their trades in the village or working as serva nts on the farms. Families were also much larger, and expectations lower, until well into this century, so each house supported more people. The old school house still stands opposite the church. The school was originally a 'non·provided school', that is to say, it belonged 10 the estate and was admi nistered under a n agreemen t with the Board of Education, as a church school. As owne r, the squire was, the refore, Chairman of the Board of Managers and appointed several of them. Surviving correspondence in the White famil y archives gives interesting insights into the running of the school around the turn of the century. Education was already fairly closely controlled and inspected and the school developed over time to include examinations and scholarships as opportunities opened up. The staff consisted of a headmistress, most of whom seem to have come from southern counties and were required to have musical skills and to be able to teach physical education as well as the other more usual attributes of any teacher. The headm istress was supported by one assistant teacher and/or a 'monitress' who was a senior pupil of promise. The letters of these women, written when applying for the job, indicate that they had very little money. Shades of Ja ne Eyre! Before the First World War children would have fini shed their education by 12 years of age. In sllch a rural area, holidays were taken to allow the children to help with the harvest and these had to be specifically requested from the Education authorities. Mrs Williamson, the last teacher is buried in the churchyard. Next door is the Lynton White Inst itute, built by the White family, which provides a home for the Parish Meeting and a site for social events, not least cricket teas, as the Institute stands on the edge of a splendid cricket field. On the other side of the field is the forge, owned by the church and still a fully fitted working forge, though no longer regularly used. The rust of the houses in the village is the former 'W hite Horse' public house now converted to a dwelling hOllse since its closure in the late I 960s. The St reet continues down to Ga tehouse Fa rm between two rows of cottages, some of which are occupied by estate workers. There were more cottages around the eastern fringe of the park and a dairy farm in the park but there is very little more than a few bricks left from these buildings. More interesting are the houses in the park itself and the picturesq ue style lodge cottages at the four entrances to the park. Th ese have one unique fea ture as lodges; they are on th e opposite side of the road from the Hall. Most of t.hem ha ve now been adapted or enlarged by the estate to meet the needs of their inhabitants. TIle village is, obviously, dominated by its magnificent c hurch but nothing has been included here, as booklets on 24 the history of the church are available in the c hurch . Suffice to say that the church of St. Peter and St. Paul continues to attract visitors to view its architectural splendour and music lovers who wish to take advan tage of its excellent acoustics to perform and listen to concerts and to make recordings. Salle Park By far the largest house in the village is Salle House. Edward Hase created the park itself in the late eighteenth century before he built the house. A map, still in existence, shows h ow Edward Hase bought up smalJ closes and strips 10 make the park, processes know to historians as 'engrossment' and ' emparkmenl'. When Edward Hase died he fortunate ly, left a Memorandum Book which Sir Richard Jodrell continued to use after he succeeded in 1804 so we can date a nd follow some of the early developments in the park. Gardens and trees were plan ted, a beautiful walled garden still remains in use and there is an icehouse in the shrubbery. Work continues to maintain house and gardens in their present good order. Pat !)ennis, who has now returned to the village of his birth, keeps the gardens in order without t he army of under-gardeners and boys of forme r days. He still lives in the old gardener's house next to the walled garden. Fortunately, pleasure gardens were not fa shionable when the house was built and were never planned to be very large thoug h extended across the South Lawn as far as an ornamental ha-ha before 1846. One particularly happy aspect of the park is the number of magnificent trees it contains. Of course, creators of parks, following the ideas of Humphrey Repton (no\\l buried in Aylsham church yard) and Capability Brown, looked for a na tural effect in their new parks. Trees were oft en planted in clumps or as shelter belts but also in ' rO\\lS'. One way of achieving a rapid mature effect was to retain the trees which had formerly stood in hedgerows along field boundaries. It is possible to identify these fonner hedge lines from aerial photographs and old maps even though, in their more mature stat e, the li nes are not always obvious as trees succumb to old age or storms. Many trees have bee n felled during the ZOO years of the park's existence. However, one major oak tree, which must predate the park by some considerable time, still remains. It is now a huge and venerable veteran supporting considerable amounts of wild life. The park trees have always been well cared fo r a nd a new avenue of horse chestnut trees is now beginning to grow up along the main drive across the park. New plantings of park trees also include tu rkey, evergreen, red and English oaks Salle House Salle House was built in 1763. It is a mid·Georgian neoclassical building influenced by the emerging forces of romanticism. It consists of a two·and-a-half storey central wing of seven bays, built in red brick with a stone Ionic pediment o n both north and south elevations and a hipped roof surrounded by a balustrade. The architraves of the prinCipal doors are also of stone. A Si ngle-storey wing extends to both cast and \\lest where two courts were converted to an orangery on the east and a billiard room on the west in Major White's time. The Victorian upper storey, added over the billiard room, has since been demolished . Beyond the wings, low two-storied buildings extend on either side - to the coach house and stables on the cast. The appearance of Salle House is now almost identical 1'0 a �Solie viUage 5treet looking we5t from the church. The larger house on the left was formerly the White Hone public house. Salle Hall from the southern gorden. The pork. is 50 thickly planted with tren that there is only one sight line from which the hall can be seen drawing on an estate map of J807. This, however, is due to work carried out by Si r John White who has now restored the house both inside and ou tside whilst retaining its original character extremely well. Salle Farms Estate Salle Farms is now ent irely arabl e. Crops include large-sca le cultivation of barley, beet, beans, peas and whea t on land which, before the improvements of recent centuries, would have been rega rded as poor soil and used for sheep, The estate also remains conscious of its stewardship of the countryside. Successful modern farming is con tract farming to meet the needs of large-scale food suppliers. Output is constantly monitored by the use of satellit e technology. In addition to the 1:lrge-scale production of grain, pulses and sugar beet, a recent addition has been the appearance o f plantations of Ch ristmas trees which provide work during quieter periods of the year. Areas of set-aside supplement other conservation in novations that are now possible. Attitudes to the countryside have changed in recent years and many who formerly knew little about it are able to gel out and about and have demanded ilCcess to a countryside which they regard as a common heritage. This can be a twoedged sword . Unlimited access can be disrupti ve to wildlife habitat, to game bi.rds and to growing crops alike. However, many footpath s and green lanes marked on the as maps arc maintained to provide walks across the esta te. Some paths have been diverted found the edges of fi elds rather than cutting through the middle. Those who wish to quibble at th is should remind themselves that walking along the hedge is much more interesting as this is where the greatest variety of flora and fauna is to be seen. [n addition to lhe more conspicuous pheasants and partridges reared on the estate, and the ever-present rabbits, the re are less eviden t denizens of this land. Stoats, weasels and other small mammals are much shyer but are still in abundance where there is a large rabbit population. Though many small birds have disappeared in recent years there are a number of larger birds to be seen . Herons and kest rels are regular hunters in the area. Barn owls are becoming re-established and three are nesting on the estate. necently, a group of Ca nada geese hilve sett led nea r on e of the ponds. These birds can be a mixed blessi ng and have become a nuisance on some farms elsewhere. The more remote part of the estate is hare country and numbers of mad March hares are to be seen every spring. Yes, there are large field s but many new hedges have been planted and old hedges preserved. Other conservatio n measures are bei ng undertaken. These include the planting of broad-leaf trees along the old railway line near the Cawston boundary and maintenance of existing patches of woodland on the estate. One im portant conserva tion measure now being implemented is the scheme whereby 4-metre strips along watercourses are left as permanent sct-aside to reduce the risk of conta mination of ground water by pesticides and so forth . The watercourse, which crosses the estate from beyond Wood Dalling, winding round past C nvston to Booton, is a case in point. Anyone who walks down the rood by the side o f Wood Dalling church should note the ditch on the right-hand side which is fult of wild flowers, especially primroses and orch ids in springtime. This dit ch now has a preservation order on it. Yet , it was dug very recently, showing that modern farmin g activity is not always destructive. Much of the information in this article was obtained from the White popers and Bullen popers now held in the Norfolk Record Office. 25 �Reepham Personalities and Institutions AI the beginning of this century Reepham was a small Norfolk market town with long-established families living in a smaller community than today. Thf!y all knew each other very well, often being related by marriage, mostly working locolly in the lown or on the surrounding farms Gnd estates. Some of the older families still remain and hove contributed immensely to the records of the recent past of Reephom. As Reephom has grown and new houses Ofe constantly built, new people have increasingly moved into the lown. Mony of them will be unaware of the contributions to the community mode by former inhabitants and the origins of some Reephom institutions. Following the long gap since che publication of the last Reepham Society Magazine, this seems an appropriate lime to record 0 little about some of those who have contributed to the life of the town and who have helped to make Reepham the lively and caring community that it is. One messoge which comes over very strongly, even in these short profiles, is ;ust how much people's lives were disrupted by the effects of the two World Wors of the last century. Miss Jessie Brown MBE jessie Vera Lawford Brown died on 14th April, 1983 at the age of 95. She had a remarkable career, one achieveme nt being the foundation of the Reepham Housing Trust -clgh t bungalows fo r the elderly or disabled known as Sunbam Walk. 'My hope is that there will be accommodation of this kind in every village in the country,' said Jessie. Jessie was the only daughter among the seven children of Colonel F.D.M . Brown Vc. He r early education was directed by a series of governesses but, later, she studied history at the Oxford Home Students, now St. Anne's College. Her academic career was discarded whe n she joined her friend , Olive Sa nkey, and answered an appeal from Agnes Hunt , 13 the founder of a new hospital al Baschurch in ShropShire, 10 train as an orthopaedic nurse. After two years, Jessie went on to pass the examination for the Society of Trained Masseuses, later to become the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists. At the out break of war in 1914, Agnes Hunt and jessie went to France but were very soon frustrated with cond itions over there and returned to Baschurch which had then become a military hospita l. It soon became obvious that after-care clinics had to be established in the main market towns in Shropshire but transport was a problem. Undaunted, jessie acqUired a second-hand motor bike, learned to ride it and, by 191 7, 13 ort hopaedic dinics had been established throughout Shropshire. In 1918 Mr G.R. Girlestone askcdjessie to help set up clinics in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. He could offer no sala ry but arranged a small sum from a special Red Cross fund if a survey of all disabled people could be ca rried out - just the sort of challe nge jessie enjoyed. In 1924 Sir Robert jones, the prominent orthopaedic pioneer, received a call from Nepal. Princess Mani, the fIVe-yea r-old niece of the King of Nepal , was ill with U Agnes Brown and Sir Robert Jones, a plon~r orthopaedic su rgeon. Wtlt responsiblt for tht fou ndation of the ortoop.1edlc hospital In ~weslfy which carrit'S thtir names ~nd remains one of the lcading orthopaedic hospitals In the country. 26 poliomyclitis and it was decided to send jessie to help. Within three days she had set off by sea to Bombay, then overland to Kathmandu. There was no road from India into Nepal in those days so jessie was ca rried or rode on the back of an elephant for the three-day journey. During the next ten years jessie visited this brave little girl several times and after Mani's death in 1935 a ward was built in the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre as a gift from her gratefu l parents. Everyone who knew Jessie Brown was constantly reminded of her aims - that every patient must be instilled with the joy of life, irrespective of their handicap and that o ne must work until each diSilbled person is as independent as possible and able to contribute to their community. It became necessary for Jessie to return home to Yateley to look after her ageing mother but she soon had the outbuildings of her home converted to be a unit where physically handicapped people could learn hand-block printing. Grace Finch, a patient at the HenleyClinic, was persuaded to go to Yateley to help and, together, they soon had money raised and a training scheme fo r hand icapped girls was launched. New buildings were opened in 1952 and bungalOWS in 1956. Yateley Industries is a successful residential sheltered industry and em ploys more than 40 men and women. Jessie placed little importance on personal possessions and was able to move on without regret, always full of enthusiasm for a new ven ture. In 1952 her work was recognised by the award of an MBE. Bu t she was always far more interested in the success of her many projects. In 1968 jessie ' retired' to Reepham. It was during her retirement that she became the inspiration behind the building of the eight bungalows on Sun Barn Walk which formed the core of the Reepham Housing Trust. Today, the Trust is managed as a charity by local trustees, sharing a warden with the Wherry Housing in Ewing Close. Many in the town feel privileged that she touched our lives and hope to pass on her enthusiasm and joy of living to the full. We are grateful to Jon Henry for this piece on Jessie Brown. Ben Stimpson Ben Stimpson was born at Salle Moor Farm in 1910, a member of a well-known local fami ly here in Mid-Norfolk. He is a forceful and well-respected character in both Salle and Recpham and has given much service to the two Ben Slimpson �communities both as an active member of a number of organisations anc! as a benefactor to the communities. The Stimpson family fanned at Salle Moor for several generations as well as running the family business based in Reepham. It was Ben's grandfath er who opened the Salle Coal Company at Reepham Station, a company that continued in business as a general agricultural merchant under several names until 1980. Some of you will have read the book on 'Salle' written by the Rev. Parsons who was Vicar of Salle from the early 1920s unti l after the Second WorlC! War. [t was Rev. Parsons who married Ben and his wife Margaret in 1937. They came to live in Salle House, the house in which they still live and Ben gradually took on the management of the family business as well as his other work in the community. For many years he was chairman of the Salle Parish Meeting and succeeded his fathe r as churchwarden there, a posl which he held for over 40 years. Added to his fa ther's tenure of SO years this gives nearly a century of continuous service to Salle church by the Stimpson fami ly. To th is can be added the tireless work of Margaret who was also a member of the PCe. The role of churchwarden was not a sinecure as there have been a number of major problems, including a light ning strike, in keeping up t he fabric of Salle church one of the medieval gems of rural Norfolk - as well as th e day-to-day routine of the church . It is largely due to Ben's efrorl's that Salle church has been able to mai nta in itself so successfully in recent years. A tribut e for this work for the church was published in the November 2000 issue of TowII (ll/d COllI/try when Ben retired as churchwarden and was given a tremendous send-off by the congrega tion . Needless to say he remains a member of the PCe. Duri ng the war Ben played h is pllrt in the local Home Guard as well as helping his father with the family businesses. The activities of the Salle and Reepham platoon are weI] documented in Standing lip to Hiller'14 which tells the tale of the Home Guard in Norfolk. It was Ben Stimpson 1< 1997. A. Hoare: Sfllluli"3 up lu Hitla. The Story of the Norfolk Home Guard. l'ubllshoxl by Ceo. R. Ret-ve, Wymomlhall1 . ISBN 0 900616 50 4 . who provided the comprehensive records of the local units which now form a considerable portion of that book. Ben hac! led the local pla loon since May 1940 but by the latter part of the war the 17th Battalion Norfolk Home Guard was based in Reepham with it's HQ at 'The Bays' in Norwich Road, and led by Lt Colonel G.E. Gurney wi th Ben as his second-in-command. Duties included airfield defence, defence of bridges and liaison with other units backed up by weekly training and regular battle exercises. Stimpson's Piece Perhaps the most memorable mention of th e Stimpson name to present-day Reepham residents is in reference to Stimpson 's Piece. This piece of land was originally six acres, leased to the parish of Rcepham by the Stimpson family for use as a playing field. Following the Second World War a pavilion was built as a war memorial and in thanksgiving for victory. The pavilion has bee n rebuilt since then but the memorial plaque remains in the present pavilion built in 1995. In \987 the land was gifted to Reepham and extended by the parish council with a furth er seven acres to (orm the presen t Stimpson's Piece. Despite all he has con tributed to Reepham, Salle remains Ben 's fi rst love a nd he has become closely identified wit h that village and, as you can imagine, he knows a very great deal about Salle, its past, its present and its people. Wesley Piercey Wesley Piercy is the man we all turn to when we wa nt to find some elusive detail of the past of Reepham. Wesley was born in Reepham in 1917, in a farmhouse on Saleyard Hill. For those who arc comparitive newcomers to Reepham, this was the old road going up from Town's End Corner towards the old sale yard and curving up behind the cottages wh ich presently look down onto Station Road. tater, the famil y moved to 'Cabbage Court' - Hailway Cottages on the New Road - before moving back to the farm until 1940. After leaving the Hackford and Whitwell School, now th e site of [{eepham Primary School, Wesley first of all worked i.n Ben Stimpson leading the local Home Guard contigent 01 a parade in Reepham . 27 �Wesley has spoken to many organisations in the town over the years. He remains an active member of the Reepham Society - and still the fount of knowledge on the past of the town. Tony Ivins Wesley Piercy Cawston before going as apprentice to Reeder's, the baker in Back Street. The premises were known as 'house and baking offtce' and are now represented by the house known as The Old Bakery. Although he had moved just before the war to work in Wells, as a member of the Supplementary Reserve, Wesley was called up immediately. He had quite an interesting war! He wen t out with the British Expeditionary Force to France in 1939. In the confusion of the retreat from France, Wesley was separated from his unit when he had a brief spell in hospital. He was discharged from hospltal to lhe base depot near SI. Nazaire which was then being readied for a division of Canadian troops who were, at this stage, the only available unit still fully eqUipped to fight. However, it became necessary to evacuate all troops following the capitulation of France. Wesley then spent the next six months out in England be.fore embarking for the Middle E.lst and the West ern Desert in 1941. His unit was now with an army group later known as the Desert Rats (the Eigh th Army) which then crossed to Sicily and foug ht its way up Ital y. [n 1944 ' time expired' men were replaced by new recruits and Wesley returned to the UK. He then returned to Aldershot where he found that all the bakehouse jobs had been taken over by the women of the ATS. After the end of the war Wesley was demobbed in 1946. As you can imagine, returning to civilia n life was somewhat of a culture shock and Wesley left baking for more active jobs. He eventually found his way into the Eastern Electricity Board, for whom he worked fo r 23 years until he retired in 1982. Hi s love for hi story and the past of t he Reepham area was never lost. A number of historians and archaeologists had an interest in the local history and ran a number of WEA courses in Reepham during the 1970s. Wesley enthusiast ically joined to expand his knowledge of the past. Following his retirement in 1982 he was able to follow up his great interest in history. He started an Open University course, wherever pOSSible completing history units, to qualify for bis BA. His life also changed in another way around this time when he met his wife Olive on holiday. By th iS time the Pierceys were living in the bungalow where Wesley and Olive still live in Park Lane. As a result of his encyclopaedic knowledge of Reepham a nd its people 28 Tony Ivi ns rema ins the President of the Reepham Society to t h is day though increaSing age and frailty prevent his active involvement. I-I e was also a founder member and, with Susie his wife, a driving force in the development of the Society. Born in South London in 1915, Tony gained a diploma in animal husbandry at an agriUlltural college in the south of England. In the late 1930s, he joined the staff of the Forest School in Hampshire. The school was a progressive co-educational boarding school in the New Forest. Its ethos was to teach children how to respect the countryside and make use of natural resou rces. In 1938 the school had to move to new premises and an educational trust was set up to enable the purchase of Whitwell Hall and grounds. This is where Tony met Susie Dammen who became the Matron at the new Forest School where Tony was now the bursar. Not long after the move the Second World Wa r broke out, the school was evacuated and the army requisitioned the Hall. Tony Ivins Tony enlisted in the Air Force where he became a naVigator. His war years were spent in Africa where his squadron's role was to reinforce the British role by ferrying di plomats and heads of state around that country. From this he acquired an abiding love of Africa and has many albums of photographs from that t ime, especially aerial views. Meanwh ile, Susie joined the. Land Army and worked as a farm secretary at Sparham Hall. At the end of the war Tony and Susie were married and returned to Whitwell in 1946. Due to the financial costs involved, a decision was made not to re-open the school. Instead, Tony set up a pig farm at Whitwell Hall which brought in sufficient fin ance to enable Ton y to set up a Country Centre offering schoolchildren an opportunity to enjoy a week under canvas, or in the house, and 10 experience the country, the wildlife and the natu ral resources. Tony and Susie's children, Sally and Hugh, were born here and Hugh still lives with his family in one of the cottages which was bought from the estate. �Tony came to love WhihveJl as well as the educational trust which had always been dear to his heart. It was his interest in finding out about Whitwell and its past which stim ulated Tony's broader interest in history. With $usies drive and enthusiasm, they not onl y developed the COlin· try Centre at Whitwell but gave a great deal to the village and to Reepham. It is largely due to them and several other ea rly members of the Rcepham SOciety tha t we have been able to develop such comprehensive archives for t he SOCIety. Tony's work at Whitwell Hall enabled him to meet numerous well-known Norfolk folk. His friends included Ted Ellis, Dick Joyce and Philip Wayre of the Norfolk Wildlife Centre who shared many of his interests. Tony was also Chairman of the Norfo lk Deaf Children's SoCiety and one year he was able to show the Queen Mother round the NDCS stand at the Royal Norfolk Show. As Wardens of Whitwell Hall, Tony and Susie had lived in the 1·lall itself but when he retired they moved to Hillside Cottage on Whitwell Hill. Tony now became Chairman of the Country Centre and continued his tife·long work fo r Whitwell Hall and its 40-acre estate. Whitwe ll Hall Ed ucatio nal Trust • A great many people arc unawa re of the existence of Whit well Hall Country Centre, its unique history and unusual development. We think it is worth telling a little more about one more interesting aspect of the Reepham grou p of parishes. Whitwell Hall itself was, of course, a privat e house. The previous history of the hall, park and deserted medieval village has been described elsewhere in ea rlier Reepham Society magaZines, often relying on infor· mation from Tony Ivins himself. Forest School was started in 1928 near Godshill in the New Forest and consisted of 100 acres of woodland over· looking the Avon valley in Hampshire. It was bought by Earnest Westlake, the son of a Quaker and wealthy ind us· triatist from rordingbridge. He became a humanist and educati on;Ilist and, as a result, fou nded the order of Wood· craft Chivalry - the Woodcraft Folk - where families met together under canvas, later in huts, and learned to live in and appreciate the natural environment. Loosely built on the ideas and cul ture of t he North American Indians, its aim was to enable children to find out abou t themselves by offering opportunities for development and self.discipline rather than by imposing learning and d isci pline. Other schools, such as Darlington and Summerh ill, developed from similar roots as did organisations like the Guides and Scouts. Aft er the war, it was decided by Tony and Susie and the school secretary, who lived in Cam bridge, not to re-open as a school as such a large fi nancial investment would be required to renovate and repair the buildings. Instead, Tony set about earning an income fo r the trust by utilising his training in anima l husbandry and set up the pig farm in the ex isting outbuildings on the site. Each summer, fonn er pupils of Forest School continued the tradition of ca mping activities with their famil ies until the late 1950s when the Forest School was set up again to continue elsewhere. A young Tony /vim worlcing with older boys in Ihe /cilchen gorden. In the ea rly 1960s contacts were established wi th teachers and education authorities in Norfol k and Suffolk at a time when such bodies were keen to encourage ch ildren to spend ti me out·of-doors. From this grew a thriving Country Centre which conti nues to provide opportunities for many groups of children to spend a week or weekend camping in the grounds, or living in dormi tories, whilst undertaking cou ntry activities which are totally new for some city children. Tony Ivins, the original Warden of Whitwell Hall, was assisted by Susie as House Mother until the 1970s. By this t ime, it was necessary to take on more sta ff. Sue and Brian Evans joi ned the staff and later took over the running of the Centre which they conti nue to manage down to the present. On his retirement, Tony beca me Chairman of the trust and worked tirelessly for the Centre, a role which his son, Hugh, has now taken on after him. The Country Centre is always looking for ways to broaden its activities and a number of local groups and pupils from Heepham High School use the house and grounds fo r a variety of activities. Any group can contact Brian and Sue Evans to see if the Centre can accommodate their requirements - always bearing in mind that it is limited by its sta tus as an educational trust. Our grateful thanh to Hugh Ivins for his help in preparing this profile of his father and the outline of the development of the Whitwell Hall Countl)l Centre. 29 �Reepham Society History Exhibition Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11 th, 12th & 13th May, 2001 Friday: 10.00 am to 4 .00 pm Saturday: 10.00 am to 6.00 pm Sunday: 10.00 am to 12.00 noon local history of Reepham and the surrounding villages Members preview 7.30 pm Thursday 10th May The editor is very aware that the articles in this magazine talk about footpoths and access to the countryside in some detail. At time of publication the country is ravaged by Foot and Mouth Disease. Fortunately, this part of the country has remained free of infection. We would like to remind visitors to the area to observe footpath restrictions. Whilst this is Q largely arable forming area there numbers of animals in many places. Ofe Please only use those footpaths, like the Marriott's Way, which you are sure are open and do not venture into farmland. 30 �Hendry & Sons Funeral Directors Private Chapels of Rest RICHARD HENDRY, DIP. F. D. Members of the N.A.F.D. Station Road, Foulsbam, Derebam Norfolk Tel. Foulsham. (01562) 685249 MUCK&MAGIC Garden ServwN From one off solutions, to all-year-round maintenance Whatever your gardening needs we'll cover the ground for you. VEGGIES & GRASS HEDGES & PATHS PONDS & PATIOS CUTS & STRIMS COMPOST & MULCHES PLANTS & SEEDS TURFS & WEEDS I ! ! A FIRST· CLASS SERVICE Call JON PURDY fOl" a quote Home 01603308093 Mohile 07771926582 BramLey.., lOa New RoaiJ, Rupbam Working Bre\llery ~mof CAMRA N3Holkil A~3rd ...'inning \kNd Stout &:: R.'pill:f Polk Aloe and olher Indition.al beotn Collers Reepham Beers Dislincli~et~ Different \'Vodh Seeking Out �� 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 Society Newsletters Description An account of the resource A comprehensive collection of newsletters published by the Reepham Society. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Printed and digital Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/RS/Magazines Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1983-2000 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Reepham Society 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 Society Magazine Millennium Edition April 2001 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501291035 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource A4 PDF, 32 pages Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 2001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Scanned by Geoff Fisher Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Reepham Society Reepham Society https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/32a4768cbf32415e3fe9e9d913524bdf.jpg b50a664ecfd8f0c4d3be432db6e91791 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 Methodist Church Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501171630 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Churches & Chapels [File 4, Archive Box 104] Description An account of the resource Postcard of the Methodist Church on Station Road. Left top corner torn off (by a stamp collector?). Probably taken after 1935, the date of Methodist Union. Note the street lamp. Postcard No. 2 Bushell Series Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Bushell 1930s Bushell Methodist https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/91a307ff8a8602cac31a1dc628ef678f.jpg c792474bd2c4a25879189dfb5f5c65ca 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 Herbert Fuller Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501171600 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Family & Businesses (File 6, Archive Box 106) Description An account of the resource Herbert Fuller took over being caretaker at the Bircham Instutute when James Piercy retired. Herbert worked as a driver on Stimpson's coal lorry. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource EW Fuller Stimpson https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/5232f3362b6a24e2c86232db70b16792.pdf 55433f354ba2cac84d312226b3c72149 PDF Text Text GB/REE/2501161030 Sale Brochure Extract � 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 Sale of Public Houses Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501161030 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Streets & Buildings/Public Houses [File 17, Archive Box 117] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1878 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1878 Description An account of the resource Single page of a sales brochure relating to the closing down of Reepham Brewery in 1878. Out of over 50 pubs these are the first four lots:- Kings Arms, Black Lion, George (& Dragon), Sun Inn. The descriptions include details of rooms, outbuildings and tenants/occupiers together with associated cottages. Black Lion George & Dragon Kings Arms Sun Inn https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/aabc2b2ba2db8808fd41d30c4fba7572.pdf b755a33b9c77c51e836d048b4e46e424 PDF Text Text GB/REE/2501141500 Street View Interior Reepham Motors after closure � 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 Motors Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501141500 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Streets & Buildings/School Road [File 17, Archive Box 117] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2016 Description An account of the resource Illustrated booklet with images of the facade and interior of Reepham Motors, previously Massey & Bridges, after its closure. One image shows the houses that were built on the site of the old Sun Barn. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available David Futter Associates Ltd 2016 garage Massey and Bridges Reepham Motors School Road Sun Barn https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/0b0c3b52be8122dc47dd3eecbee6d40f.jpg e9e48d2f0a74270ff1905e5103578316 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 Owners of Whitwell Hall Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501141300 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1p A4 typescript Local Villages/Whitwell [File 12, Archive Box 112] Description An account of the resource List of owners of Whitwell Hall from the 1600s to 1938. Alexander Ellis Leamon Monsey https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/9737b85888b476259b81cf0b3656580c.jpg c84db7a9e3ccbf57c57e3f14375c1d70 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 Owners of Hackford Hall Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501141300 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1p A4 typescript Local Villages/Whitwell [File 12, Archive Box 112] Description An account of the resource List of owners of Hackford Hall from 1700 to 1989. Alexander Collyer Monsey Stimpson https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/50e135b105c0e633198e39fa7bd15522.pdf af030e8898c8be64f5272e27d3a43bf4 PDF Text Text �� 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 Otway Family Tree Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501141200 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Family & Businesses (File 6, Archive Box 106) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1720-1992 Description An account of the resource Detailed record of the Otway family beginning with John Otway , a blacksmith of Hackford. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994 Otway https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/d65195d8f7911e74d9ca327336a1058f.jpg a5bf5736782ddedd59814af9c26605fa https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/a76103e5a915277ecdac1108225736b0.jpg 65bb87733cbc47d4838ac7bc42dfc4fe 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 Pask Golden Wedding Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501141130 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Families & Businesses (File 6, Archive Box 106) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943 Description An account of the resource Photograph of William Alfred Pask, age 91, with his third wife Annie Sarah Rowe, on their Golden Wedding Anniversary. They are probably standing outside Nelson House on Back Street. Newspaper cutting from the Daily Mirror. 1943 Pask wedding https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/21cdb86df3dcc2c87a3f920a826c62ec.jpg ca835a0d0c05066abada1288dfd1d524 https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/fad2676a878b1c3ff82ae914e857b980.jpg 2e518f75180781dde28e1291f268d68e 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 Description An account of the resource Information relating to the use of Hackford House & Reepham Town Hall as a Red Cross/VAD Hospital during WWI plus photographs of troops assembling/parading in Reepham Market Place. Many of these images were used in the Reepham Archive Exhibition in 2014. The display boards are shown in the RA Exhibition Collection. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/WWI Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource [File 21, Box 121] 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 Winifred Pates VAD Nurse Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501141100 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital WWI [File 21, Archive Box 121] Description An account of the resource Photograph of Winifred Pates when she was serving as a Red Cross nurse at Reepham's Hospital (VAD 52) during WWI. The second image shows her 'pink card' detailing her term of work and address. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource MH 2024 Humphrey nurse Pates https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/74263c0b91f8bb268ebb3a1438a5191a.jpg da6812c046fc0bf06c97ee81ac0d3302 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 Description An account of the resource Information relating to the use of Hackford House & Reepham Town Hall as a Red Cross/VAD Hospital during WWI plus photographs of troops assembling/parading in Reepham Market Place. Many of these images were used in the Reepham Archive Exhibition in 2014. The display boards are shown in the RA Exhibition Collection. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/WWI Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource [File 21, Box 121] 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 Town Hall Ward Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501141030 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital WWI [File 21, Archive Box 121] Description An account of the resource Reepham Town Hall set up as a hospital ward for recuperating soldiers. Dr. Perry stands at centre back. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GM 2024 Perry Town Hall https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/d56c323ae0c1d02422783193af1ba753.pdf efaaa57e76e3f13970b2881dd531c88a PDF Text Text Lynn Advertiser 2 July 1943 � https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/98536decae41b16774ba96c78a43c85c.pdf 013a73dceef724b899ffc4619f907d70 PDF Text Text GB/REE/2501101030 Jack Barnabas Bennett 1901-1943 � 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 Jack Barnabas Bennett Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501101030 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Digital Assorted size B&W photographs Uniformed Services/Police [File 20, Archive Box 120] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943 Reepham Description An account of the resource Newspaper report about Jack Bennett who arrived in Reepham in February 1943, having recently been promoted to the rank of inspector after serving with the Sandringham Division as sergeant for eight years. The photos include a studio portrait probably taken when he first joined the police force. Other images show him as a sergeant. 1943 Bennett police https://reephamarchive.co.uk/omeka/files/original/f703d59c2b4e2874feb3d7bcc013199c.pdf 82d0ce4e68f3e7f62b00d1fb5e682a30 PDF Text Text GB/REE/2501071130 Details of expenses incurred by William Withers jun in completing work for William George dated 1817/1819 about the purchase from Mr. Hunt (nephew of Francis St John Hunt) of two pieces of land in Reepham & Salle. Expenses incurred over two years - 1817 to 1819 including travel by carriage to the Temple in London. William George's son William Mason George ran the ironmonger's business in what became Gibbs' shop. ��� 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 William Withers to William George Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GB/REE/2501071130 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Foolscap legal document Land, Property & Titles [File 8, Archive Box 108] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1819 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1819 Description An account of the resource Details of expenses incurred by William Withers jun in completing work for William George dated 1817/1819 about the purchase from Mr. Hunt (nephew of Francis St John Hunt) of two pieces of land in Reepham & Salle. 1819 George Withers