N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5

Oxborough History Group

In this issue

First World War Roll of Honour – publication out soon

More acquisitions to the Oxborough Archive

The Public House

Diverting village roads in the 19th century

Archaeological digs

Something is stirring in the woods!

To be more precise, something is stirring in the woods down at Oxborough Ferry. Villagers have embarked upon our second archaeological dig. Following the training/familiarisation event on the village green in the summer, a few hardy souls have been uncovering the site of Ferry Cottages and digging more pits. More about this inside 1

Road Layout 1500 to 1900

The configuration of our roads in the village has not always been what it is now. This is probably stating the obvious – but when was it changed and what was it like before?

If we go back as far as late medieval times (c 1500) we can see that the main road through the village follows the line of what is now Church Farm Lane and that there were several properties on what is now the village green area. The diversion at the Pound (to what is now Road) did not exist. In addition there was another road running beside Hall Farm house and round the back of what is now the Hay Barn, the Presbytery and St John’s Close. Eastmoor Road did not exist.

Two other interesting points on this map– the road to Foulden ran to the west of the church [more on this below] and (see further extract on the next page) there was a substantial thoroughfare down to the Ferry past St Mary Magdalene Church and the Rectory.

This was the period, 1450 to 1550, during which the focus of the village was moving from Ferry Road to St John’s. Eventually the church of St John the Evangelist became the main place of worship and St Mary Magdalene church fell into disrepair. The eastern and northern walls of the building survive and it is now a scheduled historic monument.

2 Oxburgh Hall was quite new at the time the original of this map was put together. It was completed in 1482 for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld and the family have lived there ever since. It must have been an imposing sight for the local population once it was finished. The line of the is clearly shown here; it is a tributary of the Wissey (which is called the Stoke River on this map). The river appeared large enough to support a mill. Little is known about this mill; only one record (and no photographs) has been found. The record comprises a letter on the plight of Ann Hemson [a common name in the village – you may recall the History Group’s first archaeological dig was on the site of a cottage occupied by Robert Hemson]; Anne was a young servant girl who, in 1803, became pregnant out of wedlock by Robert Kemp a miller at the watermill. This condition referred to as ‘bastardy’ in those days was frowned upon and under the threat of prison the young woman had to appear before the magistrates and tell them the name of the child. The man in question had four choices: to run away, to go to goal, to marry the woman or to pay large sums for the upkeep of the child until it was old enough to earn its own keep. The original letter reads as follows:-

“Lynn Janry 23, 1803 to Mr. Matthise Wright Sir I have taken the Libberty of Trubbling you with these few Lines hopping you will not be angry as Nessesaty Causes me to Come Trubblesome to the town as it have bin my Unfortunate I ott to be Deluded by man and I am in very Low Circumstance so that I am under the Nessesaty of trubbling the parrish to wich I belong for Support in time of my trubble So I think it in my place to Lett you know that you may proceed after the man that I am with Child by, as soon as possible you Can make it Convenient his name is Robt Kemp by trade a Miller Low pluggy man Darke Complextion Live betwin Stoke ferry and Oxburgh at a water Mill on the Right hand goin from Stoke to Oxburgh. I have Lived at Sarvis at Lynn since Micklemass but am now seven months with Child that I am not able to do my work so that on next Tusday I must Come to Bury my Name is Ann Hemson I Lived five years with Lady Gage in Bury but I have not Lived a year in one place never since – if you be at Oxburgh on next wedensday you would finde him in the mill that is his day to Grind. I hope Sir you will do as far as Lay in your power for me for on Contempplating on the Circumstance has brought me very Low. I am yours Humbly Ann Hemson”

3 The next two maps (1722 and 1725) show what we now know as Swaffham Road but it runs from the Hall Farm road and not from a diversion at the Pound. There are junctions at Petticoat Lane and what seems to be the road that now runs to Church Farm Barns. Church Farm Lane still appears to be the main road through the village. Eastmoor Road is not there and the road to Foulden still passes the west side of the church. This is the 1725 map:

Over the next 100 years a few changes were made – it appears from the following map of 1830 that much of the back road was closed, Eastmoor Road was constructed and the road through the village was diverted near the church to join the old back road near where the six houses on Swaffham Road now stand.

Shortly after this there was one last change in the road layout that makes it more familiar to our modern eyes. The road to Foulden was diverted near where the old sawmill was located and followed a more direct line up to the Swaffham Road junction with Eastmoor Road. This new line meant that it bisected property occupied by Robert Hemson, leaving his cottage on the east of the road and

4 his garden on the west side. In fact, it seems that his cottage was demolished and he was forced to move elsewhere in the village. The following map was part of the official documents that authorised the new layout:

Other interesting features of this map is the location of the blacksmith’s shop (Henry Trundle was the village blacksmith at the time) on what is now Fairway and Badger’s End, before its move to number 14 Oxborough; and the appearance of the name Thomas Roan (see the piece on the Public House in this Newsletter).

The following copy is from a drawing (dated 1794) in the possession of Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld and I am grateful for his permission to reproduce it here. It clearly shows the Foulden Road passing to the west of the church but also shows the many buildings between the church and the Hall. One of these was the original public house, before its relocation to the Bedingfeld Arms (see the Research Report on our website at www.oxboroughhistorygroup.org) and the article further on in this Newsletter.

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Recent Acquisitions to the Archive

The photograph of the 1794 drawing is one of several recent additions to the archive. They include photographs (thanks to Mary Saunders and Yvonne Jenner for many of these), copies of documents from the Record Office (such as log books of the two schools and church terriers), several maps, programmes and guides, and lots of personal items from local people (for which we are very grateful), including agreements for the appointment of a local teacher, school workbooks, reminiscences and ration coupons from the Second World War.

This splendid photograph of the RC school in 1914-18 (given to us by Tony Lambert) is an example of our burgeoning archive:

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Back row: R Akers, B Cook, A Lambert, M English, A English. Middle row: H English, H Greef, W Greef, L English, E Billman, T Akers, M Cook, Mrs Warner (teacher). Front row: F Greef, A Billman, H English, M Cook, M Billman, J English, G Akers, N Lambert.

…and this more recent photograph shows the temporary doorway at St John’s Church following the collapse of the spire and tower in April 1948. Anyone know the happy couple?

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