Holkham Newsletter
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Winter/Spring 2008 G Issue No.15 HOLKHAM NEWSLETT ER AVING to make the decision to close down the HHolkham Pottery factory this summer was a sad one. Holkham Pottery was started more than 50 years ago by the fifth Earl’s wife, Elizabeth, and at its peak, employed 100 people and sold its distinctive pottery around the world. However in today’s competitive and global market (where more than half the world’s pottery is made in China), it was no longer viable to continue production. Despite its dedicated and long-serving staff, it had been losing money. My thanks to Douglas Codman, Jane Bray and Nancy Hipkin who, between them, worked at the Pottery for a total of 115 years. My responsibility is to the Hall and wider estate and I am afraid that sometimes, tough decisions have to be made. Holkham Pottery was one of the estate’s first attempts at diversification away from agriculture. In the past few years there have been many more, but agriculture — and the land — still play a very important part in the make-up of the estate, both visually and financially. It was therefore a huge honour for my father, Holkham and its employees, when he was awarded the The Bledisloe Gold Medal by the Royal Agricultural Society, in The end of an era recognition of outstanding achievement in the successful land management and development of an English agricultural estate. Holkham Pottery has On the subject of agriculture, it is pleasing to see the return ceased production after 56 years in business, see pages 10-12 to Holkham of South Devon cattle, which were Coke of Norfolk’s preferred breed more than 150 years ago. It is, however, sad that we do not have any sheep this year. Apart from 2000 and 2002 (the year after the last foot and mouth outbreak) we have had sheep at Holkham continuously since the 19th century, but I am confident they will return. I would like to record my thanks to the many estate All the fun of the Fair employees who this summer worked some extremely long and unsocial hours. In particular, the farm men who worked for 30 This year’s Holkham Country Fair enabled the consecutive days in trying conditions from 7.30am until 10pm estate to donate more than £20,000 to a number as they brought the harvest in: a magnificent effort. Also, our of charities and organisations, see page 8 chefs who work split shifts day in, day out and the many other people on the estate who regularly work nights, such as those in the hotel and pub, the Hall and of course, the gamekeepers.Your hard work does not go unnoticed and we are most grateful for your commitment. The Holkham Country Fair on 21 and 22 July was, as ever, a success. Congratulations to the team who put together an continued on page two www.holkham.co.uk excellent, new and thought-provoking Holkham stand. As a positive letters and comments from visitors commenting on result of such a great fair, we have been able to give away the excellent visitor experience: “One of the best experiences £20,000 to local charities and countryside organisations, I have had in well over 150 stately homes in England,” was how which will be followed by a further £20,000 next year. In one summed it up. addition, we helped the Norfolk Churches Trust (of which Lady Leicester was vice chairman at the time), to raise £30,000 through a ‘Stately Car Boot Sale’ at the Hall. Finally, my thanks to the Room Stewards in the Hall and to the staff in the Stables Café. I have never seen so many Viscount Coke Archives MANY of my extracts from the Archives for previous Newsletters have illustrated life at Holkham during the past 400 years. Much of the information in the records relates to other parts of the estate, so I am starting the alphabet again, with snippets relating to various Norfolk properties. A is for Ashill The manor of Panworth Hall, near Ashill, about six miles south-east of Swaffham, was bought by Sir Edward Coke in 1590 and sold by the third Earl of Leicester in 1912. Two maps, drawn in 1581, are still in the Archives. These are the oldest maps we have; most of the 160 estate maps are from the 18th century but, remarkably, no fewer than 14 maps are dated before 1700. The cartographer, Thomas Clerke, was apparently in a light-hearted mood when he drew the Ashill map. B is for Beck Hall Beck Hall, at Billingford, was another of Sir Edward Coke’s purchases, bought in 1606. The tenant, Sir John Prettyman, ABOVE: Detail from left it ‘in a very decay’d condition’ in 1618 and rebuilding the Thomas Clerke’s map of Ashill, 1581. house cost £200. Another £150 was spent on repairs 20 years later. When Thomas Coke succeeded to the estate in 1718, As his agent told Thomas Coke: ‘By the very great charges his grandmother’s second husband, Horace Walpole, had a that have attended the repairs and alterations of the manor lease of Beck Hall in return for repairing it, apparently house at Beck Hall, you may see that great houses, unless they unsatisfactorily. are used as the mansion house of the family, are burthens [burdens] upon the estate.’ C is for Creake The school at South Creake, like many on the estate, was subsidised by the Earl of Leicester and his tenants. It was enlarged to take the Waterden children in 1874. In 1882, the vicar wrote to the agent at Holkham with news of the school since the advent of a new head teacher. Attendance was improving, without the need for compulsion: ‘The good sense of the people, joined with the tact & energy of the teachers (who soon gained the love of the children) have done all that was needful… last year we had 228 children on the books: the average attendance was 153… an improvement on previous years. This year we have 208 on the ABOVE: Proposed school at North Creake, drawn by S.S. books and the average attendance is 163, i.e. three quarters Teulon, 1846 — 2 — are daily in school… The smaller number on the books is due to the fact that hitherto there was a residuary of dull HOLKHAM ones left by the old system, who had not passed the standard to enable them to go to work. Now these are all weeded out, FARMING or superannuated!’ COMPANY LTD The vicar lamented the fact that the payment by the I am sure I am not the only one bemoaning the wrong sort parents was only one penny a week: in his previous parish in of weather this year, but it would seem that all that could go Westmorland they had willingly paid three pence or four wrong, actually did. pence, ‘but there the people thoroughly appreciate education. Here they are only learning to do so. But they are learning’. The incredibly dry start to the spring gave ideal conditions for establishing sugar beet and spring barley. As the dry time continued, worries emerged over poor potential yields due Christine Hiskey to lack of water. At least with the reservoir in the Park, Archivist revenue from irrigation could help ease the pain. But no! As the potatoes and carrots started requiring water, the heavens opened and it rained and rained in torrents. At least the spring barley was saved, but the sugar beet did not like sitting with wet roots without any sun and in some places locally, the crop has died completely. On the lighter land it held on CAN YOU HELP? but any thoughts of a record tonnage soon vanished. As harvest began, the warm sun returned to at least allow a relatively easy start. Yields looked about average so all was not lost. Then the fortnight of constant drizzle in August caused wheat and barley to sprout in the ear. This is disastrous for malting barley, as the maltsters prefer to grow the barley in a controlled environment, not the field. So, virtually all the spring barley is destined for animal feed. The wheats lost yield and also the specific weights dropped below the magic 72kg/hl figure and deliveries are being subject to penalties. At least the autumn has been kind and crops have been drilled in good conditions, but now we could do with some rain! During the summer, the grain drier at Egmere proved frustrating to say the least. We were hampered by an electrician who talked a better job than he did! I quote: I have just received a lovely batch of photographs from the “Don’t worry, I’ll have it all running 100% before you know it. daughter of one of the maids who worked at Holkham in We had the same with another farm a few years ago and I’ve about 1938-41. never been back to it.” I wonder why? These photos are two of several recently sent by Molly Some of you will have noticed the red cattle in the Park Kearn, nee Dunn. Her father, Bill Dunn, was the head recently (see photo below). John Smith, the new herd gardener and the family lived in The Bothy until 1950. Her manager, has bought a small herd of South Devon cows and mother, nee Brenda Standen, second from left in this photo, calves. This will become the nucleus for the suckler herd at worked in the Hall around 1938-41.