about Dereham The Dereham wayfinding project is now making good progress and the content of most of the interpretation panels is now near to being finalised. Some of the text and images is still in the final stages of design and proof-reading and corrections and undergoing some tweaks. The overall look and feel and content was approved by the Dereham Wayfinding Partnership at a meeting on 16th November. However, this should not be published as some of the con- tent will undoubtedly change as we seek to gain permissions for images etc. We aim to have the artwork finalised by Xmas so that manufacturing and installation can start in the New year for completion by early May. Dereham Windmill The last of Dereham’s windmills There used to be seven or eight windmills in Dereham but this is the last one remaining. It was built in 1836 as a flour mill by local baker Michael Hardy and James Hardy, a millwright of Toftwood. It was in use for exactly 100 years and ceased working in 1937. The windmill consisted of a brick tower with a wooden boat-shaped cap, four double shuttered sails and a six-bladed fantail. The cap carried the bearings for the windshaft and sails and revolved around a circular iron track to face the wind. It had five floors and all the machinery necessary to drive two pairs of grinding stones. During World War 1, it was used for grist milling, grinding oats and barley for animal feed and even acorns for pigs. By 1922 the millstones were driven by a steam engine and the sails were no longer needed, so they were taken down. It became a Grade II Listed Building in 1972, by which time it had lost its cap and had become very dilapidated. The listing saved the building as the owners wanted to demolish it. In 1979 Breckland District Council purchased the building for £1.00. Much of the machinery had already been removed and it was decided to restore the mill as a landscape feature and not to full working order. The restored mill was opened in1987 and was subsequently taken into the care of Dereham Town Council in 2002. A video portrays Miller William Fendick who Find out why Withburga These beautiful cottages Opened by the Queen A great venue for live Dereham Station and The last windmill in bought the mill in 1844. He became a saint and see house Dereham’s Mother in 1983, an oasis performance, workshops track has been restored Dereham, now restored talks to visitors about what her holy well at the west museum and are in the of tranquility off Church and meetings with a 300 by volunteers and is now as a visitor centre with life was like as a miller in side of the town ancient heart of the town Street near the Guildhall seat auditorium fully operational parking and tea rooms the 19th century. From the windmill to Dereham town centre is only one mile, about a 20 There are several interesting sites to see in the town and leisure activities such In 2011 the Friends of Dereham Windmill minute walk or a few minutes by car. There is ample parking in the town as the leisure centre, the recreation ground and skate park and play areas. secured funding to complete the restoration and centre and a very good shopping offer with a mix of national brands and Neatherd Moor offers a chance to play and walk away from the roads and re-open the windmill as a visitor and exhibition independent shops and cafes. take in some of the diverse flora and fauna at any time of year. centre. Learn more at derehamwindmill.co.uk Produced by the Dereham Wayfinding Partnership of Dereham Town Council, Breckland Council, Norfolk County Council, the aboutDereham Partnership and Dereham Heritage Trust Dereham Livestock Market Welcome to Dereham! In front of you is the market place. On market days a hundred years ago it would have been full of people buying and selling all the necessities of life and much else too. But if you had arrived here on a Friday, the first thing you would have noticed would have been the sight, sound and smell of livestock, around you here, and in much of the rest of the town centre. In front of you, where the war memorial now stands, there was an obelisk with mileages to nearby towns and next to that - sheep pens! On your right were cattle and they were up Theatre Street on your left too. Pigs If you looked back behind were in the car park behind you. Down you 100 years ago on a Friday 1850 – Slaters Directory the other end of the Market Place, farm this is the view you would have Dereham - The market, held on Friday, has lately attained great machinery was displayed in front of what seen looking into Cherry Tree importance, and dealers in the country around: very considerable is now the cinema. car park. business is transacted in corn and cattle, and this market is esteemed as one of the best in the county for pigs. Beyond that, horses were in Church Street and, furthest of all, poultry was in Bull Inn 1869 - The Farmer’s Magazine Yard, down the High Street towards the There is a great sale for old sows in the autumn at East Dereham library. market, and they will sometimes be found there nearly eight hundred strong. The North Country dealers come to meet them and take them Dereham’s very popular markets were to Yorkshire, where they are sold at £3 to £5 each, and duly grazed renowned throughout England in the 1906 into bacon. nineteenth century and trade flourished YOU helped by the advent of the railway. ARE The stone water trough HERE is used now as a flower bed but was originally To find your way gifted to the town in around the town 1913 by the Norfolk & Norwich branch of the and learn more RSPCA, for the animals. about places to The bottom trough was visit, please go for sheep, cats and dogs, and look at the while the top was for the information board cattle and horses. On in the middle of the end was a fountain for human consumption the Market Place of fresh cold water. Produced by the Dereham Wayfinding Partnership of Dereham Town Council, Breckland Council, Norfolk County Council, the aboutDereham Partnership and Dereham Heritage Trust The map shows the centre of Dereham and the locations of Each of the sites described below has an information panel the main attractions. These are all within a short walking which tells us more about the story of Dereham and some of distance of the town centre and Market Place. its notable residents. These are shown as an ‘i’ in a red dot. Dereham’s history begins This beautiful timber-framed, This tranquil walled garden Built in 1818 as a coachworks, The station dates from 1846. Dereham’s only remaining around AD 654 when King thatched building is noted was dedicated to the Queen this is now a restored Grade II After passenger services windmill, no longer working, Anna’s daughter Withburga for its unusual frieze of Mother in 1983. Today it is listed building with several ended in 1969 it was leased has been restored as a visitor founded a nunnery here. coloured pargeting. used for occasional concerts interesting features. to a local company, but was and exhibition centre. and as an ideal location for later ravaged by fire. In AD 970 the manor of Originally three cottages, photographs following a The building began life as The fact that there were once Dereham was granted to the these are the oldest surviving wedding ceremony in the a coach building works and In 1998 the station became several windmills in this area Abbot of Ely. The Abbot domestic buildings in nearby Registry Office. was converted to a memorial part of the Mid-Norfolk shows that the grain trade decided to move Withburga’s Dereham and may once have hall around 1920. The blank Railway, and was then was very important to the body to the abbey. In the been alms houses. Also near the garden is the arcading on the ground floor restored to its former glory. town in the 19th century. dead of night the Ely monks Grade II listed Guildhall replaces shop fronts. It was carried off the body, to The row of three cottages which was once the seat of converted into a magnificent Now visitors can step back This windmill stands in its the dismay of the townsfolk. survived the great fires of local government, converted entertainment venue in 2011. in time on its platforms and own protected Field in Trust 1581 and 1679 and then into a mansion in 1548. travel on the heritage trains. with car parking and a After the body had been much later escaped the The building is now home to With its museum space, cafe, community cafe and moved, a spring of water with bombs dropped during the The gardens are a great place several meeting rooms and shop and special heritage rail meeting room on the site. healing properties sprang up Zeppelin raid of 1915. It is to start or end a walk along a well equipped auditorium events, there is something for Visit the mill to find out about in her grave at Dereham. now the town’s Museum. Ted Ellis Way. seating up to 300. everyone to enjoy. its history and restoration.