Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Norfolk

  • Stalham – St. Mary’s Church

    Stalham – St. Mary’s Church

    St. Mary’s Church in Stalham dates to the fourteenth century.

    The chancel in the south side is rather devoid of windows, but there are at least some on the north side. The chancel was entirely reconstructed in 1827 (and the rood screen was removed), with the nave and aisles also restored in the 1850s. The west porch was reconstructed in 1872 and the chancel was once again amended in 1886 when the roof was raised.

    The 70-foot high west tower once had a belfry on top, but that fell down. Which isn’t ideal.

    The tower, impressive in height as it already is, was never finished to its originally intended height thanks to the Reformation and the upheaval in the church. The window was amended and patched up, with the remains of that handiwork still being clearly visible, and perhaps there were once dreams that it would one day be completed.

    This is probably one of the few churches which had a fire engine unit in its churchyard, but more on this in another post. Also rather interesting, or to me anyway, is that the Maid’s Head pub was built in the town in 1380 so that the builders of the church had someone to go for a drink. I look forwards to going back to see the church when the interior is open, for numerous reasons, but partly to see the font which was hidden in the floor to prevent it being destroyed during the Reformation and was only rediscovered in 1964.

  • Potter Heigham – St. Nicholas’s Church (Walter Robert Linkhorn)

    Potter Heigham – St. Nicholas’s Church (Walter Robert Linkhorn)

    Walter Robert Linkhorn is buried in the churchyard of St. Nicholas’s Church in Potter Heigham. He was born on 29 March 1887, the son of farm labourer William and Sarah Ann Linkhorn, and the official records say he was baptised on the same day (very efficient if true, but probably not). At the 1891 census, Walter was living in Potter Heigham with his parents, along with his older brothers James, Edward, Charles and Francis, as well as with his older sisters Sarah and Priscilla.

    By the 1901 census, the Linkhorn family had moved to Hickling Road in Catfield and along with his parents, he was living with James, Sarah, Charles and Francis as well with his nephew Norice (that name doesn’t sound right, but I can’t see what else it says) and niece Victoria. All of the males of the Linkhorn family were by this time working as farm labourers, although I can’t imagine what other jobs there would be in the Potter Heigham area.

    Walter joined the Royal Naval Reserve with service number 5073/DA and served on HMS Attentive III. I don’t have much knowledge in this area (well, none really), but I think HMS Attentive III was shore-based, so something of an administrative unit. Walter died of illness on 14 March 1919, having reached the rank of deck-hand, with his next of kin being his father, William Linkhorn, who by this stage lived at Howe Hill in Ludham. As an aside, some of his medals were sold recently in an auction, which seems a slightly sad end to the story.

  • Potter Heigham – St. Nicholas’s Church (Fence in Tree)

    Potter Heigham – St. Nicholas’s Church (Fence in Tree)

    This caught my eye at St. Nicholas’s Church in Potter Heigham as I like the idea that the tree and fence have been here for decades, getting ever closer.

  • Potter Heigham – St. Nicholas’s Church

    Potter Heigham – St. Nicholas’s Church

    I still struggle to think of Potter Heigham without linking it to Latham’s and their memorable radio ads, but this church is a little way from there and in a relatively peaceful countryside spot. It dates from the twelfth century, although the nave was substantially remodelled in the early sixteenth century. The round tower has some heritage, probably twelfth century but perhaps as early as the eleventh century, with some Norman elements visible in the main structure of the tower and church.

    The chancel is from the thirteenth century and remains thatched, making a curious difference to the leaded nave. And, this is recent, the nave was changed from thatch to lead in the last decade and although I’m sure it was necessary for some technical reason, I can’t say it looks aesthetically particularly pleasing.

    The sizeable porch, which has gates from the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

    The church’s round tower had an octagonal top added in the fourteenth century, a relatively common regional addition that has been better executed here than in some local churches.

    The sizeable and peaceful churchyard, which seems a little bereft of older graves and I do wonder where they’ve gone. It hasn’t always looked in such good repair, when some antiquarians visited it in 1870, they noted “the churchyard looked as if the inhabitants were using it as a place for the cultivation of the rankest weeds”. They also added that the church needed “judicious restoration”, which was a typical Victorian strategy that often caused more damage than good to the buildings.

    Getting inside the church isn’t yet possible, although it apparently holds some treasures in the form of medieval wall paintings and a hammer-beam roof of note.

  • Brunstead – St. Peter’s Church

    Brunstead – St. Peter’s Church

    Although there are some farm buildings by this church, there’s not much else and this is another location that feels just a bit trapped in time. The church feels a little uncared for as well, it needs the foliage taking out of the tower and it doesn’t feel like a building that is much visited. But, it’s easier to feel a connection with the past with structures like this, whereas nearby Stalham church felt a bit too neat and regimented.

    The church was originally thatched and the main body of the church dates to the fourteenth century, although the tower is fifteenth-century. The porchway is also contemporary to this period and the niche above the door seems to have been empty for some time.

    Incidentally, it’s not clear to me whether this village should be spelt Brumstead or Brunstead, as both seem to be acceptable. However, the village sign near the church says Brunstead and so that’s what I’m going with. Historically, the word Brunstead appears far more than Brumstead, which makes me feel that I’ve made the right choice.

    I puzzled over why the church was so full of character and history, other than this end wall at the east of the building. The listed building record explains why, that’s because they pulled the chancel down in the 1820s and sealed that wall off. It seems that the chancel was taken down before it fell down, but it has created something of a disharmony to the building.

    The buttressing here isn’t subtle, very much laid into the fabric of the church and it doesn’t fit in very much aesthetically. But, I think it adds great character.

    There’s something quite haunting about this church, still proudly standing, although it feels like it needs some support in all senses of the word.

    I look forwards to being able to get inside the church in the future and I’m intrigued by a newspaper article from 1867 which talks about the great excitement there was when an old wall painting was discovered which was of the seven deadly sins. There seems no mention of this in the official listed record, so I’m wondering whether this mural has been lost.

  • Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Pair of Walking Figures by Lynn Chadwick)

    Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Pair of Walking Figures by Lynn Chadwick)

    This bronze is by Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) and is in the sculpture garden of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. The design was for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and there were six casts made in 1978, of which this is one. Incidentally, if anyone fancies owning this, one came up for auction (number 2 of 6) in 2018 and reached just under £2.6 million against an estimate of £600,000 to £800,000. That seems like a lot of money to me…..

    Anyway, I have no idea where the other five bronzes are (or indeed if this is the one which sold in 2018), probably mostly in private collections somewhere around the world and surfacing only for occasional exhibitions. These ones were meant to be removed from the Sainsbury collection at the end of 2019, so will likely be gone soon as they’re only on loan from the collection of Denise Coates CBE (the controversial business leader who made money from her betting business) and Richard Smith.

    The figures are quite powerful with their different shaped heads and angular designs.

  • Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Draped Reclining Woman)

    Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Draped Reclining Woman)

    For some time, and inspired by the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, I became quite engaged with the works of Auguste Rodin. Not just the artworks, but also how French law now allows for twelve casts to be made of original plaster moulds and that means it’s intriguing to see where the various bronzes have ended up.

    There’s a similar theme to the works of Henry Moore (1898-1986) and the bronze known as Draped Reclining Woman was designed in 1958. There’s the original cast, known as 0/6, and then six castings were made of this original work and this was undertaken by Hermann Noack.

    This bronze, now on display in the sculpture park of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the UEA, was once located in the garden of Sir Robert Sainsbury (1906-2000). He was the son of the founder of the supermarket chain and he also donated a significant art collection to the gallery.

    Wikipedia, that bastion of truth, tells me where the other bronzes are.

    The Tate Museum (they’ve put it on display at Glyndebourne near Lewes)

    Pinakothek der Moderne (a modern art gallery in Munich, which is a city I haven’t visited)

    The Staatsgalerie (a gallery in Stuttgart, another city I haven’t visited)

    The Norton Simon Museum (this is in Pasadena, a city I’ve visited, but not the museum and they have the 0/6, so the original cast)

    The two others are in private collections (so, could be anywhere)

  • Wroxham – Marle Pit Token

    Wroxham – Marle Pit Token

    This threepence alloy token (© The Trustees of the British Museum) is in the collections of the British Museum and it dates from 1797, when it was used to pay agricultural workers in Wroxham. There were three main periods when these trade tokens were used, the first crisis was in the mid-seventeenth century, the second crisis was in the 1790s and the third crisis was in 1810 and the years that followed. The crisis came about because there was a shortage of small coins in circulation and thousands of these different tokens came to be issued. There’s a big collectors industry now built up around the collection of these tokens and there was a novelty about them at the time as well.

    The British Museum acquired this token in 1818, given by Lady Dorothea Banks, and they came from a collection established by her sister-in-law, Sarah Sophia Banks, who had died in the same year as the donation was made.

  • Hoveton – Etching by John Crome

    Hoveton – Etching by John Crome

    I’m not sure exactly where this etching was made, but it’s somewhere in the area near to St. Peter’s Church in Hoveton. It was drawn in either 1811 or 1812 by John Crome (1768-1821), a local artist who was one of the founders of the Norwich School of painters. There’s something timeless about the etching, and although I can’t place where it was drawn, it probably looks the same today. Well, unless it’s now under a housing estate, but given how peaceful and remote St. Peter’s Church is, I rather hope not. One thing that I hadn’t realised until today is that Crome was also a teacher at Norwich School, as in the educational establishment and not the painting circle.

    The plate was sold by Mrs. Judkin to the British Museum in 1872 following the death of her collector husband, Thomas James Judkin, who had died the year before. This etching, which is © The Trustees of the British Museum, isn’t on display in the museum and there’s also a similar one in their collections.

  • Hoveton – Granary Staithe

    Hoveton – Granary Staithe

    Granary Staithe is located by the bridge which separates Wroxham and Hoveton (clicking on the above map makes it easier to see) on a spot in Hoveton by the river. It’s the bit under the right-hand Norwich Road on the second map.

    The River Bure, with Granary Staithe on the right. There were concerns in 2012 when the owners of the land, Norfolk County Council, wanted to sell it for £250,000 or lease it for £25,000 per year. The only problem was that the Broads Authority said they’d oppose any building on the site, so plans to make it an attraction or similar wouldn’t have been viable. After some fund-raising, Hoveton Parish Council were able to buy the land and it opened as a public area in March 2013.

    No shortage of swans, mostly looking for food from visitors. One disadvantage of this part of the village is that it’s a bit swamped with seagulls hoping to grab some chips from locals who have visited the neighbouring fish & chip shop.

    A useful history board about Granary Staithe, which is visible behind it with seating and excellent views over the river. Before the council acquired the land, it had been a flat area which visitors could use, but it’s now been tidied up.