Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Norwich – Norwich Cathedral (Virtual Tour)

    Norwich – Norwich Cathedral (Virtual Tour)

    This photo is from one of my visits to Norwich Cathedral Library, a beautiful part of the building that I’d very much recommend. Anyway, the reason for this blog post is because of the rather lovely virtual tour that the cathedral has unveiled.

    Available for free at https://www.cathedral.org.uk/visit/virtual-cathedral-tour, it allows people to use their phones or laptops to explore the Cathedral. The quality of the imagery is excellent and it’s a quite marvellous alternative since sections of the building aren’t currently open to the public. It would be really positive if more historic buildings could be shown in this way, especially if some more behind the scenes sections were also shown.

  • Forncett St Mary – St. Mary’s Church (John William Colenso)

    Forncett St Mary – St. Mary’s Church (John William Colenso)

    A recent wooden carving of Colenso which is on display at St. Mary’s

    It’s clear from items around St. Mary’s Church in Forncett St. Mary that they’re rather proud of John William Colenso, their former rector who went on to become the first Bishop of Natal.

    One of the displays at St. Mary’s.

    Colenso was born in Cornwall in 1814 and was educated at St. John’s College, although this whole process required some considerable financial initiative to self-fund. He was the Second Wrangler at Cambridge University, meaning that he received the second highest marks for maths, so there’s little doubt he had lots of academic ability. Anyway, after some time spent teaching, he decided to take on the role of rector at St. Mary’s Church in 1846.

    It was reported in the local press that Colenso had taken over the Rectory at Forncett St. Mary and become rector, with a value of £979. The position of rector back then wasn’t one which required any religious qualifications, it was more a way of living and the role had to be purchased. It wasn’t essential then for rectors to be ordained, although Colenso was, he had been ordained by the Lord Bishop of Ely in May 1840.

    Colenso spent seven years at St. Mary’s, before being invited to become the first Bishop of Natal, a post he took up in June 1853. His interest in the well-being of the Zulu ethnic group was notable, and caused some local opposition. Another issue was that Colenso had a mathematical background and was interested in fact and logic, so he had some issues with some of the text in the Bible. He wrote in his book “Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined” that he had concerns and he also stated that he opposed the idea that sinners should be eternally punished.

    There were attempts to remove him from his post and Robert Gray, the Bishop of Cape Town, the man who had encouraged Colenso to go to Natal, now decided that he should be charged with heresy. The situation wasn’t, to be honest, entirely ideal for the church. Colenso was found guilty of heresy, then the Church of England decided that they had no jurisdiction and so reversed their decision. Colenso was sort of sacked in 1869, but also sort of retained his role, all caused by creating a dual system and a divided church. The Cathedral of Natal today recognises both sides in the whole debate, so healing has finally taken place.

    Colenso in the 1860s. Used under licence (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

    Colenso was interested in the matter of polygenism, a belief that different races were created separately by God at the same time. Often used to promote racial inequality, Colenso came from the angle that everyone should be equal because they were created equal. Although this field has been rejected now by science, Colenso did much work on ensuring that the rights of everyone in South Africa were looked after, and that wasn’t universally accepted at the time (nor indeed for a long time after).

    Colenso in the 1870s. Used under licence (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

    Colenso died on 20 June 1883 in Durban at the age of 69, still in his role as the Bishop of Natal. This takes me back to the church in Forncett St Mary, which feels a very long way from South Africa. Colenso had married Sarah Frances Bunyon in 1846, the same year he took over the rectorship at St. Mary’s, and they had five children. One of those children, Harriette Colenso, became a Christian missionary in South Africa, and another, Frances Colenso, became an historian of the Zulu Wars.

    On 22 June 1883, the Eastern Daily Press published an article on Colenso’s life, noting how the Church in South Africa had been split into two following the debates that he had raised. The newspaper noted that he was “an ardent defender of the African against the white man” and how “his sympathies often lay with the Africans”. The parish register for the church of St. Mary is in the possession of the Norfolk Record Office and Colenso’s name is present at nearly every baptism that took place during the years he was there, a seemingly very meticulous rector. And he could have had a good living in Forncett St. Mary for very many years, but he decided to spread the Christian message in South Africa, so I can imagine that he was quite a character.

  • Forncett St Peter – St. Peter’s Church

    Forncett St Peter – St. Peter’s Church

    This is the pretty little church of Forncett St. Peter’s, located a short distance away from St. Mary’s. The fortunes of these churches have perhaps been reversed over recent years, with St. Mary’s going from being derelict to now being repaired and restored, whilst St. Peter’s is literally falling apart.

    What is clearly evident when approaching this stone tower is that it’s remarkable, and very different to other round towers in Norfolk. There are Saxon windows visible within it, there’s a Norman style door at the base and it doesn’t look overly repaired. Indeed, this tower dates from around 1000AD (that’s what the church think, other historians place it a bit later, but I like the church’s guess), making it over 1,000 years old, another remarkable survival. This heritage means this is one of the best preserved Saxon round towers in the entire country, with the church noting there’s an old medieval staircase inside that can be viewed by appointment.

    The side of the round tower, with the Saxon window visible in the middle, and the listed building record also notes that the upper windows have evidence of reused Roman brick. George Plunkett took a photo of the church shortly before the beginning of the Second World War and, unsurprisingly, not much has changed since then. I should have noted the existence of this photo earlier, as I could have taken a photo from the same place to see if any of the gravestones had been lost (I need to get out more….), but that treat can be for another day. I thought it was quite evocative just thinking that 1,000 years ago that there were workmen standing in this exact place on ladders and wooden scaffolding who were building this tower.

    The chancel of the church and for anyone who finds these things interesting, take a closer look at that chancel wall for something……

    The church has some makeshift ways of dealing with drainage and those areas are out of bounds for safety reasons.

    I didn’t note this when walking around the church, only when reading the listed building record did I go back to take photos. But, there’s the old window, with the Priest’s Door having been punched through in the thirteenth century.

    There’s the outline of it.

    Unfortunately, the church has been closed since 2020, as sections of plaster fell off the wall and the building wasn’t considered safe. The damp evident in the porch is perhaps the least of their problems at the moment, as the church needs £750,000 for its restoration efforts.

    Although the damage to the porch isn’t ideal, but the church’s web-site mentions it’s much wider than this:

    “The church is now in desperate need of major repairs and renovations. Most important is the need to make the building watertight – extensive areas need re-roofing, failing lead work needs replacing and faulty gutters, down-pipes and surface drains need repair or replacement. Structural deterioration and cracking of external stone and flint-work has meant that areas of the churchyard have had to be cordoned off in case of falling masonry. Windows, cracked internal masonry, collapsing floor surfaces and areas of death-watch beetle all pose major challenges. The wonderful 15th century Drakes Tomb is suffering from cracking and discolouration. Once the structural work has been completed redecoration will be essential and the remarkable set of carved pew ends can be repaired.”

    The church’s fund-raising efforts are underway, but this sounds like a project that will take many years to bring to a conclusion, but I hope that they are able to make progress in securing donations.

    An 1857 sign from the Incorporated Society for Building and Churches, an organisation which has been providing grants for churches since 1818. It was an unfortunate situation that many churches at this time decided that they would go in for pew rental to raise money, an opportunity for the wealthy to get places in church at the front whilst the poorer were shoved at the back somewhere. The tide on this started to turn in the middle of the nineteenth century and churches started to end the practice, although some parishes were rather more forward thinking than others.

    The Norfolk Chronicle had noted in July 1849 that the interior of the church had been “much improved by the removal of the old pews and the substitution of new oak benches”. There’s an old plan of the church from the mid-nineteenth century on the Lambeth Palace Library archives web-site, but their database has been down for a few hours, so I can’t link directly.

  • Forncett St Mary – St. Mary’s Church

    Forncett St Mary – St. Mary’s Church

    I didn’t really understand this church when looking around it, there was a feel of some rather stark and blunt repairs to the building and an interior which seemed a little whitewashed. But, equally, it was in a good state of repair, a big effort had been made to put up some boards with some history and it all seemed in order. The true story of this church is though remarkable, it has been saved by the community after having fallen derelict. I’m deeply impressed at what has been done here over the last few years, and it explained why so many repairs had been needed. All really quite wonderful. Simon Knott has some photos of the state that this church was in just a few years ago and George Plunkett has a photo from 1992.

    The church on an old tithe map and it’s set back a fair way from the road.

    The church had fallen into a state of disrepair even though it is Grade I listed, with the bulk of the building dating to the thirteenth century, but the tower is a fifteenth century replacement from what stood before. The listed building record notes though that some elements of the nave are from the eleventh century, survivors of the earlier church.

    The chancel, which was repaired during an extensive 1869 restoration, led by the Reverend J Cooper. There were no end of events that took place in 1868 to raise funds for the repairs, showing some of the community effort that has again been notable in recent years.

    The Norwich Mercury reported in April 1870 about the reopening of the church and I like their general comment that “advantage has been taken of the necessary alterations and re-buildings which churches require to graft upon them the whims and fancies of architects, so that we have had a series of abominations perpetrated, at which none are now more ashamed than the clergymen themselves”.

    Fortunately, the newspaper liked the work that had been done at St. Mary’s, commenting that the architect JP Pearce had “followed and adhered to the plan of the original building”. The work had cost £1,000 and the chancel in particular had been heavily restored and a new chancel arch added, with new carvings and stoneworks throughout the church. The newspaper remarked that the thatched roof which “gave the church a poverty stricken look” had been replaced and new Staffordshire tiles had been laid in the chancel and nave.

    A blocked-up window, perhaps a victim long ago of wanting a window with a more modern design.

    The porchway has now been repaired and is in a good state of repair given how it looked just a few years ago in Simon Knott’s photo.

    The church was open and it one of those atmospheres which just felt welcoming, and I liked how there were some history boards up giving further information about John William Colenso. He was the rector of this church between 1846 and 1853 and he went on to become the first Bishop of Natal, in South Africa, a role he remained in until 1883.

    The inside of the church, looking towards the tower. The floorboards have had to be replaced as they had become damaged during the period that the church was derelict, but some of the tiles from the 1869 restoration are still visible.

    And looking along the nave into the chancel.

    There’s something really quite environmental (if that’s the right word there, perhaps not) about how someone’s remains can help the growth of a fine tree. I didn’t notice any early burials, so everything was from the nineteenth century onwards, but there’s an interesting note at the Heritage Norfolk web-site which mentions:

    “Burials did take place prior to this period but headstones were rarely used and multiple burials often occupied the same plot.”

    This helps answer my ongoing question about why are there are often so few headstones in churchyards in Norfolk, and perhaps it’s for the same reason here, that headstones were rarely used and the graves not always carefully marked.

    The new lych gate, with a chunky bench, all of which offers a positive first impression for visitors to the church.

    All in all, this is a glorious restoration and saving of a church which had become redundant in 1985 and then sadly vandalised in the years that followed. It’s disappointing that the Church of England abandoned this church, and they were talking about turning the building into a holiday cottage at one stage. Fortunately, things are much better again today, and what a marvellous community effort to bring this church back from the brink.

  • Norwich History by Parish : St. Julian (Section 1/2)

    Norwich History by Parish : St. Julian (Section 1/2)

    And a new little project that Jonathan and I are undertaking because this lockdown is clearly here for at least a few more weeks. It’s a bit niche (our project I mean, not the lockdown), I’ll accept that, but there we go. Effectively, it’s walking around Norwich, ancient parish by ancient parish and seeing what is there now compared to a map from the 1880s (the map above is from 1789, but the one from the 1880s is more detailed, which is why we used that). There’s a PDF of these boundaries to provide some extra background to this whole project.

    St. Julian is the eight parish we’ve visited and as can be seen from the above PDF, it’s split into two separate areas, with St. Etheldreda in the middle. Given the complexity of that, this post is just about the most northern of the two sections of the parish and the one containing St. Julian’s Church. The other half we’ll do next week (I can imagine the excitement that everyone has already…… or perhaps not…..).

    This is the Waterfront on King Street, a live music venue and club, with this artwork at the front giving some examples of bands and singers who have performed there.

    This is the Waterfront’s riverside drinking area, which is all rather lovely, and it’s on the site of the old mortuary.

    This is Abbey Lane (formerly known as Cockey Lane), with the Waterfront on the left-hand side, looking back towards King Street. It’s also where St. Clement’s Church once stood, in the former parish of St Clement at Conesford. It was united with the parish of St. Julian in 1482, but the church remained open, but fell out of usage in the 1560s. The building was still there in the eighteenth century and it’s though some parts of it might remain underneath the nineteenth century structure of the Waterfront. To add to the mortuary situation, there were numerous burials found here in the 1960s in the former churchyard.

    This is the next street along, Hobrough Lane, and this would have once led down to a ferry which crossed the River Wensum. Once the frontages on King Street would have had residential properties that the wealthy lived in, but over the centuries it all became more of an industrial area.

    This area has now been cleared, but this would have been Greenman Yard and there was a pub, the Green Man, standing where that wall is. This was a pub from the mid-eighteenth century until it was demolished just before the war and George Plunkett took a photo of it in 1936. I’ve written this before, but Norwich is so very fortunate to have had George Plunkett, as I can’t imagine there would have been many other photos taken of this pub.

    Much has been written elsewhere about Dragon Hall (not least this rather lovely volunteer guide from 2005), so there’s little need for me to add a great deal here. It’s a former medieval hall of national importance which was constructed in the early fifteenth century. Although it was constructed as a grand hall for a wealthy man, Robert Toppes, it got sub-divided up over the centuries as King Street became a place more for industry than decadent living. It’s a slight miracle that the building didn’t fall down by the early twentieth century and it was in quite a state. Properties behind the building were removed as part of slum clearance, but the council had the foresight to save Dragon Hall (a name it was given in the 1980s) and take it into their own ownership. Some forward thinking individuals turned this into a museum and its change into the National Centre for Writing is a slightly retrograde step in my view (I’d have liked the building to have remained a museum so its fine interior was accessible to the public), but in all fairness, the new organisation does allow visits to see inside.

    The building to the right (125-129 King Street) on the above photo is historically interesting, but it has been rather marred by the lower floor windows that have been punched into it. I remember this building as BB Adams, the electrical retailer, but it’s been boarded up for some time now. It looked much better as it was in this 1936 photo from George Plunkett.

    The entrance to Old Barge Yard, which takes its name from the pub which traded here from the middle of the nineteenth century until it closed in 1969. The window seats from the Old Barge Yard pub are apparently still visible inside the building.

    Old Barge Yard, which did lead to the River Wensum, although it has now been blocked off.

    One of the old doorways into Dragon Hall and this dates to the early fourteenth century when the building was being constructed, although the decoration is from the fifteenth century. George Plunkett has a photo of the doorway taken in 1935.

    Looking back along Old Barge Yard, towards King Street.

    This was the area behind Dragon Hall which was cleared during the slum removals of the 1930s. The entire site, including the flats behind, are now part of the Saint Anne’s Quarter project.

    Back on King Street, opposite Dragon Hall, is this entrance to Drays Yard. Although it has an historic sounding name, this isn’t original and is a new construct.

    St. Julian’s Alley and that wall to the left is a bit of a survivor. It isn’t the former wall of a building, just something that was built around a property boundary, so it’s done well to be kept and integrated into the newer structure behind it.

    This area hasn’t changed much over the centuries, it’s the churchyard of St. Julian’s Church and the alley named St. Julian’s Alley goes off to the left, straight ahead and to the right. George Plunkett has a photo from 1938 of the building which is behind where I’m standing, although this has now gone and there’s a modern residential property there now.

    St. Julian’s Church, from which the parish takes its name. As I visited here a few weeks ago, I’ll just link into that blog post. George Plunkett has a photo from 1946 which shows the damage which had been done to the building during the air raids, and the city is fortunate that this church was reconstructed.

    This is St. Julian Alley which now ends at Rouen Road, a poorly designed area of the city which has seen housing replaced by car parking and uninspiring buildings. This alley once led on to Crusoe Street.

    This is the view when standing outside of St. Julian’s Church, along what is now Kilderkin Way, but which was once the King Street Old Brewery. Thorn Lane used to stretch from Ber Street to King Street, so would have run through the middle of this site, but only the upper end of Thorn Lane remains. Most of this lies in another parish, so I’ll come back to this in the future. But, as an example, this is what Thorn Lane used to look like in 1938. This is a nicely designed street though which fits into the area well.

    Walking back to King Street, this is a former entrance to the school which sat behind St. Julian’s Church. More on this in a moment.

    Looking back down to King Street.

    This is the same alley as in the above photo from the other end, and it’s called St. Julian’s Alley, which complicates things a little as that’s also the name of the neighbouring alley mentioned earlier.

    This is the site of the school behind St. Julian’s Church, and the one that was accessed through the bricked up gate. I’m not entirely sure why the school is no longer here, perhaps destroyed by the bombing during the Second World War which destroyed most of the church. This is now a housing development called King’s Gate on the map, but is named as St. Cecilia’s Court on the road sign. I imagine that the latter is correct.

    There were two school buildings within the complex, a larger one and a smaller one, the latter survives. It’s now used by the Sue Lambert Trust, a charity who help those who have suffered from sexual abuse.

    The photos of the school site were taken on what is now Music House Lane, named after the historic building in the parish of St. Etheldreda. This is a new name, as this street was once the lower part of Horn Lane, which stretched from Ber Street to King Street.

    This photo is taken from Rouen Road, the new road that was built ploughing through housing that was torn down, looking towards King Street. Someone standing here 100 years ago would have seen St. Julian Street to the left, Horn Lane in front of them (and behind them) and Burleigh Street to the right.

    This is the former route of Horn Lane, and also the edge of the parish boundary. It’s now been blocked off and turned into a walkway, although Horn Lane does continue on the other side. That section of the lane has retained its name, but that’s in a different parish and a story for another day.

    It’s hard to imagine that this was once a thriving community, with people living on what was Garden Street, Bartholomew Street, St. Julian Street and Crusoe Street.

    Walking back down to King Street, that concluded this little meander. King Street is in pretty decent shape in historic terms, so much has been saved there, although there are numerous clumsy planning decisions which have led to some incongruous buildings popping up. The buildings on the site of the King Street Old Brewery are also decent and have retained some interesting architecture, but the area the council decided they’d demolish to build a giant car park is really an eye sore as it stands.

  • Forncett End – St. Edmund’s Church

    Forncett End – St. Edmund’s Church

    There are two medieval churches nearby, but this chapel at ease was built in 1904 to serve the growing residential community in Forncett End.

    The church had just been built when this map was produced, showing the growth of housing in this area.

    The foundation stone of the church was laid on St. Peter’s Day, 29 June 1904. Media reports at the time noted that the residents had needed to walk two miles each way to get to either Forncett St Peter’s Church or Forncett St Mary’s Church, so a new building had been desired for some time. It was only though when the livings of these two churches were merged that the finances allowed for the construction of this new building.

    All very Victorian/Edwardian in design, the project was expected to cost £700 in total, which was raised by subscription, fetes, concerts and numerous bazaars. The new church was designed to seat 110 people, with red brick used in the construction and Cossey brick windows. The work was undertaken by Messrs James & Chellis Humphreys, following plans drawn up by Arthur J Lacey, the Diocesan Surveyor.

    All of the money to construct the church hadn’t been received by the time the building got underway, so it was decided to construct the nave and porch in the first wave, with the second wave adding the chancel. As can be seen, the chancel never got built and the church now has to repair and replace this wooden end from time to time.

    This church was perhaps fortunate to have been built when it was, as the religious fervour of the nineteenth century was starting to fade away. In the decades that followed the great medieval church of Forncett St. Mary became derelict, and only recently has it been saved for the future. Instead of being a chapel at ease for the bigger churches, this is now a convenient size to hold services in, likely quite a cosy atmosphere. It never got its chancel, and I don’t suppose ever will, but at least it remains in use by the local community.

  • Tacolneston – All Saints Church

    Tacolneston – All Saints Church

    This is All Saints Church in Tacolneston and I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t open, but rather more disappointed to read in numerous places on-line that this parish has been, shall we say, perhaps slightly overly keen to keep their building closed to visitors over the last few years.

    On this, I’d add:

    “Our churches belong to everyone. Each stone marks the location where history happened and tells of a significant event in our nation’s story. They are steeped in history. And their architecture will inspire you. Few historic buildings are as easy to visit as a parish church. They are open and welcoming to all. During the week, many churches are unlocked during daylight hours, and those that are not have details on display of where a key can be found.”

    This is the Church of England policy on opening churches, and pandemic aside, I hope there’s more progress in this area over the next few years.

    Why does one church need three scratch dials (or mass dials for those who prefer that)? I have a theory that it’s because one might have been rendered over or just not seen as accurate as it needed to be. There’s something rather quite lovely though that these have likely been here since the medieval period, and were once really useful ways of knowing when the next service was going to be.

    Old graffiti inside the porch.

    The south aisle and the south porch. The building itself mainly dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, although these was a previous church here on this site before then. Francis Blomefield, the reliable Norfolk historian noted in the mid-eighteenth century that this church had been reconstructed in 1503 and he mentioned that the church was thatched when he visited.

    Why is there a kitchen sink at the base of the tower? I don’t know…. For those whose eyes aren’t drawn to this eyesore at the base, the tower itself was built in stages between the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.

    The north doorway, with some random lump of metal by its side.

    The priest’s door.

    A rather pretty little churchyard. The rear section of the church was partly covered by ivy until recently, fortunately now removed.

    And, I have no idea. The random bits and pieces around the church made it feel like something of an art installation.

    Inside the church there is an historic section of the rood screen, an old font and numerous other interesting items of note, and hopefully I’ll get chance to go back when the building is open to see them.

  • Wreningham – All Saints Church (James Ebden)

    Wreningham – All Saints Church (James Ebden)

    This is the gravestone of James Ebden, located in All Saints Church in Wreningham. It caught my eye as the right-hand side of the grave was never filled in, a husband and wife that aren’t both listed.

    James Ebden was buried on 7 March 1836 and the church’s burial record notes that he was aged 59, although the grave says that he was aged 60. A little unusually in terms of the records of this church, but James’s residence was listed as being in Lakenham and not in the village itself.

    The name of James’s wife was Bathsheba Bates (a religious name that wasn’t uncommon, but is much rarer today), which isn’t perhaps entirely clear from the grave itself, and the couple had been living at Portland Place in Lakenham. She was buried in the church on 30 December 1859, but her name doesn’t appear on the list of gravestones which have survived.

    There seem to be two possible outcomes here, since I can’t imagine she ever remarried and she never changed her surname. She was either buried with her husband, but there was no money to complete the inscription, or, she was buried elsewhere in the graveyard without a stone because no-one realised to connect the couple.

    One source notes that the couple had one child, James Ebden (1811-1874) and at first sight that would make the situation strange, as this situation would have been something that he could have resolved. However, the only James Ebden listed as alive in Norfolk in 1871 was at Bethel Hospital which was then listed as a lunatic asylum (better known now as a mental health hospital) in Norwich, which might explain why he hadn’t intervened.

    There’s some guesswork here from me, but I suspect that the couple have been buried together, but there was no money to pay for the stone to be inscribed, hence why it was never completed. I do rather quite hope that the couple were reunited in death.

  • Ashwellthorpe – Village Sign

    Ashwellthorpe – Village Sign

    As another one of my random asides, I thought that this was one of the more interesting and creative village signs that I’ve seen. Village signs became popular in the early twentieth century when King Edward VII saw a sign in Norfolk that he liked and he thought that they were a marvellous idea, so the numbers spread quickly.

    I thought that this was all rather modern in how it looked.

    However, the sign was created back in 1977 to mark the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and it appears to be well ahead of its time. The current sign is some sort of more plastic replacement for the original which seems to have somehow fallen apart in the 1990s, but the design was kept exactly the same (I think).

    All Saints Church stands behind the village sign.

    This depicts the tombs of Sir Edmund de Thorpe and Lady Joan de Thorpe (and dogs at their feet), located in the church.

    A reference to the Knyvett Letters, which included correspondence from Oliver Cromwell.

    And perhaps my favourite, the dragon door knocker thing (that’ll have to do as my technical explanation) from inside the church.

    And here’s the real one. Unfortunately, the church was locked so I couldn’t get photos of the tombs.

    Definitely a very creative village sign, with the style of font (I mean in terms of printing, not the font in the church) still feeling modern.

    Also, whilst trying to search for more information about this sign, I found an article from the Sunday Mirror in 1978 which noted:

    “Farmer Cyril Muskett has dropped plans for a US trip by Concorde and is giving the money to his local parish church at Ashwellthorpe in Norwich for their church repairs”.

    What a very admirable decision.

  • Wreningham – All Saints Church (John Henry Ireland)

    Wreningham – All Saints Church (John Henry Ireland)

    There are two Commonwealth war graves listed in the churchyard of All Saints Church in Wreningham, and neither of them have the traditional shape and style of stone as the families must have opted for something unique. This made identifying them a little more difficult, although fortunately the CWGC provide details of their approximate location in the churchyard. For anyone wanting to find this grave, it’s in the north-east part, behind the church and just a short walk from the chancel.

    This grave commemorates the life of John Henry Ireland, the son of William and Sarah Alice Ireland. It also lists the death of his younger brother, Robert, who died on 12 October 1916 and is commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial in France. There was also another brother who went to fight in the war, but he survived the conflict.

    This makes the 1911 census relevant, and indeed poignant, as it is a snapshot of time for this family when there was perhaps lots of hope for the future. The family lived in Wreningham, with William (aged 56) working as a farmer, Sarah Alice (aged 51) looking after the house, William John (aged 26) working as a groom and cowman, Robert Ireland (aged 21) working as labourer, Martha (aged 14), John Henry (aged 11) who was at school and Florence (aged 7). In total, William and Sarah Alice had ten children, of whom one had died by the time of the 1911 census.

    When the First World War broke out, John Henry would have been 15 and it must have all felt very distant for him, although his brothers were already off to war and so he would have been aware of what was going on. Perhaps early on he was quite excited about going to fight alongside them, but his brother’s death in 1916 must have been very tough to deal with. And John reacted to that by still going to serve his country, a decision of some bravery.

    During his time in the military, he served as a private in the 7th battalion of the Royal West Surrey Regiment, with service number 70053. I don’t know what he was doing in that regiment (I have little knowledge of the make-up of regiments during this conflict), but this had been formed as one of the new armies (or the Kitchener Army). Unfortunately, his war records haven’t survived, another loss during the Second World War air raids over London.

    The grave gives more information than usual about the events that led to the death of John. It notes that he was injured at Albert in France on 2 August 1918, which is part of the Somme region. He was unfortunate, the Hundred Days Offensive started in early August 1918 and was the last major conflict on the western front that took place during the First World War. John was returned home to the UK from France, but he then died of his wounds in Newport, Wales on 26 November 1918. John died at the age of just 19. His body was then returned to the village where he grew up, and probably had rarely left before he went off to war.

    The 1921 census will be published in early 2022 and for this family, the ten years were certainly ones that they could never have been imagined when they completed their previous forms a decade before. The two young men were injured very close together, although a couple of years apart, as Thiepval is only about five miles from Albert.