Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

Martham – St. Mary’s Church

There was probably a church on this site in late Saxon times and a recent archaeological dig discovered the foundations of a round tower from the twelfth century. What stands today though is primarily from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.

I must admit to being a little unimpressed with the printed ‘NO ENTRY’ paper signs that the church has placed on the locked porch doors. For those who had hoped to see when the church might be once again open for prayer, they weren’t informative nor did they offer any guidance to parishioners. Given that their web-site is telling people that the rector is once again available daily in the church, it all felt a bit unwelcoming.

Known as “the Cathedral of the Fleggs” as it’s the grandest church in the area, the tower stands over 100 feet in height. The church’s original chancel was completed between 1456 and 1469 by Robert Everard, who also designed the spire of Norwich Cathedral. I would have liked to have seen this, but as it was falling down by the nineteenth century, it was replaced with an entirely new chancel between 1855 and 1861 which was designed by Phillip Boyce. Pevsner was impressed by the quality of the workmanship completed by Boyce, so that’s good enough for me…..

It’s a slight shame that this red-brick building is stuck here under the tower.

The tower itself has four stages and the floor was lowered in 1999, which must have been an interesting project and a chance to see the hidden history of the building.

There’s an interesting article from 1858 about the restoration of the church, which gives a perspective of why the modernisation of the building was seen as important.

“Martham church was once, many generations ago, a fine, indeed an extraordinary structure even amongst the many noble village churches of Norfolk, but the hand of time, and the still heavier hand of man, did much to impair its beauty, and to render nugatory that which art and taste had constructed. Massive, ill-contrived boxes, gradually usurped the place of seats, simple and light in appearance, and many exquisite productions of art, treasures in tracery, and beautiful specimens of carving, were ruthlessly buried amidst rubbish or covered over with the ‘improvements’ of some modern Goth, and lost, too many of them, for ever.

Old seats were swept away, and cumbersome and heavy galleries soon disappeared. It was found that the original seats had been built over and upon and fine old relics in carving and tracery were recovered, and no less than fifty ancient and beautiful poppy heads were taken from their hiding places and set in their proper positions.”

Much as I like seeing box pews, which can add much character and some depth to a church, the argument to remove them is also strong. Some of the poppy heads which had been damaged were altered during their repair process and they’re all still visible in the church today.

This is another church that I’ll have to come back to in order to see the interior….

June 30, 2020
Fleggburgh – St. Mary’s Church Ruins

This is the path that goes to the ruined church of St. Mary’s near to the village of Fleggburgh, which is also known as Burgh St. Margaret. It’s common for churches to have public footpath networks around them, as that was a necessity for people to walk to church, but there has been no active church here for around 450 years.

The church, or what’s left of it, was first built in the twelfth century and was remodelled in the fourteenth century.

Inside the tower of what feels a slightly magical place, as although it’s near to a main road, it still feels that little bit desolate.

And the outside of the tower, with a worryingly large crack.

The arch between the tower and the nave.

This is the north of the nave, the only substantial part of the church still standing other than the tower.

The rest of the stonework is heavily covered in ivy.

And photos of the church from the field. The church served the village of Burgh St. Mary, but this settlement became smaller and has mostly now entirely disappeared. The church’s last recorded rector was in 1554 and it’s known that the church was in ruins by the beginning of the seventeenth century. That it’s lasted for 400 more years is quite impressive and although some stone has been robbed, it’s likely that this was some considerable time ago.

June 29, 2020
Old Catton – St. Margaret’s Church (HR Champion)

The grave of Flight Lieutenant HR Champion is in St. Margaret’s Church in Old Catton and he died on 6 July 1950, at the age of 25. He was killed when the Gloster Meteor T7 he was flying in crashed, with this particular aircraft brought into service on 25 July 1949. This type of aircraft was known as the first British jet fighter and the RAF lost 890 of them in service, killing 450 pilots.

The air crash was reported in the press with the short article reading:

“A Gloster Meteor jet fighter exploded before crashing into a cornfield at Sculthorpe. There were no survivors. Rescue squads from the American base at Sculthorpe broke through a hedge and raced across a cornfield to the wreckage. The plane belonged to Horsham St. Faith aerodrome”.

This explains why these burials are in Old Catton, it was the nearest parish church to RAF Horsham St Faith and their staff accommodation.

June 26, 2020
Norwich – Chish and Fips

To start our Catton walk off, we popped into Chish & Fips on Angel Road, a reminder that this blog used to have many more posts about food and drink before the current crisis….. Anyway, the social distancing was all clearly laid out and managed well. The staff members were friendly, the shop was clean, the service was efficient and the process was fast. Well, Nathan had to wait for his battered sausage since I ordered the last one, but I got over that.

Not the easiest to eat when presented like this, but it was all entirely acceptable, albeit unexceptional. The sausage was generic (although they usually are, but then again I suppose that’s the definition of generic), the batter had no discernible taste to it and I’m not sure what the chips were cooked in, but it didn’t add any particular richness of flavour. But for £3, it’s admittedly still perfectly acceptable value for money as they were served hot and they didn’t taste bad or overcooked. The portion size was also sufficiently generous and there were no customer service issues here.

However, I understand that their strongest element is their fish, which is rather useful for a fish and chip shop. But, they don’t accept cards and given the times in which we live, that’s enough for me to once again divert via Grosvenor instead. Although I say this and I haven’t been there for weeks, I must do some diverting this week to get there.

So, overall, entirely acceptable and there was a friendly welcome.

June 26, 2020
Old Catton – St. Margaret’s Church (GH Scott)

This is mostly a useless blog post (as so many of mine are to be fair….) because I’ve managed to find out nothing about this individual. I’m slightly reassured that I can see two other people have tried, and have equally managed to uncover absolutely nothing that isn’t on the gravestone.

So, all I have is that Senior Aircraftman GH Scott, service number 4062634, of the Royal Air Force died on 14 May 1953 at the age of 20. The date of his death means that many records haven’t gone to genealogical sites yet, with RAF records from the Second World War still being with the Ministry of Defence, let along those who died afterwards. This was probably a death of someone who died during their training, rather than through a plane crash or major incident.

One day, I’ll find out who it was, or if anyone knows, I can correct the record….

June 26, 2020
Old Catton – St. Margaret’s Church

There’s something quite charming about Old Catton, a village with some character to it, but somewhat now part of Norwich’s urban sprawl. The village’s church of St. Margaret also clearly shows the signs of piecemeal additions over the centuries, no doubt required by changes in the size and needs of the congregation.

The church’s quite modern lychgate doesn’t really seem big enough to shield a coffin in the rain, so I assume this is more decorative than functional.

From the road, the original twelfth-century church is more visible, but from the rear (as in the above photo) the additions are more apparent.

LIke the nave, the round tower is also from the twelfth century and, fortunately, the ivy which once covered it in the nineteenth century has been removed.

The tower was modified in the fifteenth century and the octagonal top section added.

Where the tower meets the nave, with numerous periods of building work evident. Churches are slowly re-opening at the moment, although this church is only open for prayer on a very limited basis, but I will hopefully be able to get back to look at what is apparently a mostly Victorian interior, albeit with a much older pulpit.

June 26, 2020
Skeyton – War Memorial (Lance Corporal Bernard Walter Hugh Doughty)

Bernard Walter Hugh Doughty is commemorated at Skeyton War Memorial, the son of James and Emily. Bernard was born in British Columbia, in Canada, in 1897.

His family moved to the UK shortly after he was born, with the 1901 census noting James Doughty (born in 1852 in London), Emily Doughty (born in 1868 in Aylsham), Alan Doughty (born in 1893 in Canada), Bernard Doughty (born in 1897 in Canada) and Constance Doughty (born in Bradfield, Norfolk in 1900). The family lived in North Walsham and by the 1911 census, Alan was working as a coachbuilders apprentice, with Bernard still at school, with Doris Doughty also making an appearance, who had been born in 1904 in Skeyton.

Bernard enlisted in the military in 1915, with service number 706030, going to fight on the Western Front. He died on 27 September 1918, fighting in G Company of the 47th battalion in the Canadian army as part of what became known later on as the 100 Days Offensive.

Bernard is buried at Queant Communal Cemetery, in the British Extension, with Skeyton Church recently holding a service on 27 September 2018, 100 years on from his death, that commemorated him.

June 25, 2020
Norwich – Tree

OK, this isn’t exactly fascinating content, I just liked how the tree roots had forced the concrete and bricks apart. I’m easily pleased….

June 25, 2020
Norwich – River Lane Tower

When walking in the city yesterday, Ron pointed out a sign which marked the remains of one of Norwich’s defensive towers. Although I knew about the line of the city wall, evident in the above map, I hadn’t paid much attention to the tower itself.

The tower, first erected in 1347, is just visible in this photo. It’s not known whether this tower pre-dates the wall behind it, as this was the final stretch of city wall that was completed and that work took place in the 1340s. It was likely they were constructed at the same time, and it would have been a boom tower which gave access to the walkway on the city wall.

This is on the north side of the River Wensum, with the riverside footpath going through the former tower.

I’d never noticed this sign before.

Another view of the tower.

It’s not possible to examine the rest of the city wall at the moment, as there’s a construction project going on along Barrack Street, but I imagine this will be treated sensitively as part of the works. There’s a lot more information about this stretch of wall at https://www.norwich.gov.uk/site/custom_scripts/citywalls/01/report.php.

June 25, 2020
Norwich – Dolphin Bridge

Long ago there was a ferry here, connecting what is now Heigham Street with Drayton Road, across the River Wensum. Initially, there were plans at the beginning of the twentieth century to build a roadway at this site, but the levels weren’t right and so a 6-foot wide pedestrian footbridge was installed instead.

At 12 noon on 15 December 1909, Dolphin Bridge was opened by the city mayor Ernest Egbert Blyth.

The views along the River Wensum from the bridge. The bridge takes its name from the nearby Dolphin Inn on Heigham Street, which was the former summer home of Bishop Joseph Hall, the then Bishop of Norwich who saw the puritans attack Norwich Cathedral. This rather grand property was used as an inn from the early seventeenth century and remained as a pub until 1999.

In January 1932, Robert Nelson, a milk roundsman (a lovely word for someone who performed a milk round) from 53, Philadelphia Lane in Norwich was fined 2s 6d for cycling along the footbridge. This does seem slightly harsh, but perhaps they had a wave of cyclists upsetting pedestrians.

June 25, 2020