Historical Society
Massingham Historical Society
Massingham Historical Society meets on the third Friday of the month, at the Village Hall, from 7.30 until 9 pm
Please come along and join us.
Chairperson – Jeanne Robinson 01485 520 455
For enquiries such as research into local or family history please email our President, Ant Robinson, on antmassingham@gmail.com
March 2024 MEETING
Friday March 15th
7.30pm at The Village Hall
An illustrated talk
The ROYAL FLYING CORP on the WESTERN FRONT
and CLOSER to HOME
By Ken Besfor
PHOTOGRAPHIC DISPLAY
MASSINGHAM SOLDIERS
Members free, Guests £3 Bar open
Past Events…….. Village Walks 2022 and 2023 and BBQs were Huge Successes!
76 PEOPLE ATTEND August 2023 MASSINGHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY WALK AND BBQ
We were amazed at the good response we had, with actually 76 attendees at this event.
Feedback we have received describe it as being a superb evening, very interesting and well organised.
The BBQ was excellent, followed by the film Never and Always produced and directed by Denis Massingham.
We are thrilled with the response from everyone. This makes it all worthwhile.
On the walk, Abbey house was extremely interesting, as was the Coach House, Barrack House , Chapels, School, Reading rooms and Church Porch.
Massingham Historical Society welcomed over 40 people to a Village Historical Walk, on 19th August, 2022, locating past trades and traders during the last one hundred years.
The tour, led by Ant Robinson, identified 24 trades, which included 3 past post offices, 5 pubs, 3 bakers, carpenters and coffin maker, drapers and grocers, blacksmith, harness maker, wheelwright, tailor and breeches maker.
The tour ended with a delicious BBQ at the Village Hall very much enjoyed by all. The evening then continued with a PowerPoint presentation of Massingham at Work and Play and Photographic display of ‘Past Trades and Traders’.
Well! Well! Well! New Sign Tells All
A joint venture between the Parish Council and Great Massingham Historical Society, to explain the history of our village well, has come to fruition. Some of you will have noticed the new sign fixed at the well to explain its history. This project was part of the Historical Society’s wish to provide information for people about our village history. The Society thanks the Parish Council for its support with this project.
The inscription reads as follows:
‘You are standing in front of a Reproduction Well
which was built a year after the Queen’s Silver Jubilee 1978.
Originally, it was boarded in with a large circular handle which drew up a bucket of water.
History has it as deep as the Church tower is tall, 129ft, but it is actual
with only 10ft of water in the bottom
The Village is spring fed via the chalk aquifers below ground.’
Massingham Post Mill
1797 Faden’s Map of Norfolk No mention
1826 Bryant’s Map of Norfolk Mill shown
1836 White’s, Miller (& Baker) Thomas Priest
1845 White’s, “ “ “ “
1854 White’s, No mention
1868 Harrod’s Miller & Baker Richard Fisher
1875 Kelly’s, Brewer & Miller William Smith
1879 Kelly’s, Miller Jacob Bartle
1883 Kelly’s, Miller (Wind) James Buckenham
1888 Kelly’s, Miller Robert Ellis
1892 Kelly’s, Miller William Stebbing
1895 Auctioned 24th July by William Henry Stebbing
1900 Kelly’s, No mention
1916 Kelly’s No mention
1929 Kelly’s Site now owned by Reginald Elijah Palmer, Steam Rolling & Haulage Contractor. Tel No. Massingham 12.
On this basis, the Mill existed for c. 68 years.
A note with a drawing by A. Copeman quotes “Owned by a Mr Fysh, he then went to the Water Mill at Newton where Dick Joice lives. Only job old Chit? Copeman was known to have.”
Gt. Massingham Post Mill burnt down during first World War”
Footnote;-
The site these days is overgrown, but is accessible, with permission. Nothing is left of the Mill as it was all built on timber. However, the Mill House & Outbuildings can be seen & traced as they stand up to a foot above the ground.
Also accessible in the SW corner is the Air Raid Shelter! The steps down are roofed over with a section of a Steam Engine’s Boiler! Rivets included work of Mr.Palmer.
There are more stories about James Buckenhams’ time when another death occurred at the Mill & I haven’t told you about the other yet, so watch this space.
Ant Robinson
20/02/2018
The Lovat Scouts were a Scottish Highland Mounted Brigade on small Highland Horses, known to be stationed in Hunstanton & may be in Massingham or Houghton Hall.
This was all new news to me! The Great Massingham Historical Society had a Display at Docking’s May Bank Holiday Historical meet. It was fantastic, like-minded villages displayed their records for all to peruse.
It was strange that nobody was looking at our photos etc. but we all were saying, “Oh, I’ve got some stuff for you” bit like a Stock Exchange!
Then I was handed a folder containing 2 years’ worth of WW1 history totally unknown to us of the Massingham’s (1915/16). Pictures of the 1/2nd Lovat Scouts in Massingham, a photo of 25 Scouts watering their ponies in the Post Office Pit! Also, a Scout on a Motor Bike on Station Road looking north. The amazing thing is the 3 Twinned Chimney Stacks on the Fox & Pheasant, (10 foot tall)
The photos are poor quality so will be trying to get better from their Museum.
Then there are all the Press cuttings describing Concerts, Sport Competitions’, Wedding, Bag Piping, Smoking Competitions. All held in the Club Room behind Rose & Crown, a Barn in Little Massingham, and our School.
All these events were attended by the Local Dignitaries, Dewar, McAnnally, Dring & many more.
Barrack House is now confirmed as their Barracks. There were large amounts of buildings behind here & if you look in the Wall down the Lane there is a bricked-up Arch. It’s just the right size for a Scout on his Pony to enter the Yard beyond.
What a rare find, we will pull it altogether & publish a book.
This is the what our Society is about, finding & recording your Villages History.
Ant Robinson
President