Smallburgh

Infobox UK place
official_name= Smallburgh
country= England
region= East of England
shire_district= North Norfolk
shire_county= Norfolk
civil_parish= Smallburgh
static_

static_image_caption = St Peter’s Church, Smallburgh
population= 518 (parish, 2001 census)
population_density=
os_grid_reference= TG331247
latitude= 52.76
longitude= 1.45
post_town= North Walsham
postcode_area= NR
postcode_district= NR 12
dial_code= 01692
constituency_westminster= North Norfolk
london_distance=132

Smallburgh is a village [ OS Explorer Map OL40 The Broads. ISBN 0 319 23769 9 ] and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is fourteen miles (21 km) south-east of Cromer, fourteen miles (21 km) north-east of Norwich and convert|132|mi|km north-east of London. The village lies five miles (8 km) south-east of the nearby town of North Walsham. The nearest railway station is at Worstead for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham, Cromer and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport.

Portrait

Smallburgh is a sprawling village over an area of convert|1255|acre|km2. The village straddles the A149 road that links King’s Lynn to Great Yarmouth. The community is bordered to the north and east by the River Ant and dykes and to the south and west by tracks and hedgerows. The name of the village comes from 'Bank of the River Smale', the Smale being the old name for the River Ant. Smale itself derives from Old English word "smale" or "beorg" which means hillock.

History

It is believed locally that the field to the north of the church was the site of the original Saxon settlement. In the great survey of 1086, known as the Domesday Book, the settlement of Smallburgh is described as being a quiet, small place. There are two entries in the book. The first entry states that a freeman of St Benedict's held IC of Freeland. He gave it to St Benedict before 1066 but still held it from the Abbot. There are 2 villagers with 1.5 lengths of plough land and convert|2|acre|m2 of meadow, the value of this being 20 shillings. In the same village were 28 freemen, 1c of land, always 4 ploughs and convert|1|acre|m2|sing=on of meadow, the value of this being 20s. The whole has 10 furlongs and 12 perches in length and 6 furlongs in width, the tax for this being 1 penny. The second entry recorded that in Smallburgh there are 3 freemen and 1c of land. Always there are 12 smallholdings and 3 freemen. Then and later 3 ploughs, now 4. Two of these are in the valuation of Antingham; the value of the third is 10 shillings.

In 1588 the village was split with there being two main areas of settlement. The first part being the present village centre and the area around Low Street which was a considerable-sized hamnet and this constituted the manor of Smallburgh. The second part was situated at the present Holly House and was known as the manor of Smallburgh Catts. This is because the lord of the manor at that time was Robert Catte. He enclosed much common land and that is why the area towards the Norwich Road is known as Catt's Common. Much of the land in Smallburgh Catts was cultivated in the traditional strip system with a large area of common land to the south and west. The present streets of Union Road and Anchor Street are reputed to be part of a Roman Road leading to the Roman camp near Wayford Bridge.

White’s Directory of 1845 states that Smallburgh had two shoemakers, blacksmith, surgeon, Jeremiah Hannant of the Crown Inn was a joiner and victualler, wheelwright, grocer, draper, school mistress and school, a shopkeeper, surgeon, another blacksmith and furrier, tailor, plumber and painter.

White’s of 1864 indicates a still-thriving community, with many occupations being centred in the village. These include carpenters, bricklayers, plumber, shoemaker, grocer and draper, surgeon and registrar, blacksmith, a master of the workhouse, a mistress of the school, three public or beer houses, carrier, tailor, rector, book-keeper, many farmers and smallholders.

In more recent times the life in the village has changed. Since the end of the Second World War the village has had only one public house, The Crown. The village still retains a post office and the church remains open. However the school closed in the 1980s.

The Workhouse

A large workhouse was located at the east side of what is still known as Workhouse Road in the village. It was built in 1725 and extended in 1836. [Norfolk Record Office, Records of the Smallburgh (formerly Tunstead and Happing) Poor Law Union, 1836-1948 ] It appears to have had a large H-shaped main building with a number of other smaller ancillary buildings. Records indicate that the workhouse could accommodate 800 [ [http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Smallburgh/Smallburgh2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Smallburgh/&h=294&w=493&sz=48&hl=en&start=12&um=1&tbnid=d2Tuj7du0cz-SM:&tbnh=78&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2BSmallburgh%2BNorfolk%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN] 1881 census of the inmates] souls although in 1876 there were only 51 people there; however, the highest number staying there between 1866 and 1876 was 116 in January 1869. Other records show that the annual salaries bill for the officers and those who worked at the Union Workhouse was £293. The Tunstead workhouse issued its own coinage in the form of workhouse tokens in the early 1800s when there was a national shortage of copper coins. The tokens could be spent locally to buy bread and other basic commodities. The graveyard where people were buried when they died in the workhouse lies to the south of the site. The Union Workhouse, for the Hundreds of Tunstead, as it was known, closed its doors when the National Health Service was founded in 1948 [Norfolk Record Office, Records of the Smallburgh (formerly Tunstead and Happing) Poor Law Union, 1836-1948 ] and much of the old workhouse was demolished in the 1950s. It is thought that because the workhouse was situated in the village, the local district council was the Smallburgh Rural District Council and, indeed, members of that council met in the board room of the workhouse until its closure. The Smallburgh Rural District Council then met in special council offices in Stalham until its demise on 31 March 1974, when it was subsumed within the North Norfolk District Council under local government re-organization.

Parish Church

Smallburgh’s parish church is called St Peter’s and dates from the 13th century, [Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East, By Nikolaus Pevsner and Bill Wilson ISBN 0-300-09607-0 ] with the walls being raised in height and large windows being incorporated into the building in 1400. The 13th-century church stands on the site of an earlier Norman building. The first rector recorded is Henry Hemingburgh, in 1305, but the register of St Benet-at-Holme records the presentation of John of Smallburgh as rector in 1186. In 1677 the church tower collapsed bringing down the west wall with it and damaging the font. For many years the church was in a state of disrepair. A makeshift tower was constructed in 1822 but in 1902 the present bell cote was constructed and the west wall rebuilt. The long timescale of these repairs was because the village was very poor at that time, and the church had to use its money for the care of the poor. The church is still in use and is open for worship.

The Methodist Church

Smallburgh Methodist Church is situated on Norwich Road between the community between Stalham and Wroxham. The church was built in the 17th century but the interior is recent and of no great interest.

mallburgh Drainage Mill

A short distance east of the village across the A149 and on the banks of the River Ant can be found the remains of what was Smallburgh or Moy's drainage mill. The mill was built to drain the marshes into the river. The mill's name relates to Percy M. Moy who lived at Smallburgh Manor in the 1920s and ran Manor Farm containing land drained by the mill. The mill only had a small tower which was later heightened and in later years two pairs of patent sails, each with five bays of shutters, were fitted along with a very small cap, a gallery and an eight-bladed fan. The sails of the mill powered a scoopwheel which was set on a shaft which extended beyond the wheel to allow for an auxiliary engine drive. The mill was still working under wind power in 1935. Today all that remains is an convert|8|ft|m|abbr=on high stump of the mill tower although it is still working but has a Lister diesel engine to power it.

mallburgh Tower Windmill

Close to both Smallburgh and nearby Wayford Bridge stands Smallburgh tower windmill. The mill was built in 1850 by millwrights England’s of Ludham and stood four storeys and convert|30|ft|m tall. The diameter at the base of the mill measures convert|14|ft|m and the walls are convert|18|in|mm thick. The configuration of the mill was of four double-shuttered patent sails, each with five bays of three shutters and one bay of four shutters, struck by rack and pinion via a chain pole that drove a convert|14|ft|m|sing=on diameter by nine inch wide scoop wheel and a pair of under driven convert|3|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on French burr stones on the first floor. The Norfolk boat-shaped cap had a petticoat at the sides and an extension to the horizontally-boarded front. The cap was turned to wind by a fan of eight blades. Today the mill no longer has its cap, although in 1984 the Broads Authority approved permission to install a new cap, fan stage and sails which still has not yet been completed. A bungalow has been attached to the mill's main body

The Crown Inn

The Crown Inn is situated on the eastern side of the A149 road that runs through the centre of the village. It is a 15th-century coaching inn with a great deal of history. It is of timber-framed construction and has a thatched roof hipped on the eastern side and gabled on the western end. The once-large upper room above the bar has now been divided into rooms by stud walls, but was once used for public occasions. The Crown was enlarged with an extra wing in the eighteenth century.

Village Amenities

* The Crown Inn, North Walsham Road (A149)
* The village hall
* Post office
* Two garages
* Smallburgh Staith (Unwin’s Boatyard) for the Broads
* Lawnmower sales and repairs
* Playing Fields. The playing field in Smallburgh was recently provided with new playing equipment; there was a grand opening.

ee also

*North Walsham & Dilham Canal

References