EAST WALTON

OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

East Walton © Luke Durrant www.ggmbenefice.uk

 St. Mary’s Church ©

2 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 EAST WALTON
OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY
St Mary’s Church at East Walton has a long history indeed.
The round tower dates back to before the Norman conquest
(1066). Inside the church there is an ornate decorative panel
above the chancel priest’s door and the chancel arch has been
decorated with incised leaves. It is thought that these
embellishments (not normally seen in a parish church) may
have come from the Abbey next door when that fell into ruin
following the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of
Henry VIII.

For over a thousand years the Church has been at the centre
of life in East Walton and it has been built and rebuilt and
added to.
However in 2015, a report on the condition of the Church seemed overwhelming and
totally beyond our capabilities. Daunted we may have been, but we set out
nevertheless, in faith, and with determination, to raise what funds we could. Much
hard work and fundraising followed but we could not have achieved what we have
without the aid and support of grant funding bodies. Our grateful thanks go to; The
Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Churches Trust, The Norfolk Churches Trust,
The Geoffrey Watling Charity, The Garfield Weston Foundation and The Round
Tower Society and many private donors.

We very much hope you enjoy our little booklet. It gives a brief insight into some of
the history of the place that the small community here call home - but it is also the
heritage of us all. Welcome to our special village.

Reverend Jane Holmes

Team Rector, The Gayton, Grimston & Massingham Team Ministry.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & THANKS

The Lewis Family for all that they do, Louise Scrimshaw for historical research,
Stephen Durrant & Luke Durrant for photographs, Ian Reynolds, Berndt Jatzwauk, Evelyn
Simak, for photographs, Mary Howard, Iris Gooderson and Robin Bix,
Eleanor Morrison, Greg Chapman, Norfolk Annals, the Guttenberg Press,
Norfolk Records, Norfolk Heritage Explorer, English Heritage, Historic England,
Domesdayonline, British History On Line, A Vision of Britain Through Time,
University of Portsmouth, Cambridge University, Ordnance Survey, The British Museum.

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 3

 An aerial view of The Pingos © Luke Durrant

4 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 OUR HISTORY
Our story starts way back in the Ice Age as the landscape was created and Pingo’s
formed.
“Pingo”is an Eskimo word for the humps and hollows caused by a succession of ice
ages, during which water that could not escape through the permafrost formed large
mounds of ice, thinly covered by soil. As the climate warmed, the ice gradually
melted and the topsoil sank, leaving craters in the ground.
Most areas of “Pingos”, thought to have been made at least 10,000 years ago, have
disappeared through agricultural cultivation, but apart from the ones in our village,
there are also some in the South Norfolk village of Thompson which has a “Pingo
Trail” (opposite is an aerial view of the Pingo’s on Walton Common).

Prehistoric flint artefacts have been found throughout

the centre of the parish. These include at least six
Neolithic polished axeheads, a Neolithic flaked
axehead and a Bronze Age arrowhead. Bronze Age
metal objects have also been recorded and include a
palstave, a knife, two awls and three spearheads. Palstave or axe head

Excavation in 2004 revealed features including a possible Early Bronze Age circular
enclosure and a ditch of the same period, and five ring ditches have been identified
on aerial photographs. They are all located to the east of East Walton village on land
sloping up from the Walton Common streams, and are probably the remains of
Bronze Age barrows. In the 1950's a Bronze Age cremation urn and cremated bones
were found during ploughing in the south of the parish. This cremation may have
been an isolated burial or part of an undiscovered cemetery.
A relatively large amount of Iron Age material has been recovered and it suggests
that the parish was an important location during the period. Eleven coins have been
reported, nine of which are Iceni and one of which is Trinovantian. Other objects
include a terret, a terret mount, a sword pommel and pottery.
Metal detecting and fieldwalking have identified the
sites of three possible Roman settlements. All are
located in the south of the parish, with one in the
southwest close to the River Nar, one in the southwest
and one south of the modern hamlet. The objects found
include large quantities of pottery, coins, brooches,
tweezers, a bracelet, animal bones and oyster shells.
Metal working probably took place at the possible
southwestern settlement. Other Roman artefacts have
Roman Silver Signet Ring found here been found throughout the central strip and they
© Norfolk Heritage Explorer include pottery, coins and metalwork.
PALAEOLITHIC MESOLITHIC NEOLITHIC BRONZE AGE IRON AGE

350,000 years ago 10,000 years ago 5,000 years ago 2,200 BC–800 BC Roman Invasion 43AD

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 5

During the early Saxon period people were buried in the north of the parish. Finds
from their cemeteries include large amounts of pottery, brooches, girdle hangers,
sleeve clasps, burnt glass beads, molten metal fragments and cremated bones.
Early Saxon objects found elsewhere include pottery and two pierced Roman coins
that were probably used as pendants.

Middle Saxon pottery, pins, brooches and an eighth century coin have been found in
the parish. The site may well have continued in use during the Late Saxon period. If
so, it is possible that the settlement was bigger than the modern hamlet or that it
moved northwards. Late Saxon objects from the parish include pottery, strap fittings,
hooked tags, brooches and a coin of Aethelred II.

I
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, King William “The Conqueror” ordered that
a survey be made of all the lands he now owned.
This survey was completed in 1086
and resulted in what we now know
as the Domesday Book. It listed
every hamlet, village or town within
his new kingdom, together with the
land, livestock and inhabitants each
East Walton entry in The Domesday Book © opendomesday.org contained.
The entry for East Walton is recorded as “Waltuna”. Sometimes this is thought to be
an Old English name for “settlement in the wood”or “settlement on uncultivated
moorland”. Others have suggested it might be a combination of a person’s name, as
in Weal or Wal, or the Anglo Saxon Weall –a bank or rampart –or even Well –a well
or spring, combined with the Anglo Saxon Tun, meaning an enclosed space such as
a garden or court, a district or a communal piece of land.
The land was held by several different noblemen, including Roger Bigot and Alan,
Earl of Richmond (Yorkshire), and was divided into 5 Manors, within the Hundred of
Fredrebruge which is now known as Freebridge Lynn.

In the manor (Manor of Pentney) held by Roger Bigot it was recorded that there
were “six bordars, two servi, one ploughteam…10 acres of meadow, three cart
horses” as well as “21 head of cattle, 30 hogs …2 sheep (prior to the Conquest there
had been 40) and “seven hives of bees”. There were also “10 socmen (sokemen) and
72 acres, plus “one plough team”. The other four Manors were known as West
Dereham Abbey, Langley Abbey, Richmond and Howard’ or Stranges.

ROMANS SAXONS VIKINGS NORMANS PLANTAGENETS

43 AD 450 - 800 AD 800 - 1066 AD 1066 - 1200 AD 1200 - 1485 AD

6 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

Sokeman belonged to a class of tenants occupying an intermediate position
between the free tenants and the bond tenants or villeins. As a general rule they had
personal freedom, but performed many of the agricultural services of the
villeins.Free tenants (also known as free peasants) occupied a unique place in the
mediaeval hierarchy. They were characterised by the low rents as they paid to their
manorial lord, as well as being subject to fewer laws and ties as villeins.
The Domesday Book showed that England comprised 12% Freeholders, 35% serfs
or villeins, 30% cotters or bordars and 9% slaves.
( Daniel D McGarry, Medieval History & Civilisation 1978, p242).

Medieval and post medieval pottery, coins and metalwork have been collected
throughout the centre of the parish. The medieval coins include one of King Erik
Magnusson of Norway, while one post medieval example is Portuguese. Two objects
have been linked to specific people. One is a seal that belonged to a Reginald Page;
the other is a late 13th/14th century horse harness pendant that belonged to a
Robert Baynard of Great Hautbois.
The map shows earthworks
and buried remains of part of
a medieval and early post
medieval settlement that fell in
two parts. Church Lane was at
one time the main road
through the village and
continued south to join what is
now the A47 and, prior to
enclosures in the second
quarter of the 19th century,
Walton Common was much
more extensive and ran south
Modern Ordnance Survey mapping. © Crown Copyright. and south eastwards to join
Pentney Common. The ruins
of a medieval church associated with the settlement can be seen to the south in the
garden of Abbey Farm.
In both parts, the earthworks define groups of adjoining enclosures which have the
characteristic appearance of tofts (homestead enclosures) with associated yards,
gardens and crofts, and the northern part also contains the probable site of a manor
house, identifiable from documentary sources.
NORMANS THE MIDDLE AGES PLANTAGENETS

1066 AD 1200 AD 1300 AD 1400 AD 1152 - 1485 AD

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 7

 During the reign of Elizabeth I,
Christopher Saxton was
commissioned to survey the country.
This map produced in 1574 is
believed to be the first map of any
English county. It shows
settlements, churches and rivers,
but roads were not added until later
copies. The area to the west of
King’s Lynn is described as “Mershe
Lande” and shows several
unfamiliar rivers which were diverted
long ago due to drainage of the
Fens. The population of Norfolk at
the time was quite high, compared
to other areas of the country, and measurements for the map would have been taken
from church towers.
Over the succeeding centuries, land and ownership changed hands, much as it does
today, though the nature of ownership was often complex and frequently disputed. It
was also leased and rented in similar complex fashion.

East Walton 1840 by

William Drane of Norwich
© Norfolk Record Office

However, by the mid 18th century, what is known as the Westacre Estate, came into
being, under the ownership of successive members of the Hamond family, who lived
at High House,Westacre. The map above shows the estate with numbered
fields.(Whilst the house is now owned by sculptor, Sir Anthony Gormley, much of the original estate
remains, part of which is the land in and around East Walton.)
PLANTAGENETS TUDORS STUARTS GEORGIANS VICTORIANS

1152 AD 1485 AD 1603 AD 1714 AD 1837 AD

8 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

An interesting name on the Tithe map is that of "Gallows Hill."
The Prior of Westacre and also the Abbot of West Dereham,
had what was called the "Eight of Gallows" in East Walton and,
since, from time to time, human bones are dug up there, it is not
unreasonable to suppose that this hill is where executions took
place under their orders.
One other name is worth noting is "Summer End"; this is a
contraction of South Mere End; evidently there was some large
piece of water lying either in or near that part of the parish; there
The Gibbett by Thomas Rowlandson
was also a South Mere Street in East Walton. 1756 - 1827
Over the years new names came into being and the reason for old one’s were lost.
There is wash pit field where sheep where washed before shearing and Calve’s
Close & Cow pasture from when cattle were grazed.

There is Medlars where the medieval village used to be - but no

medlars.
Our best farm field is Clam Field and it does get a bit clammy.

Kettle Hill is named after Ketel, the Dane, when the land was
controlled by the Vikings from 793 to 1066. There is a large stone
in the garden at Abbey Farm that was formerly on the Hill and is
said to turn every time it hears the Church bell ring!
An Anglo Saxon helmet found at Sutton Hoo. © The British Museum.

There is Swina marked on the tithe map which should be Soigne. Soigne Wood is
named after the Battle of Soigne at Waterloo in 1815, when Robert Packe, brother of
Mrs Philip Hamond was killed.
Bunker’s Hill on the Summer End Farm is named after the victory gained by the
English in 1775 at Bunker’s Hill in North America.
The house at Cawkett, on the East Winch Road (now Stock’s Farm) is a common
pronunciation of Caldecote meaning a “cold cottage”.
During World War Two a searchlight battery & pillbox were
built to the east of the hamlet, and the fields subsequently
known as The Searchlight and Block House. The area
around the battery was used by the military during
preparations for D Day. In the south a metal tank trap was
built on the bridge over the River Nar. It survives and is
one of only a few to do so. © Luke Durrant

ANGLO SAXON/ VIKING MEDIEVAL TUDOR/STUART GEORGIAN/VICTORIAN MODERN BRITAIN

450 AD 1066 1485/1603 1714 / 1837 1901

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 9

The Foot - Ball play by Alexander c. Carse 1830

In the Tithe map there are three fields on the east side of the road leading from the
"Walton Greyhound" to the Church and are called Camping Land, Little Camping
Land, and Great Camping Land;
Forby, in his "Vocabulary of East Anglia," gives an account of the game of camping
as it used to be played; it was a kind of football. "Two goals are pitched at the
distance of 120 yards from each other; in a line with each are ranged the
combatants, for such they truly are, the number in each side is equal, very
commonly twelve; the ball is deposited exactly in the midway; the sign or word is
given by an umpire, the two sides rush forward, the sturdiest and most active of
each encounter those of the other; the contest for the ball begins and never ends
without black eyes and bloody noses, broken heads or shins
and some serious mischiefs." It might more easily be
described as a free fight. Nearly every parish had its
Camping Land and in many, as at Gayton Thorpe, East
Walton, and Swaffham, the name still remains.
Finally, there is Dead Man’s Wood. The local story is that a
vagrant was discovered lying dead in the wood. In those days
the expense of the burial fell upon the parish where he was
found. There was a dispute with West Bilney about who was
responsible as he lay on the parish boundary. Eventually
West Bilney took the responsibility......and the land. SW

VICTORIANS OLIVER TWIST PUBLISHED SCHOOL FOR EVERYONE TELEPHONE INVENTED EDWARDIANS

1800's 1838 1870 1876 1901

10 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 AN ESTATE VILLAGE
In the 19th century the population of East Walton was higher than it is today.
In 1801 - 151 were recorded, in 1821 -174, in 1831 - 220, in 1841 - 196 in 1851 - 202
(37 houses) and in 1901 - 148 inhabitants. Today’s population is about 73.
Life in East Walton continued apace in the 19th century and there is a wealth of
material to be found recording daily life.
The Church records are a good place to start and here is an example from 1893.
© the Norfolk Records Office.
“Here let me record a very sad story. The Vicar of
Gayton’ daughter was m’d on Easter Monday. His
wife suddenly died after a few days illness, on the
Monday after Apl. 17th The Vicar passed away this
morning. Monday 24th. An untiring worker,
amiable man, an original thinker, albeit
somewhat eccentric, a devout Christian, he has
laboured against much recent opposition with
stedfast purpose and singleness of mind to do his
master’ work and I have noticed how in many
cases amongs’the better classes in the parish, he Note that on Easter Day 1893 East Walton had 2 Church
has been held in not only esteem but absolute services with 7 adults and 13 children in the morning and then
affection! R.I.P.” 22 adults and 16 children at the evening service.

These snippets are taken from “Norfolk Annals” by Charles Mackie.

(online free at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/344390

“April 1802. The whole of the French and Dutch

prisoners confined in Yaxley Barracks were last
week put on board different vessels in Lynn
Harbour, from whence they proceeded to their
respective countries.
1806. “The Sapphire” sloop of war, 18 guns,
launched from Messrs. Brindley’s yard at King’s
Lynn.” ( The Challenger was a sister ship. )
“January 1804. Norfolk Volunteer Infantry formed 11 battalions with Freebridge Lynn
commanded by Lieut-Col A. Hamond. “
“Flag staffs were placed at Raynham Hall, Holkham Hall and Houghton Hall. The red
flag was only to be hoisted in case of actual invasion or on appearance of an enemy
on the coast.”
Norfolk’s greatest hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson was taught at Norwich Grammar
School by Mr George William Lemon who was a Vicar at East Walton in the 19th c.
NAPOLEONIC WARS VICTORIANS FIRST POSTAGE STAMPS CRIMEAN WAR EDWARDIANS

1803 - 1815 1837 1840 1854 1901

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 11

 Faden’s Map of Norfolk 1797

12 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

Just North of the village, alongside Gayton Thorpe, is the Icknield Way.
It is generally said to be one of the oldest roads of which the route can still be traced
being one of the few long-distance trackways to have existed before the Romans
occupied the country.
It dates from ancient times, at least as early as the Iron Age period (before the
invasion of 43 AD) and through Anglo-Saxon times –and is still used as a long
distance path today.
The name is Celto-British in derivation, and may be named after the Iceni tribe who
would have established this route to permit trade with other parts of the country from
their base in East Anglia.
For the most part tracks such as this were all that existed but that changed
significantly in the 18th century, and especially with the introduction of Toll Roads
under Turnpike Acts.
The map opposite dates from 1797 and shows the toll roads in red from Lynn to
Gayton and Lynn to Narborough. At this time the main road from East Walton to Lynn
was via East Winch, whilst the road to Gayton was little more than a track or green
road.
By the 1830’s there was a definite road from the village to Gayton and the road
across Walton Warren (or Pentney Common) is more distinct connecting the village
to the A47 at Narborough. (see The Old Series Ordnance Survey Map dated 1830’s.)

December 1801 (advertisement) The Lord Nelson

new Light Coach, from London to Lynn in 14 hours,
through Cambridge and Ely ....The Coach will leave
The Golden Cross, Charing Cross, on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday mornings at half past five,
arrive at Cambridge at one and Lynn at eight in the
evening. The coach carries 4 inside.
February 1808. A great snow storm. The coaches
should have arrived on Friday did not reach Norwich
until the following Tuesday and Wednesday... so
complete an obstruction to communication had not
occurred since 1797, when coaches were four days
performing a journey from London.”
Golden Cross 1820 ©British History on line

VICTORIANS LONDON - BIRMINGHAM BRITISH POPULATION 20M BRITISH POPULATION 40M EDWARDIANS
RAILWAY OPENS

1800's 1838 1851 1900 1901

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 13

 WORLD WARS I & II
The two World Wars took their toll on every aspect of our nation, not least
the countryside that was home to hundreds of thousands of male farm
labourers who fought and died on the front line.

In East Walton Church there is a plaque

in Remembrance of two villagers who
were killed - Abraham Skeet & William
Thomas Cropley.
W T Cropley. Lance
Corporal of 10th
Battalion Essex Regt.
killed in action 15th
June 1917. No body
ever found. He was
aged just 21 and had been a farm labourer working at Abbey
Farm from the age of 13. One of 8 children living in Gayton
Road, East Walton.
W T Cropley

A Skeet. Private 3rd Battalion Norfolk Regt. Died 21st July 1916
age 35. He was one of nine children working as a farm labourer and
living originally with his parents at Summer End, East Walton.
Married to wife Harriet and with 2 children aged 4 and 3. It is
reported that the poor chap died of consumption at Felixstowe on
the way home and he is buried in the Churchyard.
http://www.ggmbenefice.uk/our-churches/east-walton/in-remembrance-east-walton/
It fell to the rural communities they left behind to produce enough
food to sustain a country at war, and they valiantly rose to the
challenge, with women taking a bigger role. This period was to
change the face of British farming and rural life forever.
Before the war, Britain was importing around 60 % of its food from
overseas. Once fighting started, high inflation and threats to supply
routes led to increased demands for more home-grown produce and, as a result,
farming’s profitability increased and more land was turned over to agricultural
production. It also became much more mechanised.
Land ownership also changed. Many assumed this was related to heavy death
duties; and the fact many owners died during WWI is sure to have had some impact,
but many were clever enough to sell while the land prices were high.
EDWARD VII GEORGE V WORLD WAR I WORLD WAR II ELIZABETH II

1901 1910 1914 - 1918 1939 - 1945 1952

14 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 WARTIME MEMORIES
Robin Bix. Narborough...
“A Dornier DO217 EF was shot down on 23rd August 1942. The
plane crashed into woods at East Walton.My late mother,
Mrs F Bix of Magpie Cottages, West Bilney was returning
home late one evening from one of her many, many whist
drives she attended. These were her life and soul. On her
journey home from Pentney village hall she was about to
join the A47 from Pentney Lane when she heard a noise in
the sky and a plane flew low over her head engulfed in flames. She claimed she could hear members of the
crew screaming for their lives. Readers may find this hard to believe : my Mother was not a saint but also
she did not tell lies.The aircraft turned out to be a German Dornier, crew of 4. The remains of the crew are
buried in Marham Church right at the top end on the right hand side.”

Mary Howard. East Walton...

She also remembers the bomber and the village during the War, when it was taken over by the army.
“Soldiers were billeted in various houses, including Abbey Farm, and, on Sundays, they marched to Church.
One Scottish Division marched and would play their pipes.
She also recalls that the village did have a good and thriving cricket team and matches were often arranged
with other villages, including one from Houghton.
The building that housed the blacksmith and his forge was joined by an arch to the Wheelwright/Carpenter
the other side of the road and was known as the “Traveller’s Arch” This was taken down after a small boy
was knocked off his bicycle and killed (?) “

Iris Gooderson, East Walton...

“Mum and Dad came and woke my sister, Jean, and I up and took us into their bedroom to look through
the window. We could see all the flames from the plane; the soldiers, stationed at Abbey Farm, were
running to where it crashed and we could hear them shouting “It’s a German, that’s good”and my Mother
was crying and saying “They may be Germans but they’re some mother’s sons or husbands or daddies.”
A Wellington Bomber was coming back to Marham early one morning and it was foggy. They couldn’t
find Marham camp. My cousin Philip was getting a cart full of mangolds and was frightened so he hurried
to the Farm and told the foreman, Mr Harry Wilson, who went in this truck to find they were all OK.
Later some Airmen were searching for them and unbeknown to them, the airmen from the plane were at
Harry Wilsons enjoying a good fried breakfast.
We never went away on holiday, like they do now, and most of our summer holiday were spent down the
Water Cress Beds catching “tiddlers”(small fish), the water was very cold, but you got used to it after a
while, then we would go with Mum, taking the “foursees” up to Dad in the harvest field and sometimes
Mum would take a picnic for us. (Happy days!)”
WORLD WAR II STARTS DUNKIRK BATTLE OF BRITAIN D DAY WAR ENDS

1939 MAY 1940 JULY 1940 JUNE 1944 1945

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 15

 * Road continues to Stocks Farm

The Old School *

.3
.
.
Old Chapel . .
Montessori School
.*
. .
4
.
PINGOS *
. .
. . * Pillbox
.
. .
.
5 . .
.
6.
. . .2
. 8
. .
. . . . St Andrew’s *

. . . . .
Chapel Ruins

. *.
The Church Reading Room * .1
* The Old Vicarage

St Mary’s Church

* Track continues to Dead Man’s Wood

 A WALK AROUND THE VILLAGE, ANCIENT
COMMON & WOODLAND of EAST
WALTON
The walk is about a mile and a half and is flat but could be soft
going/muddy in parts.

1. Parking near the Church follow the wall

past the farm.

. * The Greyhound
2. Carry on down the road to the main
road & footpath.

. 3. There is a 19th century Wheelwright’s

oven on the Green and the village
boundary marker. Turning left go down

. Common Lane and onto Walton Common.

4. Follow the way marked path past the
deep undulations - Pingo’s formed during
. * Camping Lands Field
(and old Cricket Ground)
the Ice Ages.
5. Continue through a gate and over
. planked walkways over a boggy bit.
6. Eventually passing through another
pedestrian gate, look right into Walton
Wood where there are some ancient oak
trees probably over a 1000 years old.
7. At the gate turn left onto the track and
back to the distant farm and Church.
8. Passing the pond you can see the ruined
Abbey in the farm garden built by William
the Conqueror in 1100. To the left a more
modern construction - a pillbox.
Walk through the farmyard and right on
the road back to the Church.

Road continues to Summer End *

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2019)

 Sunsetting
© Bernd Jatzwauk
www.roundtowerchurches.de

18 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 OUR VILLAGE - ST MARY’S CHURCH
St Mary’s, East Walton by Robert Ladbrooke, 1800's
St Mary, is a pretty, Grade I listed Round Tower
Church - one of 124 round towered churches in
Norfolk.
They are built of flint and were made round to save
the expense of importing quoins or corner stones,
which may not have been easy to procure owing to
there being practically no stone in East Anglia; all
these round towers are, with one or two exceptions,
much of the same shape and dimensions.

It is mostly medieval, but a wall and a window could be Late Saxon.

The round tower dates to the late 12th century and the first vicar we
know of is Robert de Narford who was instituted in the Churches of
St Mary & St Andrew in 1322.
It is difficult to ascribe any date to Walton Church, but one can see
very early work in the lower part of the walls of the nave, on both
north and south sides, and the round arch over the south door
inside is also early work.
The tower has a battlemented top and appears to have been added
to the church and not to have been part of the original building.
The south porch has a very definite lean to the West but it has probably been there
for centuries; within, on the right hand side of the door, can be seen a Stoup for Holy
Water, though very little of it remains: this Holy Water was for the use of those
entering the church, to be used "as a symbol of the purity of soul with which they
ought to approach the place where His Majesty dwelt.”

There are three very fine windows on both the north and the
south side of the nave; the tracery is beautiful, they still have
the old lead work and small squares of glass which in so many
cases have been replaced by modern diamond-shaped panes.
Inside the brick floors are a setting for good quality box pews,
which lead the eye to a three-decker pulpit
in the south-east corner. It must have all
looked very fine when it was first installed.
The chancel arch, which must have been
a beautiful one judging by the quality of
the decorated foliage in the bits that are
visible, was filled in. A wooden archway
was put in its place, and low, flat ceilings
were installed. It may be that these ceilings were partly
practical, to keep the heat in; but the open porch was also given
one, and so it seems more likely that someone here didn't like
medieval roofs.

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 19

 But inside there are also medieval survivals - wild, grinning
corbel heads, the 14th century quatrefoiled font, the
flowered tympanum above the priest door
in the chancel, a brass which asks us to pray for the souls
of William Bacar and Margaret his wife.

There are nine corbels for

the support of beams from
the roof, but as the Church
was at some time ceilinged
for the sake of warmth, there
are no beams now resting
on the corbels. Some of
these heads are in excellent
condition, one or two are
perhaps rather grotesque,
ending up with a demon at the bottom of the church by
the door —a most unmistakable demon with horns and
mouth agape showing a row of teeth.
On the floor of the nave, close to the chancel arch, lies a large slab with a brass
measuring 14¼ by 2¼ inches, bearing the following inscription:

i.e., "Pray for the souls of William Bacar and Margaret his wife: on whose souls God
have mercy. Amen." The Baker family must have lived in Walton for many
generations, as dating back to about to about 1600 their name appears several times
in the old register. William Baker the elder of East Walton, in his will dated 4th March,
1490, left directions for his burial in the Church of Our Lady at East Walton "before
the chauncell doore by the sepultur of my wif": There is no date on the brass, but it is
probably the same William, and the "chauncell doore" refers to the doorway through
the screen(now gone) from the nave. In the same will he leaves 6/8 to the Vicar of
East Walton for tithes forgotten; 20/- for the reparations of East Walton Church; 13/4
to Hyllyngton Church; 6/8 to Congham Church; 3/4 to Grymston Church; he also
desires that a priest may sing for his soul in East Walton Church for a year after his
decease. In the Sanctuary are four large black marble slabs to the memory of the
family of Lord Richardson, 5th Baron of Cramond; this family at one time lived at
Westacre High House and intermarried with the Barkham family.

Underneath the chancel is what is generally known as the

"bone hole," being the place used for the disposal of
bones dug up in churchyards by fresh interments, a thing
which must continually happen in a churchyard as ancient
as this one; every church had a bone hole of some
description, a most reverent custom long fallen into disuse.

20 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

The Communion Plate
consists of a chalice, silver
gilt, 8¼ inches In height,
with a cover, and a paten
or dish. These are in
excellent condition. They
bear the arms of the
Barkham family, and are
inscribed "The Towne of
East Walton in Norfolk."
"Ex dono Sr Wm Barkham,
Baronet." "Anno Dom:
1681.”

(In 1681, King James II was on

the throne, and, it is said, the last dodo bird was killed. Not many years ago, an Australian visitor to the
Church announced he was the descendent of someone transported many years ago to Australia for the
crime of stealing the Church silver plate. Obviously the plate was recovered and the family seems to have
turned out alright in the end.) Needless to say, the plate is now secured safely away from Church)

At the west end, are the Royal Arms of George III, before
the Union with Ireland (1801), as can be seen by the
Lilies of France being quartered there. At the Restoration
of the Monarchy in 1660, placing the Royal Arms in
churches became compulsory, presumably to promote
loyalty.

In the churchyard on the south side there are many old

headstones, some are curiously carved and on one dated
1762 there is the fine couplet:
“His friends and all who knew him justly can
And truly say, here lies an honest man.”

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 21

 1830's Ordnance Survey First Series
22 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY
 OUR VILLAGE - ABBEY FARM

© Greg Chapman

Abbey Farm is the one of the oldest properties in the village and certainly the most
substantial. It's name, it's believed, arose from land in the parish formerly belonging
to West Dereham Abbey, which would naturally be referred to as Abbey land or the
Abbey Farm. Many farms on the estate were let to tenants, but during the agricultural
depression of the 1930's it was taken back into estate management. In the 1939-45
war the farm was used by the Army. In 1947, Capt Harry Birkbeck gave it to the new
estate agent, Leslie Cameron, to manage. Soon after that it was passed to the Lewis
family who have farmed it ever since.

It boasts a Ballroom in this fine farm house. The house was altered in Edwardian
times to become West Acre Estate’s centre for entertainment.......shooting lunches.
The story goes that before Royalty owned Sandringham Estate they still shot
intensively in Norfolk at Holkham and Houghton. West Acre was particularly
renowned for good partridge shooting. When shooting in East Walton, lunch for the
shooting party was a long way away at High House, so Abbey Farm was turned into
a shooting lodge in about 1900. The large Ballroom was added along with massive
doors throughout, kitchen and even an ice store in the cellar.
When Edward VII, the then Prince of Wales, arrived everything was ready for a
grand feast. Unfortunately he chose to eat in the cart sheds with the beaters.(the
rogue!)
There is however a master bedroom, now a B&B guest
room, as large as the Ballroom with a four poster bed
and massive westerly views.
In the garden, there stands the ruins of the Priory
Chapel of St Andrew, which belonged to the Priory at
Westacre.
It probably went out of use during the 16th century. In
the 18th century it was used as a mill house and was
ruined by 1845. The base of a medieval cross stands
in the west doorway. © Evelyn Simak

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 23

 OUR VILLAGE - THE BLACKSMITH
The long building on the
left was divided, unequally,
into two cottages. The left
hand end is known simply
as "The Cottage".The right
hand end is "The Old
Forge". When it was used
by the blacksmith, the
building was almost half as
Photo. © Ian Reynolds long again as it is now,
extending to within two feet
of the road and leaving only the narrowest of footpaths. The part of the building
nearest to the road was a carpenters shed. Later it was used as a garage, but was
pulled down after a van had crashed into it one foggy night. Between the carpenters
shed and the remaining building was an open fronted bay,
known as the "Travellers", normally, shortened to the "Travers",
where the horses were shoed. The room with the three-paned
window, on the front of the cottage, housed the blacksmith's
forge.
The wheelwright’s oven was used to heat up the iron wheel rims
before putting them on to the wooden wheel rim - a process
called “Tyring the wheel”.
The wheelwright used oak for the spokes, elm for the hub or
nave, ash for the rim or fellows (pronounced fellies). The wheel
was dished rather than flat so like an umbrella it was held under
tension by the iron rim or tyre which literally tied it together.
The finished wheel was measured and the iron tyre made up slightly smaller than
the wheel circumference. The tyre was then heated in the oven to make it expand
enough to fit over the wheel.
A fire in the oven was used to heat the iron tyres of farm tumbrils and waggons. (It
was in use until about 1940.) The wheel to be fitted was clamped to the nearby iron
disc on the ground and when the tyre was red hot, it was transferred to the wheel
using the special tools displayed inside the oven.
The tyre was dropped over the wheel and
hammered down as the wood begins to char and
smoke. The wheel was rotated and the rim
hammered down as it shrunk into place. Buckets of
cold water (from a well on this green) were thrown
over it, and as it contracted, a tight fit was obtained.

24 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 OUR VILLAGE - THE GREYHOUND
Marked on maps through the 1800s as the
"Greyhound Inn", it has not been a public house since
the late 1940s, after which it was let as a private
house. Some villagers say that the licence was
maintained by the estate up till the time the house was
finally sold in the 1990's.
The name, presumably, came from the kennels that
have been sited here.
Greyhounds were kept for coursing on Westacre well into the 20th Century. Capt. H.
Birkbeck, in "The Birkbecks of Norfolk" records that his grandfather "owned one of
the leading kennels of coursing greyhounds in the country, winning many fine gold
and silver trophies..... Before the First World War he kept his greyhounds at High
House.... Between the First and Second World Wars George Howard kept a kennel
for him at the Greyhound public house at East Walton which he later passed on to
Tom Ramsden of Middleton Tower."
November 1808. On the 15th, Swaffham Coursing meeting took place. It
was described as the “most successful meeting since the renewal of
coursing here. Two hundred persons attended the ball.”
Mariner winner Swaffham Cup Nov. 1833 owned by Lord Stradbroke
art.Robert Williams Folkard

THE SCHOOLS
Church Reading Room.
The building now known as Church Bungalow, sited at the western end of the
churchyard was the local school until the new school was built in the 1870's. After the
new school opened it became the village Reading Room and certainly still had that
function until well into the 1920s. It is now a private house.

The Old School (The New School in 1875)

In a plain Gothic style it comprised just 2 rooms and was built in 1875 for 70 children.
In 1883 White’s Directory reports 30 children at the school and in 1947 it was 25
children from 5 -14. Now only a handful of children live here. The school was closed
in 1975 and is now a private house.

The Methodist Chapel on Common Lane

The old Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1889 but ceased being a chapel in
1980. It is now home to a very successful Montessori School.

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 25

 Spring Lambs

26 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 FARMING at ABBEY FARM
There is a grave in the Church yard dominated by a large cross remembering John
Porter Wellingham who died in 1891. His entry in the burial register states that he
came to the village an infant and started farming the Abbey Farm at 16. He later
became one of the largest agriculturists in Norfolk and indeed the country.

The Lewis’s arrived at Abbey Farm after the war in 1946. Bill Lewis remembers :
“The house had been an army barracks and prisoner of war camp and was in an
awful state when my Grandfather and father arrived. Indeed they had it rent free for
at least a year to bring it back into production. The lightest, sandiest fields weren’t
even good enough for the War Ag and had become scrub and gorse that had to be
bulldozed. Father realised that with the newly available artificial fertilisers being
developed by Fisons in Thetford, this land could grow sugar beet and barley.”

“We had a large sheep flock that used to move around the
arable fields building up fertility. Today they are largely seen
grazing our meadows and the land now successfully
accommodates an outdoor pig unit that rotates around our
sandiest fields and still enables us to grow wheat, barley and
sugar beet.”

“Oats used to be grown to feed the cart horses but are now
back in fashion as a “super food” and are once again grown
on Brick Kiln.
Malting barley is grown on the Blown. On a windy day the
Blown often moves to other sites.”

“Now we grow Miscanthus (commonly known as Elephant

Grass). It is a high yielding energy crop that grows over 3
metres tall & resembles bamboo. The rapid growth, low
mineral content, and high biomass yield of Miscanthus
increasingly make it a favourite choice as a biofuel.”
© Bill Lewis & Terravesta - can you spot Bill ?

“Other peoples livery horses now live in the stables.”

“In 1891 John Porter Wellingham employed a bailiff, 12

labourers, 2 servants, 4 boys and 24 horses. On the
farm today there are 2 of us and our tractors.”

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 27

28 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY
 COUNTRYSIDE - FLORA & FAUNA
Situated about 10 miles East of King’s Lynn, East Walton is rural
Norfolk at its best.

Whether horse riding, walking or cycling, miles and miles of

beautiful countryside awaits. Woods, streams, open fields and the
wide open Norfolk skyline are easily explored.

It is a peaceful place with a wealth of interest for the those who

Fragrant Marsh Orchid love nature and the countryside.

East Walton and Adcock's Common is a 154 acre biological and

geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is also a Geological
Conservation Review site and part of Norfolk Valley Fens Special
Area of Conservation.
The commons have periglacial depressions (pingo’s). These
features are developed over chalk and superficial deposits of
sandy chalk rubble and are the best developed in East Anglia and
are among the finest in Britain. The habitats include springs, open
water and scrub. Chalk grassland occurs on the tops of the ridges
as a very species-rich sward closely grazed by cattle and rabbits. Marsh Helleborine
The site is also of great botanical interest containing some of the
finest unimproved grassland remaining in Norfolk. The grasses and herbs are
diverse with up to thirty two species per square metre, and the rich invertebrate
fauna includes seven Red Data Book and seventy-nine nationally rare species.

It is an ancient area and home to a wealth

of wildlife and here you will find a wide
variety of birds and animals living
harmoniously in this valuable refuge.
But it is a fragile landscape so tread
carefully and respect nature.
Take nothing other than photographs.

Marsh Cinquefoil Was that flash of blue a kingfisher? Very

likely.
In the Spring the lambs will be bleating and overhead
there will be skylarks, in the hedgerows any number of
small birds and hares in the fields.
For the more intrepid nightingales, early morning deer, © Stephen Durrant
foxes crossing the meadow or in the evening a Barn Owl. and all the pictures on the
opposite page.

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 29

 OUR VILLAGE TODAY
There is perhaps no one better to end this final chapter on our village today than
farmer and Churchwarden Bill Lewis. He and his family have lived here for three
generations and are uniquely qualified to comment on the changes that have
occurred over the last 70 years. So we will end this history of our village with his
words.

“I have an up to date Ordnance Survey map hanging in my office underneath a map

from 1901. In 118 years nothing has changed on the map.
The Common and woodland remain, the road layout is the same and there are few
building alterations.
Surprisingly looking at a 1946 aerial photo of the village and surrounding farmland
there are far more trees and hedges NOW than just after the War. The shelter belts
and tree growth on the Common and meadows are most noticeable.

The population of the village today is 65 adults and 8 children. A quarter are retired
enjoying their peaceful surroundings.

I don’t remember a village cricket team but there must have been one as we have a
field called the Cricket Field –unbelievably rough!
The last football match played in the village was in the mid 1970’s. I wish I knew the
score.

Certainly even in my short 50 odd years here, Abbey Farm used to employ virtually
all the men and many women seasonally in agriculture living in tied cottages. There
is just 1 employed today and the traditional cart horse stables and close by pasture is
taken up by leisure horses in livery, camping and caravanning.

We still grow food crops our fathers would recognise: wheat, barley, sugar beet but
with the addition of 1000 outdoor pigs providing high welfare pork and energy crops
for power stations to create electricity for our mobile phones and heat our homes.

The Pheasantry is now home to quail, laying exotic eggs for us all.

Because people work away, shopping is most conveniently done in Lynn

supermarkets. The village shop shut.
The red phone box has been removed (the income in its last year was less than a fiver.)

There is only one household that doesn’t have a car, 26% have two or more.
The only community building is the Church. There is, however, a Montessori School
in the old Chapel that boast a possible future King among its past pupils.
There is great unchanged countryside to explore, from ice age pingos to rare broad
leafed woodland and spectacular Norfolk views. Who said Norfolk was flat?”

Bill Lewis

30 |EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY

 A YEAR IN THE LIFE
OF EAST WALTON

Open Day at Abbey Farm

for Lambing in February.
Easter Time and Jimmy
& Timmy ( the donkeys)
go to Church on Palm
Sunday.
Autumn - Harvest and
Fireworks.
Winter - Christmas
Carols in Church.

Crossroads photo © Luke Durrant

EAST WALTON. OUR VILLAGE - OUR HISTORY | 31
Published by East Walton PCC © 2019. ISSN 2055-2688. Printed by Minuteman Press. King's Lynn. Norfolk