Colkirk Remembered

If any photographs are damaged, I may even be able to produce restored copies for you.

How the village hall used to look from the bowls green side ( 1980's )

And an inside view of part of it

Arthur and Gordon Dawson at the Church Pond in the 1930's

The following 5 sporting photos are from E. J. Falconbridge

Seated 2nd from right, Jim Falconbridge Standing L to R: Jim Falconbridge, Bernard Greeves, Norman Wix, ....... ,

Lars Pederson?, Bill Falconbridge.

Kneeling L to R: John Steward, ....... , Charlie Harrison, Ted Harrison,

Laurence ( Rocky ) Barker.

Standing L to R: Brian Barker, JohnSteward, ....... , Ted Harrison, Standing L to R: Billy Barker, ....... , Charlie Harrison, ...... Catton,

Norman Wix, ....... , Dougie Wright, ....... , Fred Hall ( Manager ), Billy Barker Jim Falconbridge, Graham ( Bruno ) Keeley, ....... .

Kneeling L to R: Rocky Barker, Bill Falconbridge, Charlie Harrison, ....... , Kneeling L to R: Bernard Greeves, Brian ( Dawg ) Barker,

Bill Falconbridge, Dougie Wright, Philip ( Ponny ) Johnson

Standing, 2nd from right, Jim Falconbridge

The 1910 photo, taken outside School House, shows the family of Arthur Bourne Adhimar and Emma Adhimar ( nee Starr ), gathered together for the christening of their grandson, Eric, ( 2009 photo alongside )

Standing L-R: Arthur, Plessy ( wife of Herbert ) Herbert ( 2nd son ), Harold ( youngest son ),

Arthur was the village schoolmaster and was a Parish Councillor from 1898 to 1918

Arthur's parents ( Richard, died 1908, and Alice, died 1898 ) are buried in the village churchyard.

Photo from Kenneth Urban Lake ( grandson of Mabel, great grandson of William and Sarah )

Ebberlener Parker ( nee Catton ) in her temporary caravan, while her house in Dereham Road was renovated.

Mary and Alfred Greef ( born 1885 ) Mary Greef's mother, Frances Cooke, nee Madder

Photos from Steve Greef, (Alfred's grandson, Mary's gt. grandson and Frances's gt. gt. grandson )

Alan lived in Colkirk for a few years and gives his permission to use these photos

Seated front row centre, Eric Wright, with, on his left, his brother, Stanley Wright

Leonard Wright and his wife Bessie ( Youngman ) with daughter Elsie and one of their two sons, ( Eric or Stanley ?)

Jack Hall, Colkirk`s rat catcher - pictured in the early 1940`s on a visit to his brother in law Alfred Wright in Suffolk.

Oscar and Sarah also lived in Oxwick and in the now derelict bungalow next to the Crown.

Right to left: Diana Hall, May ( Wright ) Hall, Jack Hall ( Village Rat Catcher ), Alfred Wright and 3 friends.

My gt. grandmother was born in Colkirk in 1854 to Henry and Margaret Harper.
Her father and later her widowed mother ran The Star public house from 1854 until 1881.
Diana married my gt. grandfather Matthew Wright in Colkirk in 1876 and in 1881 they took over The Star until its closure in 1927.

Matthew died in 1928 and Diana went to live with her daughter May ( Wright ) Hall in Primrose Cottage

Back Row ( excluding Bride and Groom ): Laura Green, Mabel Green, Frank Wright, Charlie Green, George Nobes,

Women Seated: May Wright, Edith Green, Rose Bailey, Elsie Wright, Aggie Leeden, Mrs.Howard

Seated on ground: Maggie Dunn, Marjorie Leeden, Cissie Leeden, Charlie Chaffey, Maggie Chaffey

Our gt gt grandfather, James Green, his son Charles Henry, his grandson Percy and his great grandson George.
Percy was a corporal in the Royal Lancashire Fusiliers.

It turns out that I am related to the Harpers, Sumpters and Baileys of Colkirk

John Sumpter b.1854 who features on the website is my gt gt grandmother, Maria (Sumpter - Phillippo), Britton`s younger brother.

James Green ( previously of Heath Farm ) in the early 1920's outside his home with daughters

The above two photos are of Agnes Leeden ( Green ) were taken in 1910 and the late 1930's.

Agnes was the village midwife and lived next to Frank Wright's smithy in Dereham Road

The above 4 photos came from Agnes's great grandsons, Keith Wright and Mark Goodbody.

The Executors and Trustees of his will were James William Ridgway, Edward Carrington Ridgway and William Hearn Ridgway.

Part of his possessions was a 6.5 acre piece of land known as Rise Close which, in 1892, was sold for £2 10s 6d to Walter Marsham Hoare, Rector of Colkirk.

In 1897 George Nelson, Builder, from Colkirk, bought 2.25 acres of this land, bounded on the North by a field owned by John Chambers, on the East by the public footpath leading from Dereham Road to Hall Lane, on the South in part by a field belonging to Mrs Philippo and in part by a piece of land belonging to the Colkirk Co-operative Society and on the West by the highway leading from Fakenham to Whissonsett. He paid £135 for this piece of land.

George Nelson died in 1926 leaving the land to his son, Geoffrey James Nelson, also a builder.

In 1959 Kathleen Mary Drew sold the land to Francis Edward Melton and Arthur Albert Melton, builders from Beetley, for £300

Seven bungalows were built on the land in the early 60’s and the road was called Jarvis Drive to honour Donald Jarvis, Headmaster of Colkirk School from 1934 to 1958.

The following articles are taken from a school project run by Mrs. Constance Cox ( Teacher at Colkirk School from 1975 to 1981 )

Fruit trees planted in 1949-50, strawberries in 1966, blackberries in 1967 and blackcurrants in 1975.

Fruit was sent to markets at Birmingham, Liverpool and Covent Garden, London.

Jarvis Drive was named after Mr. Jarvis who was Head Master of the school from 1934 to 1958.

He was also Church Organist, a Parish Pouncillor, Charity Trustee, member of the PCC and Head Warden of the ARP in 1938, which was re-named the Civil Defence in 1946 when he still remained a member.

Sadly missed, both at school and in the village, a casket containing his cremated remains was buried under a tree on the Camping Land side of the churchyard.

Mrs.Jarvis also taught at the school for 15 years. She retired in 1952 and died in 1965.

Their son married the daughter of Mrs.Beck ( senior ) and it was from Mr.Jarvis ( junior ) that this information was acquired

Mr. Samuel Collison, a farmer and woodman died in 1767, leaving £100 to the Parish. With this money the Parish Council bought " The Crown Inn ". The rent paid was used as a charity fund to help the poor in the Parish.

In 1959, as the Crown was in a state of disrepair and Mr.and Mrs.Colman were retiring, ( having been licensees for over 25 years ), it was decided to sell the pub by public auction. It was bought by East Anglian brewers, Greene King and Sons Ltd, for the sum of £1500. After expenses of the sale were paid, the remaining money was placed in the Bank and the interest is paid out to charities each year.

Mr.Myhill started a butcher's business in 1936 in the Crown yard ( the building now being the toilet block at the pub ).

He killed a pig, a sheep and bought beef, making his deliveries by bicycle. At the end of the first week he had made a profit of 15 shillings ( 75p today )

Later he bought a small Austin Van. He gave up his business in 1939 when he joined the forces.

Permission was asked in 1936 to lay the Bowling Green at The Crown ( now the beer garden )

A horse-shoe, hand made at Colkirk has been given the The Crown by Mr.Marshall of Sidmouth, Devon who was on holiday in Norfolk. It contains an inlaid photograph of the maker, the late Mr.Frank Wright.

Mr.Marshall considered that the horse-shoe rightly belonged to the village and, in accepting it, the licensee Mr.G.Frost told him that " it would hang in a prominent place in the bar ".

The smithy where the shoe was made ( down the Dereham Road, near the chapel ) was demolished, together with the cottage, in October 1970.

The current building had alterations and additions in 1820-30 and again in 1870 when the out buildings were removed to a new site and the Parish Room was built.

There was a disastrous fire in 1922 necessitating reconstruction of the south and west wings.

In 1954 part of the old rectory was converted into a separate flat. The Old Rectory was finally bought by Mr.and Mrs.Hugh Beck.

1964 - Members of the family of a former Colkirk Coachman returned to the village to attend the dedication service of a memorial to a daughter killed in a New York street accident in 1961. The woman who was killed was Miss Margaret Agatha Dunn, daughter of Mr.Oscar Dunn, a one time coachman to the village Rector. She was 65 years of age, born 6th May 1899.

One of her brothers, Mr.Ernest Dunn, of New York State, who had also emigrated, expressed a wish that there should be a memorial to her at Colkirk and sent a sum of money for this purpose. The money was used in carrying out improvements in the school and for three new oak pew fronts in the church which were dedicated to her memory. Three electric clocks were bought for the school.

Many of the residents of Colkirk will know Eileen Bailey of Starre Corner but few will know that she is the fourth generation of her family to live in the village.

Born Eileen Crane at White Cottage, Dereham Road in the early part of the 20th Century, Eileen was the youngest daughter of John Crane and Alice Sparrow.

Eileen and her family moved to Hazelwood Farm, Common End where she married Stanley Bailey in 1940 at St Mary's, Colkirk . Stanley Bailey was born at Common End, Colkirk in 1910 and spent all his working life as a mole catcher, firstly for his father, then in partnership with his brother Percy.

Eileen's father, John Crane, was born at Ashwicken, nr Kings Lynn, in 1871. He moved to Colkirk when his father James took over the stewardship of Manor Farm at Common End. John married Alice Sparrow, born 1875 in Colkirk, at St Mary's, Colkirk in 1912. They lived for a spell in Dereham Road, Colkirk before moving to the cottages adjoining Manor Farm. John worked as a team-man and gamekeeper at Manor Farm before it merged with Hazelwood Farm and he became Farm Steward in 1919 living in the farmhouse. John died in 1951 at Colkirk, a retired Farm Bailiff.

Eileen's mother, Alice, was the daughter of Henry Sparrow and Ann Bartaby. She died in 1954 at Colkirk. Henry was a wheelwright in Colkirk and Ann was the Housekeeper to the Curate of Colkirk. She later ran the village Post Office in School Road.

John's parents (Eileen's paternal grandparents), James Crane and Mary Crane( nee Pettit ) died in 1938 and 1932 respectively.

Alice's parents (Eileen's maternal grandparents), Henry Sparrow and Ann Sparrow ( nee Bartaby ) died in 1915 and 1920 respectively.

Henry and Ann's parents (Eileen's maternal great grandparents), William Sparrow & Ann Sparrow (nee Emms), and George Bartaby & Mary Bartaby (nee Russell ) are also buried in the village churchyard.

She married John Greef from Gooderstone and they had about 11 children whilst living in Caldecote, Swaffham.

They moved to The Green, Oxwick and were living there in the 1891 and 1901 Censuses.

Jack Larwood, George Pearson, Billy High Albert ( Bumper ) Catton, Dougie Wright

The Rectory before " The Fire " Church with oil lights and pot-bellied stove

1967 W.I. or Mothers Union L to R: John Bailey, Owen Reynolds, Derek Johnson,

Back Row, 3, 4 and 5 - Mrs Johnson, Eileen Bailey, Rose Makins Michael Robinson, Brian Robinson

By 1851 they were living in Colkirk with their four children, Maria (12), Dinah (8), Elizabeth (5) and Martha (3), who were all born in Colkirk.

By the time of the 1861 Census they were living in the pictured cottage in Fakenham Road (now Crown Road) which was converted from a barn or stables about 1854. They now had an additional son, John (7).

John (senior) died at the age of 57 in 1870 and was buried on 5^th September in Colkirk.

In the 1871 census Diana was still living in the same cottage with her son John, now working in the building trade like his father, but as a bricklayer.

The cottage, having changed very little from the photo, still exists in Crown Road.

Cut-out wooden replicas of German Soldiers, placed in ditches, for practicing defensive tactics

Cricket teams playing in the meadow, adjoining the " Church Pit " ( village pond ) opposite the Village Hall

We really need photos and your own memories of these and any other things that make Colkirk special.