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A Journey around Whissonsett.
On this page - The Camping Land - The Village Sign - Best Kept Village Plaque - Tourist Map - Parish Map - The Post Office - The Pubs - Village Archives.
The Camping Land.The large open area of grassland in front of the church is the Camping Land. Several parishes in East Anglia have a Camping Land, Spong or Buttlands. The area was used for archery practice and drilling the young men of the parish who might be called up to serve the Lord of the Manor in times of war.
The game of Camping which was played here dates from Roman times and was a popular way of toughening up those taking part. There was Camp, a mixture of football, rugby and all-in wrestling and 'Savage Camp' when boots were worn and it was quite common for participants to be kicked to death. The sport carried on for centuries until the more civilized games of cricket and football provided the opportunity for teams from rival villages to prove their superiority.
Now Whissonsett Camping Land is a car park and the venue for the village fete. The railings and the Gates to the Camping Land were erected as part of the 2000 Millennium celebrations.
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The Village Sign.
By the railings, in High Street, is the Village Sign which was unveiled in 1985. The winning design, by local builder Ivan Newton, was chosen from several entries in a competition in 1983.
The sign bears the name of the village as it appears in the Domesday Book 'Witcingheseta' which either means the settlement of the Witcing tribe or a place of watery meadows. The village is in a valley on a tributary of the River Wensum with many wells and springs so 'watery meadows' describes it very well.
The background of the sign shows the Celtic Cross a reminder of the Saxon settlement here. Between the arms of the cross are the stocks, which stood on Stock's Hill until the early 1900s, one of the two windmills in Mill Lane, a Norfolk Royal apple representing the orchards at Hamrow and the Spring well which for centuries provided the main source of drinking water for much of the village. It is still here and has never run dry.
The two military figures in the centre of the sign are Lieut-Col. Derek Seagrim V.C, and Major Hugh Seagrim G.C. sons of a former rector of Whissonsett Rev.Charles Seagrim. Their heroic story is told HERE.
The small plaque in front of the sign was presented to the village in memory of Hugh Seagrim by the Karen community. (www.karenhilltribes.org.uk).
click for larger image
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Best Kept Village Plaque.
In 1996 Whissonsett gained first place for villages with under 500 population in the Best Kept Village Competition. The village was also sucessful for several years in Anglia in Bloom. The awards and montages of pictures of the village gardens are on display in the village hall.
Tourist Map.
On the wall behind the village sign is the village tourist map. This was designed in 1995 by Ann English as part of the Whissonsett Development Project and shows footpaths, places of interest and tells some of the history of the village.
village map click for larger image
Parish Map.
More information about Whissonsett is shown on the large Parish Map in the village hall. This was also designed by Ann English who did most of the artwork. Tapestry panels around the central map were worked by representatives of the village organisations. It took two years to complete and was sponsored by the Norfolk Rural Community Council.
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The Post Office.
The Post Office is near the village sign. Whissonsett is lucky to still have a Post Office and Store which serves several other local villages that have sadly lost theirs.
The building which hosts the Post Office is one of the oldest in the village and has, over the years, been a tea dealers', drapery, druggist, grocer and general store with a private school. It has been a Post Office since 1917 and has had only three post masters and mistresses in all that time.
The first Whissonsett Post Office was in the Terrace in London Street and the post master was James Thing. The Victorian letter box is still in use.
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The Village Pubs.
Once Whissonsett had three pubs, The King's Head in King's Road now called New Road. The Bell and The Swan and also a beer house called the Jolly Farmers, all in High Street, The Jolly Farmers closed in 1870 and the row of cottages in which it stood was demolished around 1960. The Bell closed about ninety years ago, the King's Head in 1970 and the Swan in 2006. So now alas there is no village pub.
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Whissonsett Village Archives.
The collection began in 1985 with tape recordings of the memories of members of the Happy Circle (over sixties club) and scrapbooks of village events.
There are now 20 scrapbooks, kept up to date, and a large collection of tapes, copies of which are also in the Norfolk County Sound Archives, and their transcripts. The collection includes the census returns for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901, copies of the church baptism, marriage and burial registers, and school log books, village maps, the history of the parish council from 1895-1995, detailed information about many old Whissonsett families.
There are also photographs, memories, deeds, news cuttings, copies of the Enclosure map and Tithe map and accounts of the history of the village over the past 200 years and much more. Contact Ann English at Hamrow Cottage 01328 700486.
Two books, 'Whissonsett, a Norfolk Village'(Sold Out) and 'The Changing Face of Whissonsett' are recent publications based on information from the archives. They are on sale at the village post office or by contacting L A Pegg 01328 700010.
A transcription of the Memorial Inscriptions seen in the church and churchyard is available from L A Pegg tel: 01328 70010 for details of cost. Postcards are also available.
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