Burroughes' Stores

Burroughes' Stores was at the crossroads in Forncett End and operated from 1964 to 2001.

The Burroughes family came from Carleton Rode, where Charles Burroughes ran the windmill in Mile Road from 1880 to 1890. He also ran the smock mill in Bunwell in the late 1880s. Charles' son, Frederick (1883-1959) worked as an assistant in Howlett's Stores (now Bunwell Village shop) but in 1923 he started his own business in Bunwell Street and, as his business grew, he purchased Albion Stores on Wymondham Road, Bunwell.

F.C. Burroughes & Son, Wymondham Road, Bunwell, c. 1925    Courtesy Bunwell Heritage Group

Fred Burroughes married Rosa Gostling in 1907 and they had two sons, Charles and Reginald, both of whom became grocers. In 1939 Charles Burroughes opened his own shop in Tacolneston on the London Road and, in 1954, he also took over the Post Office, near Tacolneston school. Reginald Burroughes took over the Bunwell shop when his father retired. Reginald's children, David and Rosalind, joined the business upon leaving school.

In 1961 David Burroughes purchased a news agency delivering to Bunwell and the surrounding area. In 1963 he married Margaret Barnes and, at that time, the Burroughes' shop in Bunwell was sold and it was later demolished.

The Burroughes family moved to a house called "Millbank" on the Norwich Road in Forncett End (built on the site of the Black Mill). David Burroughes then had a new shop built (by John Bray from Old Buckenham) on the crossroads in Forncett End, opposite Austhorpe House. David's sister, Rosalind, served in the shop.

Burroughes Stores, Forncett End.  The shop was on the left hand side.

The shop served the Forncett community until 2001 when David and Rosalind's father, Reginald, died and the shop in Forncett End was closed. Over a decade passed and then, in 2012, the house, the shop and the adjoining land were sold and both buildings were demolished. Ten new houses were built in their place.

Old Mill Gardens - 2016

Thanks to Dennis Ludkin and Barry Bradford for help researching this page