Since early 2020, Forncett History Group has published regular short articles in the village magazine, the Forncett Flyer. These articles have now been collected here on our new blog - Forncett History Notes. This blog offers the opportunity for these articles, and other news from the Group, to be read more widely and also provides a forum for us to publish short articles which don't fit easily elsewhere within the structure of the website. Please share this new page with anyone who you feel might be interested. If you would like to be added to our email distribution list please Contact Us and then you will receive an alert when any new article appears.
In January this year I wrote a History Note entitled "A poet in the churchyard" that related to one of the four magnificent stained-glass windows at St. Peter's church. Another of the windows, the Thorsby window, is in the North Aisle of the church and was installed in 1883. This window shows Saints Simeon and Anna and is "...
When we talk about recording history we tend to think about historical documents such as house deeds, wills, maps or census records, about drawings or photographs, and perhaps about personal letters or memoirs. However, since the second half of the last century, another form of historical record has begun to make its mark, namely oral history. When...
At the March meeting of Forncett History Group it was a great pleasure to welcome Joy Evitt from the Costume and Textiles Association (C&TA) to talk to us about the History of Norwich Shawls. The C&TA was founded in 1989 to promote the unique costume and textile heritage of Norwich and Norfolk and to promote interest and encourage research into...
A brief comment from Sally Tovell (née Weatherington) who lived at Forncett End Stores in the 1950s – "People in Forncett made excellent cider" - prompted me to investigate the history of cider-making in the parish.
A recent message to the Forncett History website, from a descendant of the Austin family, encouraged me to revisit the story of this family and to find (on the Ancestry website) a couple of rare photos of Forncett blacksmiths.
Forncett has two well-documented links to famous poets. Dorothy Wordsworth lived at St. Peter's rectory between 1788 and 1794, when her uncle, Rev. William Cookson, was the rector. Her more famous brother, William Wordsworth, also visited her here on a number of occasions. Nearly two hundred years later Philip Larkin, who was staying nearby at...
In these history articles we often discuss things that happened in Forncett very many years ago, but this month I want to celebrate something much more recent but equally historic – the twentieth anniversary of the Forncett Flyer.
At the meeting of Forncett History Group on 15th November, Mike Merrick, gave an illustrated talk about the history of Church Farm in Low Road, Forncett St Peter. This comprehensive story was made possible only by the foresight of a previous owner, Jill Gilleberg, who lodged the deeds of the property, which date back to 1795, with the Norfolk...
In general, the naming of farms in Norfolk was a simple affair. Examples here in Forncett include two Corner Farms, both predictably located on a corner, or Church Farm, near St. Peter's church. However, there are some notable exceptions and the origins of their names recall a war on foreign soil.
At the meeting of Forncett History Group on 20th September, David Kirk (Wreningham Heritage Group) talked about a family who are commemorated in a magnificent ledger slab in St Peter's church.