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 new initiative 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.
The May meeting of Forncett History Group was held at the village hall as a joint event with the Friends of St Peter's church. The Friends provided refreshments (tea, coffee and wine) before the talk. Entry was free and the audience was encouraged to make donations to support the ongoing restoration programme at St. Peters.
Members of Forncett History Group and friends recently visited a remarkable historic site in nearby Stoke Holy Cross, which served as an RAF radar station during WW2. We were the guests of Derek Bales (born in 1933) who has lived in the village all his life and whose home is a converted building on the original site.
Before WW2, the majority of buildings in Forncett were built entirely or partly from wood and hence the threat of fire was ever-present. However, there was little, if any, help quickly available. In 1895 Long Stratton Parish Council decided that the parish was too small to support a fire brigade on the rates, and so a subscription was raised...
At the March meeting of Forncett History Group John Herne gave a fascinating talk about the history of Wymondham, illustrated by items from Wymondham Parish Records. John has many years of experience in local history and is currently the archivist at Wymondham Abbey. He was also a major contributor to the excellent three volume history of Bunwell...
On Sunday 25th March 1759 the Methodist evangelist John Wesley rode into Forncett and found an enormous crowd waiting to hear him preach. The building that brought Wesley to Forncett was the small chapel in Tabernacle Lane, Forncett End, that still stands today, albeit now in an advanced state of decay.
It was not unusual for affluent Victorian ladies to pursue serious hobbies like music or fine art especially painting. Some years ago we were fortunate to be contacted by a family whose ancestor, Evie (Evelyn) Jessop, reflected just such an interest. The result was the donation of several watercolours to our archive, including landscapes painted...
It was not at all uncommon for emigrants from the UK to name places in their new country after their place of origin. Consequently, there is a Norwich in New York state and one in Connecticut. In a similar way New Forncett was the name given to land settled by William Alborough in Natal, South Africa in around 1858....
Most Forncett residents will confidently state that they live either in Forncett St Mary or in Forncett St Peter but, as the following story demonstrates, it is possible to live in both parishes at the same time! When the boundary line between the two parishes was drawn it ran right through the middle of Street Farmhouse on Low Road,...
For our September meeting the History Group was fortunate to have a very local speaker. As many Forncett residents will know, Terry Hickman-Smith is a retired architect and for most of his career he has had an abiding interest in historic buildings. Some years ago he acted as overseeing architect for the St Edmund's refurbishment project here in...
Today Forncett Manor is the name given to what was originally the Rectory built in 1848 for the then new rector of Forncett St. Mary, Revd. Dr. John Colenso. However, the original Forncett Manor House was built at least 600 years earlier on a completely different site, and we know quite a lot about it, owing to...