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| Some Interesting Historical Facts | < Back |
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Gillingham is called Kildincham in Domesday Book. It now comprises four parishes, Gillingham, All Saints, Gillingham St. Mary, Winston and Wyndale but at one time the two latter parishes were completely separate and both had churches dedicated to St. Andrew.
In early Gillingham there were two lordships and two churches. The greater lordship or manor had belonged to Higand and was taken by William the Conquerer for himself. In King Stephen’s reign it was granted to Earl Hugh Bigod with Stockton, Geldeston, Wyndale etc. The lesser manor had belonged to Gurd, brother of King Harold. His freemen were dispossessed and in 1272 it belonged to the de Ponte family. This manor had the patronage of the church of St.Mary which is the present beautiful early Norman church. In 1320 Sir Bartholomew Bateman owned the property. He died of the Black Death in1349 but the property remained in his family until the 28th year of Henry V111. There is no monument to the Bateman family in Gillingham but they owned the property for 200 years. In 1547 Thomas Bateman sold the property at Gillingham to John Everard, member of a well known Norfolk family. John Everard was buried in St. Mary’s church in 1553. There is an Everard Charity given is 1596. After that time there is no more mention of the family in Gillingham. The Everards were Catholics and perhaps lost their property because they refused to change their religion. Queen Elizabeth gave the manor to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Keeper of the Great Seal. The first Bacon who lived at the Hall was Sir Francis, the Lord Chancellor, who died in 1623, and he built the present Hall in 1612. The property continued with the Bacons until the heiress, Susan Bacon, married a Mr. Schultz of Hanoverian descent who came to England with William of Orange. Susan Bacon became heiress to the property through the death of her brother Edmund Bacon who died of small pox when he was very young. There is a painting of these two little children in Gillingham Hall. There is a large tomb in Gillingham churchyard in memory of Elizabeth , widow of John Bacon Schultz, born 1761, died 1847. Also of their two daughters, Susan Elizabeth 1783-1853 and Harriett widow of Lord George Thomas Beresford 1787-1861. Lady Beresford had four daughters and the estates next became the property of her eldest daughter Harriet Georgiana who married Admiral Eden. Mrs. Eden died in 1889 when her nephew Mr. John George Kenyon inherited. He died in 1914.
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Gillingham must have been a place of some importance during the time the Batemans owned it 1320 – 1547 and many of its inhabitants were seafaring men. In 1291 a Flemish merchant complained that his ship had been plundered at Dunwich, and that the pirates had taken the booty and sold it at Gillingham. Dunwich in those days was an important port and only 16 miles from Gillingham and the River Blyth was navigable as far as Blythburgh. Gillingham was once quite near an estuary of the sea which once came up as far as Bungay over what is now marshland. In the year 1000 there was a ferry from Beccles to the foot of Dunburgh Hill. The water gradually receded and in 1268 we hear of some monks building a bridge over the river to Gillingham. In the reign of Richard II we hear of roads and causeways across the marshes. The bridge built by the monks of Bury was used until about 1870 when it was rebuilt. It was very narrow, only wide enough for one cart to pass over. The bridge which replaced the old one is still in use to-day, but is very narrow for present day vehicles. There is now a Beccles by-pass which runs across the marshes and meets Gillingham between the village hall and St. Mary’s Church and this uses a new bridge across the river between the existing bridge and Boaters Hill.
Much of Gillingham is reclaimed marshland, and although the floods have not been so bad recently the marshes were often flooded and people rowed in boats to Beccles. The last serious floods were in 1947. There was very bad flooding in 1911 at harvest time and corn was floating in the fields at Manor Farm. Some cattle swam down the river as far as Beccles and landed near the Pickerel Inn where they were revived with brandy.
THE CHURCHES OF GILLINGHAM
St. Andrews Church Winston
Of the now extinct village of Winston which belonged to the Bigods, all the boundaries have been lost but the site of the church can still be seen above the rectory in what is known as Rectory Meadow. The rectory was occupied by the Rector of Gillingham but is now a private house, and it is no doubt built on the site of the rectory belonging to St. Andrews Winston as it is a long way from St. Mary’s Church and the Village Street. There was also once a rectory on the left of the old Bungay Road near the end of the wood called “Widows Cruise” but this was burnt down. Bricks are still turned up by the plough at this spot and bones have often been found in the rectory meadow on the site of St. Andrews Church. This church was united with Gillingham All Saints in 1440 by the Duke of Norfolk with the consent of the parishioners and also the church of the other lost parish of Wyndale, also St. Andrews. No doubt the Black Death which raged in East Anglia in 1348-9 depopulated this part. It may explain why most of the houses are now built on what is really marshland. There must have been many houses in Winston and Wyndale as bricks are still found in many of the fields.
St. Andrews Church Wyndale
A part of Wyndale parish near the site of the Old Rectory is called Waterloo.
The old church of St. Andrew’s Wyndale stood in the corner of the field where two roads fork, one going to Hollow Way Hill and Aldeby and the other to Toft Monks and Haddiscoe. There is a pit there which is still known as Church Hole. The meadow is known as The Doles.
All Saints Church Gillingham
The ruined tower of All Saint’s Church is all that now remains of that church which was pulled down in 1748 to mend the roads. It must have been a large church judging by the foundations which can be found at some distance from the old tower. The graveyard is still used. Being of the 15th century, All Saint’s was not so old as St. Mary’s Church .The font was sold to Kirkley Church, near Lowestoft, for a guinea in 1746 but the base of the font was found in a garden belonging to Mrs. Richardson in Gillingham Street, where it had been used for many years as a garden seat. The Reverend G. H. Thompson, then Rector, had it removed to St. Mary’s . All Saint’s was united with St. Mary’s Church in 1629 and for some years before it had been served by the same Rector.
St. Mary’s Church Gillingham.
St. Mary’s Church, Gillingham dates back to the times of the Normans, and some old records suggest that it was built on the site of an earlier Saxon church. Though greatly restored and added to, the old design and building stands out clearly. The tower is unspoilt except for the three feet of modern flint work, which replaces the original embattlement. The stone work of the doorways and the Norman windows has been much restored. The two aisles were added at the restoration in 1860 , before that there was a porch on the south side of the church. There was also some addition on the south side before 1860 in which was the Hall pew which seems to have been made out of the screen. The Old Hall pew seems to have been a very quaint affair, a large square pew surmounted by a canopy supported by four stout oak posts. Its position was just in front of the pulpit. It was removed in 1860… The restoration and enlargement of the church was supervised by Mr. Penrice, a Lowestoft architect who married a Miss Brundall,, daughter of Mr. Benjamin Brundall then living at the Village Farm.
NB A separate paper also on the website more fully describes St Mary’s church to those interested in detail.
The Catholic Church - Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.
The Catholic Church was built in 1898 and finished in 1903. The priest-in-charge resided at the Hall. Mr. John Kenyon built the church, and died in 1914 and was buried in the new churchyard. His widow, Mrs. Kenyon carried on the estate after her husbands death and had the full responsibility of the estate during the Great War. They had two sons and five daughters. Three daughters entered convents and the other two were Mrs. Todhunter and Mrs. Hastings. Mrs. Kenyon was beloved by all – she was an invalid for the last six years of her life and died in 1937. Most of the parishioners in Gillingham attended her funeral.
SOME INTERESTING GILLINGHAM BUILDINGS
Gillingham Hall
Built by Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor, in 1612, Gillingham Hall is a Jacobean house of basic E-design whose brick has been plastered yellow. The gables have rounded finials and a stair turret at the back terminates in an octagonal cupola-like dome, which provides an harmonious crowning feature.
The Village Hall
In conjunction with her son, the late Mrs. Kenyon provided the Parish with a Village Hall in 1925.
The War Memorial
A War Memorial was erected in memory of the 18 Gillingham men who were killed in the Great War. It was sited at the corner of Yarmouth and Loddon Roads because on this spot King George V reviewed the Northern Army in 1916 before it went to France. The late Lord French was with him. Follwing the construction of the by-pass the war memorial was placed at the end of Church Road which is now closed to all but church and local traffic.
Winston Hall
Quite close to the Winston Rectory is an old farmhouse called Winston Hall which certainly goes back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, if not earlier. In her reign a certain Simon Smith lived there, and there has always been a tradition that Richard Cromwell , son of the Protector lived at Winston Hall after he retired to live the life of a quiet country gentleman. There is a walled garden at Winston Hall. The walls are very old and look as if they once formed part of a building as there are bricked up doors and windows etc. also a date which looks to be 1661. formed in brickwork. Winston Hall is reputed to be haunted. The ghosts are not seen but are often heard. A rustling noise like a stiff silk dress can be heard going along a corridor at the back of the house and at other times heavy footsteps are heard walking about at night, and a voice is heard calling “are you there?” from an old outside door now little used, but if you go to look you will not find anyone there. Queen Elizabeth may have visited this old house as it is quite likely she came to Gillingham as she had land (Crownland) and a hunting lodge here. She certainly stayed at Beccles as the Royal Arms are carved on an overmantle in a house near Barclays Bank, known as Queen Elizabeth House.
The Village Farm
The Village Farm, so called because it stands in the Village Street, is a very old house, certainly one of the oldest in the village. It was built around 1600 and added to about 1820 after a fire. It was no doubt once half-timbered and had a thatched roof. At some time it has been covered with plaster in the Dutch style and a tiled roof put on. In 1828 the plaster had got into a bad state and was pulled off and it was possible to see what the original house had looked like. The old timbers were still there much decayed. It must have been a pretty house. Unfortunately it had to be given a coat of rough cast to hold it together. The earliest tenant or owner remembered by an old parishioner was named Gepps. A Mr. Gepps also left the White Lion Hotel at Beccles in 1837 ,who had a celebrated bay pony which he drove 100 miles in 12 hours. Mr. Benjamin Brundell who died in 1872 next lived at Village Farm. It was once two farms and there were two houses, the other standing on the other side of the road. It was near the road and was burnt down in 1843 with the barn and other buildings. Some said it was fired by a workman who was dismissed and did it for spite. Mr. B. Brundell who lived there at the time moved over to Village Farm and the two farms were united. John Brundell next lived there. He was very excitable and will long be remembered in Gillingham. He had a plumbers business in Beccles as well as the farm and when at Beccles would climb the Church Tower to watch his men go out to work in the fields at Gillingham to see if they were late, and if so they heard all about it when he returned. The next tenant was a Mr Wyllys, son of Judge Wyllys. He lived there about 5 years. He was followed by Mr.Daniel Dawe who had 11 children, 9 being daughters. In 1914 the Village Farm was lived in by Mr James P.Hemmant. Members of the Hemmant family lived there until 1974 when it was bought by Mr. D.C. Montacute. Electric light was installed in 1932 when it was brought to the district of Yarmouth. Mr. Montacute extensively renovated Village Farmhouse, blocking the original front door on the east side.
The Village Street.
The road over the marshes to Beccles used to be in front of Village Farm House and over the allotment gardens. It joined the present road at Long Dip and can still be traced in dry weather.
The road going past Village Farm to Dunburgh is known as Kings Dam. The name is rather a mystery but there is a legend about a king who came that way in olden days. It could have been King Edmund as he is said to have had a palace near Hales Church.
Wyndale Farm
Wyndale Farm is said to have a secret underground passage leading from a cellar to the river. It can be traced by the hollow sounds when a horse is ridden over it. The entrance can be seen bricked up in the cellar. It is said to be haunted, possibly by smugglers. There was a lot of smuggling done in these parts in the olden days. A road near the farm is called Holloway Road.
The Winston Rectory
The Rectory is a very old house which seems to have been added to at various times. The Rev. John Lewis was rector in about 1850. He was then a very old man and had a curate to help him. Poor old Rev. John Lewis was so old and infirm that he found it difficult to stand in the pulpit to preach. So as he had been an ardent horseman and hunter, he had a curious contraption made in the pulpit shaped like a saddle for him to sit on, and mounted on this he was inspired to preach. I suppose the curate had to sit on it too! His successor, Rev. John Farr found the curious seat in the pulpit when he arrived in the parish. Needless to say he had it removed. The story is told of poor old Lewis that when he was 80 and could not see too well, he churched two ladies who had walked over from Beccles and had unwittingly seated themselves in the “churching” pew. The mistake was only found out when the clerk pursued them out of church and demanded the fee. Rev. Lewis died in 1855. Rev. Farr had the living until 1867. He had a large family. His wife was a Miss. Cobbold of Ipswich.
The Swan Hotel
The old White Swan Inn was pulled down in 1935 so that the road could be made wider. It was 200 years old. A new Inn was built behind the site of the old one.
There used to be a Toll Gate and house just a few yards on the village side of the inn.
The village Stocks
. The village stocks once stood just beyond the end of St. Mary’s churchyard, where the drive divides and forms a circle in front of the Hall. The road used to run between the churches and the Hall but was altered by Act of Parliament somewhere about the time the commons were enclosed (1805). The road once went through what is now the shrubbery in front of the Hall over what is now the drive, across the park to the Yarmouth Road. The commons were probably near the church.
The Blacksmiths
The Blacksmiths house and shop at the foot of Gillingham Hill were sadly pulled down in 1985 as it was apparently in a very decrepit condition. Mr.Holmes and his son had been blacksmiths there for many years. The road now in existence close to the site of the blacksmiths is called Forge Grove.
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