A Brief History of Narborough

Legend has it that around 500 AD Narborough was a settlement of some importance, until it was razed to the ground in local tribal wars. The village suffered a similar fate in the late 1950’s when most of the old cottages were demolished - this time in the name of progress.

In the old part of the village a few monuments to the past remind us of Narborough's varied history. The original part of Narborough Hall was built in the 16th Century by Sir John Spelman, who needed a large house for his twenty children. The Manor had been passed to the Spelman family by the de Narburghs, who arrived soon after the Domesday survey and took their name from the village. The 13th Century heart tomb of Dame Agatha de Narburgh is the oldest memorial in All Saints Church, which also contains many nationally important brasses and monuments to the Spelmans. Their connection with Narborough ended in 1810 with the death of Reverend Henry Spelman. A great humanitarian, he established a number of charities to help the poor and the sick.

Close by the Hall is Narborough's only scheduled Ancient Monument, the Iron Age hillfort, known as the 'Camp Hills'. Remains of 'Devil's Dyke', or 'Bitcham Ditch', also lie in the parish. Of uncertain origin, it is thought to have been a defensive barrier or tribal boundary.

The 'Ship' Inn stands as a reminder of the three overlapping ages of the village's transport history. The railway ran nearby, barges unloaded at the Maltings staithe and the turnpike road from King's Lynn ended there. There was fierce opposition from local landowners when they got wind of the coming of the railway, but this did not prevent the line from reaching Narborough & Pentney in 1846 and Swaffham the following year. The railway effectively ended the river trade; horse-drawn barges had been carrying cargoes of coal, grain and other merchandise between Lynn and Narborough since 1759. The dwindling barge trade was finally abandoned in 1884, while the railway, despite local protests, was axed in 1968.

From the earliest times the River Nar has played a vital role in the life of the village. It is still considered one of the purest chalk streams in the country and is of great ecological importance. Its business potential was shrewdly exploited in the 1830’s by the Marriott brothers, who took over the navigation rights and built one of the largest malting complexes in Norfolk. They also owned and worked the Bone Mill, where in the 19th Century vast quantities of bones were crushed into bone meal.

The Corn Mill, in the centre of the old village, was built in 1780 and restored 200 years later. No grain has been ground since the 1950’s, but the waterwheel is still operative and much of the machinery is intact. 'Narside', next to the mill and originally the miller's residence, is one of only five listed buildings in Narborough, the others being the Church, the Mill, the Hall and the boathouse on the Hall lake.

Narborough has approximately thirteen miles of public footpaths and bridleways, many of them steeped in history. These include the River Nar towpath, the old coach road to Swaffham, Fincham Drove (Roman) and part of the Icknield Way.

In the First World War Narborough boasted one of the largest aerodromes in Britain. At its peak in the summer of 1918 almost a thousand personnel were stationed there. Out of about 150 buildings on the site, not one remains.

Fifty years ago Narborough was a small self-contained community of some 350 souls, with most of the workforce employed at the Maltings or on the farms. The demolition of the old village, along with the butcher's shop, and the closure of the bakery, meant the beginning of the end of the old way of life for Narborough people, to be concluded in the 1960s by the closure of the Maltings and the railway. The population has almost quadrupled since then, the village has been by-passed and its Community Centre is the envy of many villages and towns.

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