At our November meeting we were entertained with a slideshow, detailing the history of Aylsham. This was presented by Brian Hedge and Brian started by giving us the history of the Blickling estate. This was followed by the history of St Michael’s Church, dating back to 1380, the tower is 98ft tall and has 10 bells.
Brian then moved to landmarks of interest. Evidently up to 1938 there was no public water supply. The pump which we've all seen under its thatched roof was built in 1911 and was 170 feet deep.
The cinema was opened on the 1st September 1937 and closed in 1960. Looking at the architecture, it was very much a building of its time.
There were two windmills, one has been turned into holiday accommodation, the other was reduced to rubble which was used in the runways at Oulton airfield.
We heard much about the numerous public houses, at one time there were 28. Daniel Defoe and Parson Woodforde visited and Horatio Nelson danced in the assembly hall.
Henry VIII, granted Aylsham the right to hold a weekly market and today the marketplace belongs to the National Trust,
We saw several photographs and postcards through the years some with well-remembered names whilst other businesses are lost in the mists of time. Brian gave us a detailed account of the shops over the past 100 years which were in the vicinity of the marketplace. North Norfolk Supplies stores with gigantic lettering, Drapers and Milliners, Barnwell's printing (still trading), Clarks the ironmongers, Gurneys bank which then became part of the Barclays brand. The Town Hall was built in in 1857.
Dr Morton in 1899 had the first car in Aylsham. There were two railway stations.
We heard that Millgate was the industrial centre of Aylsham and boats came up the river to the quay. Unfortunately, the 1912 flood when 7 inches of rain fell in a day, destroyed the locks on the canal and that was the end of goods travelling to and from Aylsham by water.
We will start the New Year with our Christmas party on 18th January.
Judy Leggett