Wymondham is an historic
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
in the
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
countyA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
of
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast, including The Wash. The county town is Norwich...
. It lies 9 miles (14 km) to the south west of the city of Norwich, on the A11 road to Thetford and
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
Before The Great Fire
Wymondham's most famous inhabitant was Robert Kett (or Ket), who in 1549 led a rebellion of peasants and small farmers who were protesting the
enclosureEnclosure or inclosure is the process which was used to end some traditional rights, such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on land which is owned by another person, or a group of people. In England and Wales the term is also used for the process that ended the ancient system of...
of common land. He took a force of almost unarmed men, and fought for and held the City of Norwich for six weeks until defeated by the King's forces. He was hanged from
Norwich CastleNorwich Castle, in Norwich, England, was built in 1067 when William the Conqueror ordered its construction because he wished to have a fortified place in the important city of Norwich. In the event, it proved to be his only castle in East Anglia. Ninety-eight Saxon homes were demolished to make...
. Kett's Oak, said to be the rallying point for the rebellion, may still be seen today on the road between Wymondham and
HethersettHethersett is a large village in the county of Norfolk, England, about south-west of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 5,441 in 2,321 households as of the 2001 census....
.
The Great Fire of 1615
The Great Fire of Wymondham broke out on Sunday 11 June 1615. Two areas of the town were affected implying there were two separate fires. One area was in Vicar Street and Middleton Street and the other in the Market Place, including Bridewell Street and Fairland Street. About 300 properties were destroyed in the fire. Important buildings destroyed included the Market Cross, dating from 1286; the vicarage in Vicar Street; the 'Town Hall' on the corner of Middleton Street and Vicar Street; and the schoolhouse. However, many buildings such as the Green Dragon pub did survive and many of the houses in Damgate Street date back to 1400, although this is now masked by later brickwork.
The fire was started by three Gypsies, William Flodder, John Flodder and Ellen Pendleton (Flodder) and a local person, Margaret Bix (Elvyn). The register of St Andrew's Church in Norwich records that John Flodder and others were executed on 2 December 1615 for the burning of Wymondham. Rebuilding of the destroyed buildings was quick in some cases and slower in others. A new Market Cross, the one we see today, was started and completed by 1617. However by 1621 there were still about 15 properties not yet rebuilt. Economic conditions in the 1620s could have been a contributory factor to the delay in rebuilding.
After the Great Fire
Kett's RebellionKett's Rebellion was a revolt in Norfolk beginning in July 1549 instigated by Robert Kett of Wymondham, Norfolk. Robert Kett himself had been a tanner and owned the manor of Wymondham making him a wealthy man.-First rebellions:...
spoke to the undercurrent of ferment beneath the tranquil surface of Wymondham. That same ferment manifested itself in the seventeenth century when a number of Wymondham citizens, including Thomas Lincoln, John Beal and others emigrated to
Hingham, MassachusettsHingham is a town in Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...
in the wave of religious dissent that swept England in the years preceding Cromwell's Commonwealth.
In 1785 a
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
was built using the ideas of
John HowardJohn Howard was a philanthropist and the first English prison reformer.-Birth and early life:He was born in Lower Clapton, London. His father was a wealthy upholsterer at Smithfield Market in the city...
, the prison reformer. It was the first prison to be built in this country with separate cells for the prisoners, and was widely copied both in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and the
United States of AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The collapse of the woollen industry in the mid-nineteenth century led to great poverty in Wymondham. In 1836 there were 600 hand looms, but by 1845 only 60. During
Victorian timesThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
the town was a backwater, escaping large-scale development, and the town centre remains very much as it must have been in the mid-seventeenth century, when the houses were rebuilt after a great fire. These newer houses, and those which survived the Great Fire, still surround shoppers and visitors as they pass through Wymondham's narrow mediaeval streets.
Governance
The civil parish of Wymondham has an area of and in the
2001 censusA nationwide census, commonly known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census....
had a population of 12,539 in 5,477 households. This relatively large parish includes one nearby village,
Spooner RowSpooner Row is a small village in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some south-west of the town of Wymondham and south-west of the city of Norwich. The village is within the civil parish of Wymondham....
.
Wymondham is governed by a town council of 15 councillors. The town is split into five wards each of which returns three members. Since the last election (2007) fourteen councillors are members of the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
and one is from the
Liberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Liberals, are a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party; the two parties had been in alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of...
. The current mayor is Len Elston.
For the purposes of local government, Wymondham civil parish falls within the
districtNon-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As originally created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...
of
South NorfolkSouth Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton.-History:The district was formed on April 1, 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of Diss Urban District, Wymondham Urban District, Depwade Rural District, Forehoe and Henstead...
returning five district councillors, one for each ward.The town as a whole returns one county councillor to Norfolk County Council – Daniel Cox, who is also the Leader of Norfolk County Council.
Buildings
In the town centre there is a
market crossA market cross is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, originally from Western European architecture. Market crosses can be found in most market towns in Britain, with those in Scotland known as "mercat crosses". British emigrants often installed such crosses in their new...
, which is now used as a Tourist Information Centre and is owned by the Town Council. The original building was destroyed in the Great Fire of Wymondham in 1615; the present building was rebuilt between 1617-18 at a cost of £25-7-0d with funds loaned by local man, Philip Cullyer. The stilted building was like many others designed to protect valuable documents from both flood and vermin. According to T.F. Thistleton Dyer's "English Folklore" [London, 1878], live rats were nailed by their tails to the side of the building by way of a deterent. This bizarre superstition ended in 1902 after a child was bitten, later to die of blood-poisoning.
Wymondham AbbeyWymondham Abbey is situated in the town of Wymondham in Norfolk, England.-Background:It is the Anglican parish church of Wymondham, but it started life as a Benedictine priory....
is the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
parish churchA parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
.
A large housing development has just commenced in Wymondham near the Hethersett road. Construction of this housing estate began after much opposition and, more recently, plans for a new housing estate on a green-field site on the Wicklewood-side of Wymondham. There is opposition to this development as much wildlife may be damaged and the buildings will be on a flood plain.
A further, much larger development of 3,000 homes, has been proposed for the South of Wymondham and has attracted tremendous local opposition. A campaign group known as "Fight for Wymondham" has been formed by local residents to oppose this development, on the grounds that it will destroy Wymondham's character as a historic market town and potentially overwhelm local services and pose a threat to wildlife.
The headquarters of Norfolk Constabulary are located in Wymondham. Before moving into the purpose-built building, the headquarters were found in the centre of town, in the building now used as the Heritage Museum.
Transport
The
Wymondham railway stationWymondham is a railway station in the town of Wymondham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is served by local services operated by East Midlands Trains and National Express East Anglia on the Breckland Line 17 km west of Norwich to Peterborough and Cambridge.Wymondham station is...
(voted Best Small Station in the 2006 National Rail Awards) possesses a piano showroom and a locally famous themed
Brief EncounterBrief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about the mores of British suburban life, centring on a housewife for whom real love was an unexpectedly "violent" thing. The film stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. The screenplay is by Noël Coward, and is based on his 1936 one-act...
restaurant. The latter featured in Mark Greenstreet's 1996 comedy film 'Caught In The Act' which starred Sara Crowe, Annette Badland, Nadia Sawalha, Paul Shelly and Leslie Phillips. The whole site has been sympathetically restored by owner David Turner and also houses a small railway museum. The station was featured, along with
WeybourneWeybourne is a fishing resort on the North Norfolk and has the postcode prefix of NR25. The village straddles the A149 coast road and is three miles west of Sheringham, within the Norfolk Coast AONB. Weybourne is mentioned in the Domesday book and in that survey it is called Wabrume...
station on the
North Norfolk RailwayThe North Norfolk Railway -- also known as the "Poppy Line" -- is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the coastal town of Sheringham and Holt, which is further inland...
, as the "Walmington-on-Sea" station in the popular BBC comedy series "
Dad's ArmyDad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
". Wymondham station is the junction for the
Mid-Norfolk RailwayThe Mid-Norfolk Railway or MNR is a heritage railway in the English county of Norfolk. Opening as a tourist line in 1997, it is often referred to as a "New Generation" heritage railway....
, although their trains, running 11.5 miles (19 km) north to
DerehamDereham, also known historically as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, some 15 miles west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles east of King's Lynn. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a...
operate from the separate
Wymondham Abbey stationWymondham Abbey railway station is a railway station in the town of Wymondham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is served by heritage services operated by the Mid-Norfolk Railway between Wymondham and East Dereham.-History:...
.
The town once had another station
Spinks LaneSpink's Lane was a railway station in Wymondham. It was opened very briefly in 1845 to trains on the line from Norwich. However two stations in the relatively small Wymondham proved to be overkill, and Spinks Lane closed after only a few months...
but this closed only a short time after opening in the 19th century.
Notable people
As of 2009, several notable residents living in or close to Wymondham include / have included
George SzirtesGeorge Szirtes , born May 9th 1948, is a Hungarian-born British poet, writing in English, as well as a translator from the Hungarian language into English. He has lived in the United Kingdom for most of his life.-Life:...
, a prize winning poet; Clarissa Upchurch, the artist; Oliver Winterbottom, a designer of TVR and Lotus cars; John Ottaway, a
commonwealthThe Commonwealth Games is a multinational, multi-sport event. Held every four years, it involves the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. Attendance at the Commonwealth Games is typically around 5,000 athletes...
gold medallist bowls player who is still a member of the Wymondham Dell Bowls Club; Donald Topley a former county cricketer with Essex,
Simon BeaufoySimon Beaufoy is a British screenwriter. Born in Keighley, he was educated at Malsis School in Cross Hills Ermysted's Grammar School and Sedbergh School, he read English at St Peter's College, Oxford and graduated from the Arts Institute at Bournemouth...
, the writer of the film '
The Full MontyThe Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film. It tells the story of six unemployed men, four of them steel workers, who decide to form a male striptease act in order to gather enough money to get somewhere else and for main character Gaz to be able to see his son...
' and '
Slumdog MillionaireSlumdog Millionaire is British film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
';
Bill BrysonWilliam McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on scientific subjects. Born an American, he was a resident of North Yorkshire, England, for most of his professional life before moving back to the US in...
, the humorist, author and travel writer;
Justin HawkinsJustin David Hawkins is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known for being the former lead singer and lead guitarist of The Darkness, alongside his brother, guitarist Dan Hawkins...
, singer with The Darkness; and the late
Edwin GoochEdwin George Gooch was a British Labour Party politician and trade union leader.Gooch was appointed an Alderman for Norfolk County Council...
, MP and President of the
National Union of Agricultural and Allied WorkersThe National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers was a trade union in the United Kingdom.It was established as the Eastern Counties Agricultural Labourers & Small Holders Union at a conference of Norfolk agricultural workers at the Angel Hotel, North Walsham on 20 July 1906...
.
See also
- Wymondham College
Wymondham College is a state boarding school, located in Norfolk, England, which was the largest in Europe when it opened in 1951. It is a specialist Technology College and Modern Foreign Languages college.-History:...
- Wymondham Abbey
Wymondham Abbey is situated in the town of Wymondham in Norfolk, England.-Background:It is the Anglican parish church of Wymondham, but it started life as a Benedictine priory....
- Wymondham High School
Wymondham High School is a state run comprehensive school in Norfolk, England. It can be found near the Wymondham Town Centre. It currently has around 1500 pupils, including sixth formers. The headmistress is Victoria Musgrave. It has Specialist School status in the Arts and Science.-House...
- Kett's Rebellion
Kett's Rebellion was a revolt in Norfolk beginning in July 1549 instigated by Robert Kett of Wymondham, Norfolk. Robert Kett himself had been a tanner and owned the manor of Wymondham making him a wealthy man.-First rebellions:...
- Mid-Norfolk Railway
The Mid-Norfolk Railway or MNR is a heritage railway in the English county of Norfolk. Opening as a tourist line in 1997, it is often referred to as a "New Generation" heritage railway....
External links