Three new blue plaques

On Monday 24th October 2011 three blue plaques were unveiled:

The Body-snatchers by St Nicholas Church main gate – unveiled by Revd. James Stewart

The Guildhall by St Nicholas Church main gate – unveiled by Richard Packham, Chief Executive , GYBC

Replacement of Suspension Bridge Disaster at the Swan Public House, North Quay – unveiled by Revd. James Stewart

The Great Yarmouth Local History and Archeological Society organise the installation of blue plaques in the Borough.  For more information on the society click here.  Dr. Paul Davies gave a brief talk prior to each unveiling, providing context for each of the plaques.

The bodysnatcher Keith Vaughan was employed by the renowned surgeon Sir Astley Cooper to supply corpses for anatomical research.  Sir Astley Cooper’s father was vicar at Great Yarmouth, though the surgeon was practicing in London at that time and taught anatomy at Guy’s Hospital. Keith Vaughan hid the corpses in old houses on Row Six where he lived before crating them up for despatch to London. He was paid 10-12 guineas per body but this activity eventually got him arrested, being jailed for 6 mths on the first occasion and transported to Australia on the second.  The surgeons were given the bodies of hanged criminals for anatomical research but such a supply was inadequate for the industrious Astley Cooper and his like.  The Rev. James Stewart spoke in memory of those whose bodies had been stolen from graves at St. Nicholas. 

It was not possible to list all those who drowned in the Suspension Bridge disaster, as there were so many – too many of them being young children from the poorer families who lived in the area nearby. What should have been a happy occasion with the excitement of the event of a clown in a tub being towed up the Bure by four swans, turned out to be a disaster such as would have made national if not international news these days – the bridge collapsed thanks to a faulty weld in a chain link, and the crowd on the bridge was flung into the river.  Particularly moving was the record of a dead mother being hauled up out of the water, still clutching her baby and holding  her little girl by the hand with such a tight grasp that it was only with great difficulty that the bodies were separated.

Alf Hedges records in “Yarmouth is an antient Town” (1959, revised and expanded 2001 by Michael Boon and Frank Meers, printed by Blackwell John Buckle, ISBN 0-9541153-1-7) that the Guildhall ” stood on the left-hand side of the Gate of St. Nicholas and was built on arches so that people could walk to church underneath it.”  It was first used by the Guild of the Blessed Trinity, a merchant guild  formed as a result of privilages granted by King John in his Charter of 1209 but suppressed in the Reformation.  The Guildhall was then taken over by the Corporation.  The Guildhall became redundant and was pulled down when a new Town Hall was built by the river (on the site where the present Town Hall stands).  A new building was erected on the Guildhall site in 1723 to provide an Assembly Room and a  private chamber for the Council but this  building was demolished too in 1850.

Heritage Club at the Priory Centre

Join the Priory Heritage Club to enjoy looking at fascinating aspects of Great Yarmouth’s past, such as

* Everyday life during the 2nd World War
* The rail link to Great Yarmouth and the bucket and spade trade
* The growth of Yarmouth’s fishing industry

Tuesdays, 9.30-11.30am, The Priory Centre,  Priory Plain, Great Yarmouth

Contact: Priory Learning Team T: 01493 743023 E: learning@gyctrust.co.uk

http://www.priorycentre.co.uk/news.html

Memories of King Street, Great Yarmouth

Call for local interviewees!

Local arts and regeneration organisation SeaChange Arts are currently looking for local people who would like to share their memories and stories about King Street in Great Yarmouth, as part of the Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) scheme. The THI scheme is a conservation led regeneration project for the St Georges and King Street area of Great Yarmouth, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and managed by Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s Conservation Department.

The audio interviews, as well as being placed in the Norfolk Record Office audio permanent archive, will be used as part of a film looking at the history of King Street through the recollections of people of Great Yarmouth. Lynsey Allett, filmmaker and oral historian working on the projects says: “We are looking to create a vivid and varied audio documentary, which captures the lively and interesting atmosphere of King Street over the last decades. These could be recollections about the houses, people or shops on the street, or events that have taken place on King Street over the years. To make this piece successful, we’d really love to hear about as many people’s memories as possible.”

The interviews will take place on Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th September at Maritime House in Great Yarmouth, or at a more convenient place for the interviewee. Local people will be interviewed by Lynsey Allett and her assistant.

If you would like to share your memories of King Street in Great Yarmouth, please contact Lynsey Alett on lallett@yahoo.com, or call Becca Clayton at SeaChange Arts on 01493 846550

The Pirate Stone

“To the Memory of David Bartleman, Master of the brig Alexander and Margaret of North Shields, who on 31st January, 1781 on the Norfolk coast with only 3 pounders and ten men and boys nobly defended himself against a cutter carrying eighteen 4 pounders and upwards of 100 men commanded by the notorious English pirate Fall and fairly beat him off.  Two hours after, the enemy came down upon him again.  When totally disabled, his mate Daniel MacAuley expiring with the loss of blood and himself dangerously wounded, he was obliged to strike and ransom.  He brought his shattered vessel into Yarmouth with more than the honours of a conqueror and died here in consequence of his wounds on the 14th February, following in the 25th year of his age.  To commemorate the gallantry of his son, the bravery of his faithful mate and at the same time mark the infamy of a savage pirate, his afflicted father Alexander Bartleman has ordered this stone to be erected over his honourable grave. ‘Twas great. His foe though strong.”

St. Nicholas Church Preservation Trust has organised the renovation of the David Bartleman gravestone in the churchyard. Over the last few years the lettering on the stone had deteriorated and in parts was illegible. After examining the stone it was apparent that the lettering had been re-cut, probably in 1900. At one time the stone had been painted white and the letters painted black. There was a fear that the gravestone would soon be blank, like so many other interesting ones in the churchyard. In order to save the Bartleman stone for future generations it was decided to save the lettering on the stone. The former Rector of Great Yarmouth, Michael Woods, gave his consent and the work was paid for by the Pearson family of North Drive (the Pearsons apparently come from a family of pirates).  The stonemason Colin Smith carried out the intricate work, donating the sponsorship to the St. Nicholas Church organ fund.

The present rector re-dedicated the stone during August 2011 when the Chairman of the St. Nicholas Church Preservation Trust gave a brief talk about the stone, explaining that Fall wasn’t really a pirate but a privateer in paid employment, sailing under the American flag during the War of Independence 1775-83, with a licence to operate from America, France and Holland.   He captured many colliers along the east coast, including two off Lowestoft in 1780 and two merchantmen off Pakefield around the same time.

After the David Bartleman incident, the Mayor of Yarmouth wrote a stiff letter to the Admiralty complaining that there were no men-of-war stationed in Yarmouth. 

This is just one of many interesting stones at St.Nicholas Parish Church, some of them listed and of  great significance to local history, such as the stone commemorating a death caused by the collapse of the suspension bridge, with a lovely carving illustrating the event.   Dr. Paul Davies has written a book entitled Stories behind the Stones and details of over 500 graves in St. Nicholas Churchyard and the New and the Old Cemeteries.  It is a hardback, 540pp and lavishly illustrated in colour: ISBN 978-09544509-3-9.  Priced £40, it is available from Paul Davies (01493 843647)

Art Classes

Great Yarmouth Potteries are delivering the following courses between 21st March – 15th April 2011:

Most courses are for a 2 hr. session a week for four weeks.  Places are limited, so please pre-book by email or telephone 01493 850585.

Great Yarmouth Potteries also offer tuition on the potter’s wheel, as individual lessons, group bookings or for birthday parties. £9.50 per person.

Great Yarmouth Potteries, 18-19 Trinity Place, NR30 3HA.  For more information about the potteries, the museum, education and the art of Ernie Childs, click here

Congregational Hall, Greyfriars

It is heartwarming to see another historic building being saved and given a new life.  Building work started on the Old Congregational Hall this month after two health projects  in Shrublands, Gorleston and Greyfriars, Great Yarmouth representing nearly £5m of investment were given the final go ahead.

Kate Gill, Director of Corporate Affairs at NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney, said: “This is a significant investment which once again underlines our commitment to ensuring our patients have easy access to high quality services, delivered in a modern, fit for purpose environment where the commitment of the NHS locally to clinical teaching can also be fulfilled.

The scheme at Greyfriars will see the Congregational Hall converted into a permanent home for the neighbouring GP-led health centre and walk-in clinic, which is open 12 hours a day, 365 days a year.  The Greyfriars Health Centre, currently housed in temporary buildings next door  provided a service which was the first of its kind in the region when it opened in May 2009.

“All of the existing services offered at Greyfriars, such as blood tests, weight management and drug and alcohol services, will continue in the new development. We will also be able to make clinical space available for use by our health and social care partners, which means our patients will gain from the added convenience of accessing all the services they need under one roof.”  Construction work is due for completion by summer 2011.

Nelson Monument

The Nelson Monument in Great Yarmouth will be open for guided tours on Saturday and Sunday, 13th and 14th August, 2011, 10.00 – 16.00 hrs. Timed tours for two people at a time only last for thirty minutes and cost £6.00 per person. 

Bookings can be made by contacting the Nelson Museum  on 01493 850698 or calling into the museum in person at 26 South Quay, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2RG.    Unbooked tours will be sold at the Monument subject to availability on the day.

The Nelson Monument, properly called the Norfolk Naval Pillar, was built on the South Denes, Great Yarmouth, in 1819 to commemorate Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. At the time, the South Denes was an empty sand spit and the Monument stood right in the centre of it with only the Officers’ Racecourse and the Military Training ground around. It was a stunning Monument to one of England’s greatest naval heroes.

Every year a few guided tours are arranged by the Nelson Museum.  It is a  fantastic opportunity to climb all 217 steps to experience the breathtaking views – Norwich Cathedral can be seen on a clear day – and to learn more about the Monument. You will be accompanied by a trained Nelson’s Monument Tour Guide who will expain the monument’s construction, history and restoration and about its links with our greatest naval hero, Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. Each visitor will receive a certificate on returning to terra firma.

Due to the slim spiral staircase and very small viewing platform at the top, only two visitors and the guide can make the ascent at any one time. Unfortunately small children or visitors with heart, lung or mobility problems cannot be accepted on the tours. The Monument has a parapet which is 1.3 metres high. Visitors will be asked to leave bags or bulky items in the care of another guide, who will be stationed at the base of the Monument.

Regent Theatre

The Regent Theatre, now Mecca Bingo, 85-87 Regent Road, Great Yarmouth, must have offered, I believe, the most beautiful surroundings in which to play bingo anywhere in the country!  Sadly Rank Group, the owners of Mecca Bingo, decided to close the bingo club in December 2011 as it was losing money and considered no longer commercially viable.  A petition signed by 382 people to keep the bingo hall open was unfortunately not successful in persuading the Rank Group to change its mind.

This Grade II Listed Building has been opened for guided tours as part of Heritage Open Days and each tour was, unsurprisingly, fully subscribed.  Opened on 26th December 1914, the whole building, which  was designed by architect Francis Burdett Ward, is lavishly but elegantly decorated in Louis XVI style.   

The venue was designed for both cinema and theatre and has a 30ft deep stage and a spacious auditorium with seating for 1679 in stalls and circle, including the wonderful box seats above (poorly photographed, I am afraid).  There was a separate entrance at street level to the restaurant, also beautifully decorated with ornamental plasterwork and once but no longer panelled in wood.  There were 30 staff in the kitchen in the basement, where the original oven is still in situ and where there is an open well which used to supply the kitchen with its water.

The theatre was taken over by Associated British Cinemas in 1929 but closed in September 1982.  It stood unused for a while before being converted into a bingo club and now operates as a Mecca Bingo Club.  It is a great credit to the proprietor that the wonderful original features of this building have been so wonderfully preserved.   Thanks are due too to the friendly staff who were most accommodating during the tour in 2010. 

It would be good to have better photographs if anybody is willing to share them!

Heritage Open Days

A great opportunity to discover hidden Greater Yarmouth over four days of free events with special guided tours and visits to buildings not usually open to the public, Heritage Open Days spans four days from 8th – 11th September 2011. 

Amongst  the many great buildings to explore are HS Smoke House , five traditional old smoke houses in South Denes, over 150 years old and still using traditional methods for smoking herring.  Prebooking is required for guided tours on Friday at 10.00 am and 2.00 pm and Saturday 10.00 am, numbers per tour limited to 15 people   Also the wonderfully ornate Regent Theatre, now Mecca bingo, designed by Frances Burdett Ward and decorated in the Louis XVI style.  Opened in 1914,  it has been well preserved by its current owner. Pre-booking is required here too for guided tours on  Friday to Saturday at 10.00 am and Sunday 11.00 am.   But these are just two of  the  participating venues.

For more information visit the Heritage Open Days site by clicking here.

Historic Building

This special biulding on North Quay, can any one give details of its history? or what history can it tell