Dersingham Village

Dersingham

People first settled in Dersingham for two reasons: the village was on the coast but high enough to avoid flooding, and it was on a spring line so had a ready supply of fresh water. The village derives its name from being the ham (the old word for a town or village) of Derosige's people.

Dersingham is 107 miles from London. It covers some 3,580 acres and is, on average, 30 metres above sea level. Under the 1845 Enclosures Act, the village was given 75 acres of Common land together with allotments and the Recreation Ground; the Common and allotments are the responsibility of the Dersingham Charity Trustees, while the Parish Council runs the Recreation Ground.

The older houses in the village are mostly constructed of carstone and flint, a few with bathstone dressings. The village has a number of listed buildings:St Nicholas Church in Manor Road is constructed of carstone with stone dressings. The nave and chancel roofs are slate, while the aisles are roofed in lead. The chancel and nave were built in the early fourteenth century, with the decorated nave, clerestory, aisles and west tower being dated around 1470.

A contemporary directory records that the church was thoroughly restored between 1877 and 1879 at a cost of £5,000; the Rev J Bellamy (President of St John's College, Oxford, in whose gift was the living) defrayed the cost of the restoration of the nave and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners that of the chancel, supplemented by £300 raised by subscription. The work included completely re-seating the church with open pews. At the same time a new rectory was built in carstone and red brick.

The Tithe Barn, adjacent to the Church, was built in 1671 in clunch and carstone and features brick dressings and a pantiled roof. Despite its name, it was never used to collect tithes but was built as an ordinary agricultural store. It is owned by the Sandringham Estate and leased to Norfolk County Council; it is currently used for the storage of artefacts from buildings in Norfolk.

Dersingham Hall (opposite the Tithe Barn on the corner of Chapel Road) was converted to a hotel at the end of the 1980s but now has planning permission for conversion into apartments. It was originally constructed in the sixteenth century in stuccoed brick and carstone rubble. The 1870's Directory records that this was one of five manors and describes it as "a large plain building". It was occupied by John Goggs Esq. The lords of the manors were the Prince of Wales and the Rev Bellamy and they, with Mr Goggs, were also the principal landlords.

West Hall Manor Cottages in Manor Road (near the junction with Lynn Road) date from the seventeenth century and were formerly a Manor House - the manor of West Hall; they have also been used as a workhouse. Other buildings of interest include the Dersingham Community Centre on the corner of Dodds Hill and Manor Road. This was previously the Public Elementary School, built in 1875 on land provided by the Prince of Wales and with the cost of the buildings - some £500 - being met by Dr Bellamy. The schoolmaster in the 1880s was Alfred Firth, who later became the first Clerk of Dersingham Parish Council in 1885. The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hall in Lynn Road is owned by the Parish Council and leased to the Dersingham Social Club.

The Recreation Ground in Hunstanton Road was handed over to the Parish Council in 1920, having previously been owned by the Dersingham United Charities. In approving the change, the Charity Commission specified that the land should continue to be used "as a place for exercise and recreation". The Recreation Ground was registered as a village green in 1968. The ten acre sports field in Manor Road is leased by the Parish Council from the Sandringham Estate and then sub-let to the Dersingham Sports Ground Committee.

A growing community

Even a hundred years ago, Dersingham was a sizeable village, with a population of well over a thousand people. In the following seventy years, this doubled to reach 2,026 by 1961. Then the growth speeded up, doubling again in the next twenty-five years. The current population is approaching 5,000.

Nevertheless, the village today retains many links with the past, not least in being able to provide its residents with a full range of services. The 1880s directory does record a number of businesses and services that no longer exist - perhaps the railway line to Hunstanton and King's Lynn being the most obvious casualty, although the station building itself still stands at the end of Station Road near the bypass. But, as in 1880, the village has a post office, grocery stores (now called supermarkets, of course), a shoe repairer, a butcher, and a florist; it also has some shops that would have been unknown then, including a garden centre and a pond shop. Despite four of the public houses listed in the 1880s having disappeared - the Dun Cow and the White Horse have been demolished, while the Alexandra and the Albert Victor are now private houses - the village still has 2 public houses: The Feathers (previously the Cock Inn); and the Coach & Horses.

Although Dersingham now provides home to many people who have moved into the village, there is strong continuity with the past, for many families can trace their roots back into the history of Dersingham.  Hopefully, the village will continue to provide the opportunities and the pleasant and convenient environment that will persuade the children living here today to make Dersingham their home for life.

A Hundred Years Ago

Compared with today, the agendas of the Parish Council in 1904 were brief.  However, some of the problems are familiar: for example, the first meeting int hat year started with reports of blocked drains in Station Road and Centre Vale.

Another issue that is still of concern a hundred years on is the unmade road in Centre Vale.  Early in 1904 the residents asked the Council to make up the road and offered to pay towards the costs.  The Council agreed to get a price but, four months later and without explanation, this decision was rescinded.  A month after that the Council agreed to write to the Local Government Board to ask if the Council had the authority to contribute towards the costs: The Board replied saying that the Council had no powers unless it owned the land.  Not giving up, at the end of the year the council agreed to see if the owners would legally convey the land to the Council so that it could help pay the costs.

In the Spring, the owner of the Glebelands - leased to the Council for allotments - offered £100 if the Council would agree to hand back the land early.  The Council refused, believing that it was more important that the allotment holders completed the year in agreement with their leases.  At the end of the year, the Council agreed to extend the allotments in Dodds Hill to provide an alternative for those displaced.

Reading between the lines, an odd misunderstanding appears to have occurred in March when Mr Alfred Firth - who had been chairman since the Parish Council was founded in 1894 - wrote apologising for his absence due to ill health.  The Council appeared to take this as his resignation as it sent him an effusive letter thanking him for his 11 years service.  Four weeks later Mr Firth appeared at the Council's annual meeting and was re-elected Chairman despite there being another nomination.

All the Parish Council Minute Books from 1894 (when the Council was established) to the present day are held in Dersingham Library and can be inspected on request.

Page updated 6 April 2004