Martham:
A Potted History
Martham
has always been a large village. The Saxons settled here about AD600 and
gave the village its name, "the ham of the martens", the home of the
polecats. These cream-coloured ferret-like animals were found wild in Broadland
marshes until about a century ago. About AD800 Danish colonists settled densely
in the Fleggs, giving their names to many villages which end in "by"
(Hemsby, Filby, Ormesby, Oby etc.). Martham it would appear was large enough to
absorb these newcomers and retain its Saxon name.
At the time of the Norman conquest in AD1066, the manor at Martham
belonged to the bishop of Thetford, Herbert de Losinga. When he moved to
Norwich, built the cathedral there and founded the priory, he gave his land at
Martham to the new monastery. During the middle ages, Martham provided the monks
in Norwich with wheat for their bread, barley for their beer and peat dug from
the marshes for their fuel.
Martham was a large thriving village about the year AD1300 with a
population of about 1000. Even after the Black Death which was extremely severe
in this area, Martham was wealthy enough to build the large parish church, which
has been dubbed the "Cathedral of the Fleggs"
When the monasteries were dissolved, the manor was leased to a series of
landlords, many of whom lived away from the village. Martham has never had a
single family that dominated village life. It was a community of farmers,
fishermen, craftsmen and tradesmen. Nineteenth century directories tell of
grocers, butchers, tailors, drapers, shoemakers, basket makers, wheelwrights,
joiners, blacksmiths, millers, brick makers, bricklayers, thatchers, glaziers,
wherrymen and watchmakers. Indeed a village large enough to be self sufficient
and self supporting.
Brick making was carried on at several places in the parish, one being
near Martham ferry. This is why most bricks in the older houses are of the same
appearance, texture and colour, the so called "Norfolk Red".
A fair was always held on the village green on the last Tuesday and
Wednesday of July and was probably a general market where traders and peddlers
sold goods not usually available in the village.
The population of Martham in 1890 was 1097 inhabitants, today that number
has increased to over 3000.
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