Wangford Village Photo Tour
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Wangford Village Picture Tour

Foresters Meeting Hall

Next to number 46 stood a meeting hall that used to be used by the Ancient Order of Foresters (Who?).

This Property used to be a tiny sweet shop!

The last property, at the junction with Church Street, was a tiny sweet shop and the present garage is a downsized former brick barn, constructed in the style known as "brick-on-edge".

At the crossroads (far left) are Southwold Road, Hill Road, and Church Street. There has been some recent controversy over the road name to Reydon. It was recently named Wangford Road, without any knowledge of the villagers. The Parish Council challenged this name with the District Council and was eventually given the choice of name. After some discussion Councillors decided to call the road Wangford Hill.

Hill Road was originally Duck Lane, thought to be a derivation of Dock Lane as boats were once able to reach a quayside here. A few old cottages are in this area and the row of council houses further on, in front of Hill Farm buildings, is the site of Wangford Common. This has been obliterated by the present situation. Around 1860, the name of the farm was Common Farm. Old photographs clearly show the Green.

71 - so called Providence House

Number 71. First on the right, and is joined to the last house and old shop in Norfolk Road. It was named Providence House when successive Methodist Ministers lived here.

Ivy Cottage

Number 69, Ivy Cottage, with its quarter acre garden, was a private boarding and day school in the mid 19th Century and subsequent occupants included the Parish Clerk, a veterinary surgeon and a school teacher.

Well Cottage

38. The Town House is opposite and has later been called Well Cottage. The wrought iron gate on the gable end is thought to be spurious. This was originally a pair of very small cottages where retired Henham Estate employees resided rent free, thereby representing one of the Wangford Charities.

At the entrance to Church close is a stylish old garage built by the Henham Estate

At the entrance to Church Close is a stylish old garage built by the Henham Estate and used for many years from the 1930s by Jack Brown, a taxi driver from number 40, who also kept pigs, chickens, ducks etc. and grew fruit, vegetables and flowers on the land occupied by River View, the land behind Hill Road council houses and all the Church Close land.

Houses for Henham Estate Employees

63 & 61 were houses for Henham Estate workers and the front porch construction has the Masonic influence, typical of the Rous family property.

The Alms Houses

59,57 & 55 form the Alms Houses. These were established in memory of one of Lord Stradbroke´s family and occupied by former estate workers. Details are on the foundation plaque. Beside these , from 53 to 39, was the field where the mill stood. A gateway and track was where the entrance to Millfields is now. The miller´s brick bungalow was beside the mill. One of the young sons of the miller at the beginning of the 20th Century, Frank Martin, was crushed when his clothing caught in the mechanism.

Former Loyal Oak Inn

37 was where the footpath emerged from Norfolk Road (far right). The Henham Estate built the pair of cottages, clearly from odds and ends as the roof was half tile and half slate. The back wall was stone whilst the front was brick and the odd assortment of beams in the kitchen ceiling had been well used previously.

The occupants here had to cross other people´s back garden to reach the well, situated in the back yard of number 31. From here, every house down to number 1 Church Street had access to the allotments from the rear of their properties and most families made good use of the plots for horticulture, poultry and linen lines.

The Impressive Vicarage

The Vicarage was opposite 37. Part of it, facing north, was extremely old and converted from farm workers´ houses; the newer addition was built to face east. The lawn was constantly used for village fetes and other events. The huge cellar was filled in during more recent modernisation work.


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