Wymondham

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Wymondham Market Cross

Map sources for Wymondham at grid reference TG1101

There is also a Wymondham, Leicestershire

Wymondham (pronounced [ˈwɪndəm]) is a historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies 9 miles (14 km) to the south west of the city of Norwich, on the A11 road to Thetford and London.^[1]

1 History of Wymondham
2 Wymondham today
- 2.1 Governance
- 2.2 Buildings
3 Famous Residents
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History of Wymondham

[edit] 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 about the enclosure 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 Castle. Kett's Oak, said to be the rallying point for the rebellion, may still be seen today on the road between Wymondham and Hethersett.

[edit] The Great Fire of Wymondham 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.

[edit] After the Great Fire

In 1785 a prison was built using the ideas of John Howard, 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 Kingdom and the United States of America.

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 times 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.

[edit] Wymondham today

[edit] Governance

The civil parish of Wymondham has an area of 44.31 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 12,539 in 5,477 households. This relatively large parish includes one nearby village, Spooner Row.

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 (2003) eleven councillors are members of the Conservative Party, two are from the Liberal Democrats and one from Labour. The current mayor is Joe Mooney, originally of Ballindine, Mayo, now a long time resident of the town with his wife Catherine, and four children.

For the purposes of local government, Wymondham civil parish falls within the district of South Norfolk returning five district councillors, one for each ward.^[2] The town as a whole returns one county councillor, Daniel Cox to Norfolk County Council.

The headquarters of the Norfolk Constabulary, responsible for policing the whole of the county of Norfolk, are located in Wymondham.

[edit] Buildings

In the town centre there is a market cross, which is now used as a Tourist Information Centre. Wymondham Abbey is the Church of England parish church.

The award-winning Wymondham railway station, which is often, though wrongly, believed to have been used in the classic film Brief Encounter, has been lovingly restored by David Turner, and now houses a museum and themed restaurant. The station was however featured, along with Weybourne station on the North Norfolk Railway, as the "Warmington-on-Sea" station in the popular BBC comedy series "Dad's Army". Wymondham station is the junction for the Mid-Norfolk Railway, although their trains, running 11.5 miles (19 km) north to Dereham operate from the separate Wymondham Abbey station.

A large housing development has just commenced in Wymondham near to the Hethersett road. Construction of this housing estate began after much opposition and, more recently, plans for a new housing estate on a green-fields site on the Wicklewood-side of Wymondham. There is major opposition to this development as much wildlife may be damaged and the buildings will be on a flood plain.

[edit] Famous Residents

Bill Bryson, anecdotalist and writer, lives at Wramplingham, a village near Wymondham.
George Szirtes, prize winning poet, and Clarissa Upchurch live on Damgate Street.
John Ottaway, commonwealth gold meddalist bowls player is a long term member of the Wymondham Dell Bowls Club.
Oliver Winterbottom, one of Britain's most prolific car designers, lives off Barnham Broom Road.
Ben Cary, Leading sexpert within the I.T. Industry.