North Walsham & District Community Archive

Antingham 1875 - 1975

"North East Norfolk Country Churchman Centenery Magazine 1875-1975"
FROM THE PARISHES

ANTINGHAM 1875-1975

Many visitors to the village are puzzled by the existence of two churches-St. Mary's and St. Margaret's. The story that they were built by two sisters is highly unlikely in view of the hundred years difference in the age of the two buildings. Another possible explanation is that the original church, St. Margaret's, decayed early and that instead of rebuilding it, a new church was erected close by. In 1875 the village would be- feeling very proud of its recently restored church and particularly the stained glass window in the south-east, the design of which came from Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It is of Mary the Virgin, Martha and Mary in typical pre-Raphaelite style. The Rector at the time was John Dolphin.
The Antingham ponds form the principal source of the River Ant and were also the terminus of the Dilham and North Walsham canal. In 1875 the old wherries would come up to the warehouses and the bone mill which would have provided work for several local people. They would no doubt have quenched their thirst at the Barge Inn where George Hammond was the publican. Both the pub and the canal are now closed though the pond remains, sad to say, as a private retreat.
The population in 1875 was 230 (present figure is 280). Thomas Wilkin was the parish clerk; Charles Thornton was the shopkeeper and James Walpole the veterinary surgeon. The farmers were James Carter, John Bell, Collin Helsdon, James Page and Richard Renacre.
In October of 1875 a school board consisting of seven members was established for the five parishes of South-repps, Antingham, Bradfield, Gunton and Thorpe Market for the school built by Lord Suffield in 1826 for £3,000. It is situated in Antingham and is in the same neo-Gothic style as Thorpe Market church. It must have been one of the earliest village schools in the county.