Since early 2020, Forncett History Group has published regular short articles in the village magazine, the Forncett Flyer. These articles have now been collected here on our new blog - Forncett History Notes. This blog offers the opportunity for these articles, and other news from the Group, to be read more widely and also provides a forum for us to publish short articles which don't fit easily elsewhere within the structure of the website. Please share this new page with anyone who you feel might be interested. If you would like to be added to our email distribution list please Contact Us and then you will receive an alert when any new article appears.
The Village Shop was an invaluable institution in village life for at least two centuries. Sadly, Forncett no longer has a single shop, but in times past the village had at least four general stores as well as bakers, butchers, bicycle shops and more! So, before memories of these places are lost for ever the History Group is keen to...
Today we are all familiar with the large (in some cases very large!) tractors that are used to cultivate the land around Forncett. However, it was actually only about one hundred years ago that tractors began to appear in the village, and even as late as 1939 there were many more men in Forncett who identified themselves as "horseman on...
Introductions to the history of Forncett frequently start by pointing out that our village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 AD. However, there were, of course, people living here long before that and, although we don't know much about them, they did leave their mark.
Will you be prepared for the census on 21st March? Doing your bit for posterity. Some readers will already have explored the world of our social history and enrich their lives thanks to the stimulating series of "Who do you think you are" broadcast by the BBC. For those interested in local history - perhaps that should be all...
The recent serious flooding in Forncett brought to mind a record in the Forncett Archive of an even worse flood that occurred over a century ago. It was August 1912 when an intense depression tracked into the Norwich area and dumped over eight inches of rain on the locality.
The Norfolk turkey has been an important feature of Christmas for well over a century, and for many years the Sale Yard opposite Forncett Station played an important role in the Christmas turkey trade. However, in 1932 the Christmas Poultry Sale exceeded all expectations as reported in the EDP on 8th December.
Forncett has a wealth of listed buildings, among which are many historically important farmhouses. The stories of these farmhouses, and the people who lived in them over the centuries, constitute a significant part of the history of the parish. With invaluable help from two of William Thurston's grandchildren we have recently compiled the...
Residents of Forncett End will probably have noticed that Austhorpe House, until recently a well-respected residential care and nursing home, has now been sold as a "development opportunity". Whilst the building looks rather sad as it awaits its redevelopment, a recent EDP article suggests that it is to be converted into three new homes and not...
In the early 1900s, if you were a farmer in Forncett and you had cows to sell at Norwich cattle market, you simply walked there with the cows! Forncett History Group has recently been lent a tape recording made by Edward Thurston (1910 - 1991) whose family owned Corner Farm in Forncett End from around 1914 to 1940....
For those of us who enjoy cycling, the early days of Lockdown in April were a real joy with almost no traffic on the roads. However, that was the norm for the residents of Forncett over a hundred years ago before the car had arrived here. Mass production of bicycles began in the 1880s and the bike began to offer...