Little Hautbois
Encyclopedia
Little Hautbois is a small hamlet in Broadland
, England
, part of the parish
of Lamas. The name is pronounced 'Hobbis', and can be seen thus spelled on a memorial on the outside of nearby Lamas Church. In the Middle Ages
, the settlement of Great Hautbois was the head of the navigation on the river Bure
, and it is thought Little Hautbois developed from that. The name is taken from that of the de Alto Bosco, or de Haut Bois family, who acquired these lands at the Norman Conquest.
, Little Hautbois consisted of eight dwelling-houses, one being a holiday cottage rented out by the owner. The church of Little Hautbois, once owned by the monks of St Benet's Abbey, fell into ruin in the 15th century when the parish was amalgamated with that of Lamas. Although ruins were still visible in the eighteenth century, no sign of the building now remains above ground. The only trace of its existence is a depression in the grounds of Little Hautbois Hall. Little Hautbois has the feel of an isolated rural community now, but two former main transport routes pass through it. The river Bure, canalized in the 18th century to allow navigation up to Aylsham
, and the Bure Valley Railway
, now a light steam railway but formerly a full-sized railway.
, although this hospital may have stood a little further up the river, at Great Hautbois. Foundations were visible in 1907.
, the Adam and Eve, until the middle of the twentieth century. During the Second World War
, it was a popular drinking-place for personnel of the nearby RAF Coltishall
airfield. Today, the Adam and Eve is a private house, but the house's past is preserved in its name of Adam and Eve House. The remains of a pub sign-board are visible beside the front gate of the house's large gravel forecourt. Adam and Eve House has a fine three-bay frontage, the upper floor being lit by three dormer windows. The brick is diapered in a simple chequerboard pattern. Adam and Eve House was built in the 18th century as a farmhouse, extended by the addition of a lower, two-storey wing in the nineteenth century. Twentieth century alterations saw the addition of a garage and the rearrangement of windows in the lower block.
It was originally thatched, as was the barn (now converted into a house called Eden Cottage) beside it. The roof of the house was replaced with pantile
s in the twentieth century after a fire seriously damaged the barn.
in 1553, and remains a splendid example of a Tudor
manor house with pretensions. Probably erected on the site of an existing manor house, the house contains a medieval staircase. Three stories in height and four bays
in length, it is only one room deep. The two storey kitchen block, while almost identical in style to the main black, is seventeenth century in date. Tall chimneys and finial
s on gable
s and dormer
windows increase the building's height, while stone mullion
ed windows and diapered
brickwork add to the building's impressive appearance. It is thought that the family of the original builder went bankrupt about a century after its building and the buildings passed into the ownership of a charity connected with the church of St Peter Parmentgate, Norwich
. A painting dated 1840 shows large extensions, removed in a late nineteenth-century restoration.
The hall has been painstakingly restored by the present owners, and it retains many of its original Tudor features.
front built on to a house with older origins. The present bridge over the river Bure is built over the remains of an older bridge that lifted up to allow wherries
to pass underneath. The old bridge, built around the fifteenth century, is of two arches and built of brick. It incorporates two strange arched niche-like structures that have been variously interpreted as shelters for travellers caught in the rain and as lurking-places for excise
-men. Percy Millican, in his history of Horstead and Stanninghall, links these with a similar arch not far from the bridge there, which is of similar date. Millican describes the bridge as standing high and dry, although today water flows under both of these arches.
Broadland
Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based in Thorpe St Andrew, which is a suburb of the City of Norwich.-History:The district was formed on April 1, 1974 by the merger of St...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, part of the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Lamas. The name is pronounced 'Hobbis', and can be seen thus spelled on a memorial on the outside of nearby Lamas Church. In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the settlement of Great Hautbois was the head of the navigation on the river Bure
River Bure
The River Bure is a river in the county of Norfolk, England, most of it in The Broads. The Bure rises near Melton Constable, upstream of Aylsham, which was the original head of navigation. Nowadays, the head of navigation is downstream at Coltishall Bridge...
, and it is thought Little Hautbois developed from that. The name is taken from that of the de Alto Bosco, or de Haut Bois family, who acquired these lands at the Norman Conquest.
, Little Hautbois consisted of eight dwelling-houses, one being a holiday cottage rented out by the owner. The church of Little Hautbois, once owned by the monks of St Benet's Abbey, fell into ruin in the 15th century when the parish was amalgamated with that of Lamas. Although ruins were still visible in the eighteenth century, no sign of the building now remains above ground. The only trace of its existence is a depression in the grounds of Little Hautbois Hall. Little Hautbois has the feel of an isolated rural community now, but two former main transport routes pass through it. The river Bure, canalized in the 18th century to allow navigation up to Aylsham
Aylsham
Aylsham is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, about north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, although it was only made navigable after 1779, allowing grain,...
, and the Bure Valley Railway
Bure Valley Railway
The Bure Valley Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Norfolk, within The Broads National Park.The railway runs from Wroxham to Aylsham and is Norfolk's longest railway of less than standard gauge. It uses both steam and diesel locomotives. There are intermediate halts at Brampton,...
, now a light steam railway but formerly a full-sized railway.
St. Mary's Church
Sources indicate that this was a building of some importance, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Metal detector work on the site, which lay between the Hall and the road, has uncovered, among other things, a Papal seal. Some have identified this as the site of a chapel and hospital for travellers, founded by the De Alto Bosco family, who held the parishes of Great and Little Hautbois at the time of the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, although this hospital may have stood a little further up the river, at Great Hautbois. Foundations were visible in 1907.
The Adam and Eve
Little Hautbois had a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Adam and Eve, until the middle of the twentieth century. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it was a popular drinking-place for personnel of the nearby RAF Coltishall
RAF Coltishall
The former Royal Air Force Station Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , was a Royal Air Force station, a military airbase, North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, from 1938 to 2006....
airfield. Today, the Adam and Eve is a private house, but the house's past is preserved in its name of Adam and Eve House. The remains of a pub sign-board are visible beside the front gate of the house's large gravel forecourt. Adam and Eve House has a fine three-bay frontage, the upper floor being lit by three dormer windows. The brick is diapered in a simple chequerboard pattern. Adam and Eve House was built in the 18th century as a farmhouse, extended by the addition of a lower, two-storey wing in the nineteenth century. Twentieth century alterations saw the addition of a garage and the rearrangement of windows in the lower block.
It was originally thatched, as was the barn (now converted into a house called Eden Cottage) beside it. The roof of the house was replaced with pantile
Pantile
Pantile may refer to:*A type of roof tile*The Pantiles, an area of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England...
s in the twentieth century after a fire seriously damaged the barn.
Little Hautbois Hall
Little Hautbois Hall is a private residence set in grounds by the river Bure. It was built in the reign of King Edward VIEdward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
in 1553, and remains a splendid example of a Tudor
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
manor house with pretensions. Probably erected on the site of an existing manor house, the house contains a medieval staircase. Three stories in height and four bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
in length, it is only one room deep. The two storey kitchen block, while almost identical in style to the main black, is seventeenth century in date. Tall chimneys and finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s on gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s and dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
windows increase the building's height, while stone mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...
ed windows and diapered
Diapering
Diaper is any of a wide range of decorative patterns used in a variety of works of art, such as stained glass, heraldic shields, architecture, silverwork etc. Its chief use is in the enlivening of plain surfaces.-Etymology:...
brickwork add to the building's impressive appearance. It is thought that the family of the original builder went bankrupt about a century after its building and the buildings passed into the ownership of a charity connected with the church of St Peter Parmentgate, Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
. A painting dated 1840 shows large extensions, removed in a late nineteenth-century restoration.
The hall has been painstakingly restored by the present owners, and it retains many of its original Tudor features.
Other Notable Buildings
Bridge Farmhouse, by the railway bridge, displays simple diapering on the wall that faces the road, but is otherwise unremarkable, having been much altered and now subdivided to form two dwellings. Foxwood, formerly the White House, has a GeorgianGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
front built on to a house with older origins. The present bridge over the river Bure is built over the remains of an older bridge that lifted up to allow wherries
Wherry
A wherry is a type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames and also with the Broadland rivers of Norfolk and Suffolk. London passenger wherries evolved into the Thames skiff, a...
to pass underneath. The old bridge, built around the fifteenth century, is of two arches and built of brick. It incorporates two strange arched niche-like structures that have been variously interpreted as shelters for travellers caught in the rain and as lurking-places for excise
Excise
Excise tax in the United States is a indirect tax on listed items. Excise taxes can be and are made by federal, state and local governments and are far from uniform throughout the United States...
-men. Percy Millican, in his history of Horstead and Stanninghall, links these with a similar arch not far from the bridge there, which is of similar date. Millican describes the bridge as standing high and dry, although today water flows under both of these arches.
Sources
- Millican, Percy: A History of Horstead and Stanninghall, H.W. Hunt, Norwich, 1937
- Pevsner, Nikolaus: The Buildings of England: Norfolk
- Clearly visible memorial stone at St Andrew's, Lamas
- NOAH: Norfolk On-Line Access to Heritage
- List of vicars of Little Hautbois displayed at St Andrew's Church, Lamas
- Norfolk Tourist Board Leaflet, walk 53
- Norfolk Churches Site
- Hoseason's Catalogue