177 Years of Farm Experience

On the 11 September 1948 the Newmarket Journal published this article about three workers on Hill Farm, Dullingham.  The three, Jack Bye, Alfred Jeffery and George Burling had worked for the Taylor family for a combined period of 177 years. 

George, who'd worked for 60 years, was 70 years old when this article was originally published which suggests he must have started work at the age of 10.  In the Census held on 2 April 1911 his occupation was described as "Thrashing machine labourer drum feeder on farm" which reads more like a job description.  No doubt nowadays in the 2020s he'd now be described as a "farm technician". 

The article included a picture of large number of the workers who worked on the farm, many of whom are fathers and grandfathers of current day villagers.  Seventy three years ago the Journal captioned the picture as follows:

"Part of Mr.F.B.Taylor's staff, many of whom have spent all their lives at Hill Farm, Dullingham"

The Archive includes an index for this picture.  Unfortunately the middle row for the index only includes the names of three men and two unknowns, yet here are six men in this row so it's not clear who's who.  The names are Jack King, Alan Bye and Jack Bye. 

If you know any names - or spot any errors - please don't hesitate to email Dullingham Memories or comment/message via Facebook

The Royal Oak

Over the years villagers have been able to frequent at least five public houses in Dullingham.  The Boot, The King's Head and The Royal Oak and, in Dullingham Ley, the Rising Sun and The Three Tuns.  Alas, today, only one remains open but at least you can be guaranteed a warm welcome at The Boot.

Records show that The Royal Oak Inn was run by Charles William Smith and his wife Emmaline in 1891.  Both appear in that year's census and Charles's occupation was given as carpenter and licensed victualler.  Emma's occupation isn't given but no doubt she was working hard in the inn as well as being mother to 10 month old William.

Ten years later and Charles, Emma and William were still living at The Oak - note the name change over the years.  Another ten years and the 1911 Census records that John Smith and his wife Elizabeth and their six children were living in The Royal Oak.  The census makes no mention of him being a licensed victualler but just a carpenter.  I have a theory - yet to be proved - that Charles and John may have been brothers as in the 1881 Census Charles Smith (a carpenter) and John Smith (a servant) were both living  with Samuel Bank, the vicar.  Emmaline Ager, soon to be Charles's wife, was also a servant living with the Rev. Banks at this time.

The electoral rolls from 1920 through to 1931 show that Richard Bye was now the landlord.  Incidentally, the name Bye crops up a fair few times in the history of Dullingham as future posts will show.

By the outbreak of the Second World War the publican of The Royal Oak Inn was Conway Lawrence and his wife May.  Also living at the Inn was 11 year old Rose Wright.  Another piece of conjecture, but based on her age, her different surname to the Lawrences and the dates,  Rose may have been an evacuee from London.  The 1939 Register which records this information was taken on 29 September 1939 and children were evacuated from London in the early weeks of September and Dullingham did have its share of evacuees.  Hopefully further research will confirm this theory.

The Royal Oak closed as a pub in 1974 but not before it became a temporary Post Office as described in the local newspaper.

Since its closure it has become two private residences and, as the following photographs show, part from some windows and gates, has changed little externally from the street.  

August 2022

ca.1974

Post 1989 - 2000?

August 2022

Tornado Hits the Village

Dullingham was hit by a freak tornado which ripped through the village damaging buildings and properties in 1991.   The archives contain fours reports but only three are displayed here as the fourth is just a repeat of the other others.  

The archive says the date of the tornado with 12th November 1991 (31 years ago to the date of this post) although the newspapers' publication dates are the 14th and refer to 'yesterday'.  So was it the 13th? Hopefully someone living in the village at that time will be able to confirm.

As well as the newspaper reports Robin Haye has provided links to news reports from the BBC Look East and Anglia News programmes as well as a follow up by Anglia News.

The Newmarket Journal reported:

The Cambridge News (or Weekly News) reported:

And the Weekly News (or Cambridge News - it's not clear which from the cuttings):

Where Eagles Dare

At the original west entrance to Dullingham House/Park, off Eagle Lane, there used to be four eagles, each sitting on its own pillar. Alas, at start of the Second World War, the eagle on left gate pillar was toppled from its perch and so, for the last 80+ years, the gates have been guarded by only three birds.

The culprit for the bird's demise was a "Matilda" army tank which had tried to enter the Dullingham Park, rather unsuccessfully early in WWII.  Joseph Moore, who lived in the village at that time as a schoolboy, wrote in his memoirs 

I remember going to look at the shattered Eagle laying on the ground, this caused quite a stir in the village at the time, it was almost more tragic than what was going on in the war. I don't remember the wrought iron gates being there at the time, were they taken away for the war effort? After this the Tank Regiment kept their tanks on the side of the road in Eagle lane, mainly at the village end, opposite the houses. The types of tanks were "Valentine's" and "Matilda's. As boys, we spent quite a lot of time with the soldiers and their tanks.

The culprit - a Mk2 Matilda Tank

A Dullingham Eagle in 2022

A snowy winter's day in 2003

Late afternoon in December 2005

Can't really see the eagles, but a pretty photo anyway!

A rather tired eagle

The three remaining eagles guarding their newly restored wall in 2022

Village Plan in 1973

Here's the draft plan for the village from 1973.  At this time Kettlefields School didn't exist and Dullingham school children went to the original village school near the King's Head corner.  The new school appears on the '73 map, but its proposed location was where the houses on Taylors Field stand today.  The playing field was proposed to be next the new school.

DULLINGHAM VILLAGE PLAN DRAFT 1973

INTRODUCTION 

Village Setting 

Dullingham is pleasantly situated in rolling country some 4 miles south of Newmarket and 15 miles east of Cambridge. There have been recent extensions to the village at its extremities, but relatively little infill has been possible along the older main street.

PLANNING POLICY

The basic planning policy for the County is to guide major developments into a few selected rural growth centres to achieve a balanced and viable distribution of population and employment. The 1968 Development Plan Review lists a number of such centres (e.g. Burwell), but most of the remaining villages, including Dullingham, are defined as settlements where no significant increase in population is envisaged during the Plan period.

The purpose of the Plan is to produce proposals and policies which aim to identify and where possible, overcome, the village's planning problems and to regulate its future growth: 

1.     Within the terms of overall County policy
2.     Within the capacity of local services and environmental character to support any increase in population.
3.     In accordance with the reasonable wishes of the Parish Council.

APPRAISAL AND PROPOSALS FORM AND CHARACTER

The village has a basically east-west linear form, with most development on the northern side of Station Road. Most recent housing development has taken the form of appendages as there has been little opportunity for infill. Much of the Station Road frontage consists of parkland - permanent grazing set among mature deciduous trees, and part of the Dullingham House estate.

Dullingham is a very attractive village, and contains many older buildings which reflect the traditional rural way of life and local style of building. n particular, there are a number of thatched cottages with flint-faced walls and unusual leaded windows. These older buildings, set among some fine landscaping and trees, combine to give Dullingham its special visual qualities.

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

The B1061 Newmarket to Haverhill road crosses the Class III County road from Cambridge to Stetchworth in the middle of the village. The other roads serving the village are also Class III highways. There is easy access to Newmarket. There are no major highway improvements contemplated, but the situation will be kept under review and appropriate measures taken it traffic conditions justify them.

The bus service to Newmarket is barely adequate but there is a reasonable train service to Newmarket and Cambridge from Dullingham Station, some ½ mile north-west of the village.

POPULATION

The 1973 estimated population (including Dullingham Ley) is 530 persons, compared with 520 in 1961. The 1968 County Development Plan Review put forward an estimated increase in population to about 650 by 1981. The "committed" population, which includes those who will live in dwellings under construction or subject to unimplemented planning approvals, is about 590 persons.

DRAINAGE

The present sewage disposal works north-west of the village has a design capacity of 775, and also serves part of Stetchworth. A new system is presently being designed by Newmarket Rural District Council. This will serve Dullingham, Stetchworth, Burrough Green, Westley Waterless and Brinkley.  The new system will be designed to serve a total population of 3000; the new design capacity for Dullingham will be 870 persons. This scheme is hoped to be operational by about 1976.

EDUCATION

The present Primary School has 33 children and a capacity of about 40, and serves Only Dullingham. The County Council is acquiring a 2.0 acres site on station Road for a new Primary School to serve both Dullingham and Stetchworth.  It is not anticipated that this school will be completed much before the middle of the plan period. Senior pupils attend Bottisham Village College.

SHOPPING

The village has one general store, and the Post Office has recently closed. The nearest Post Office is at Stetchworth, and the nearest other shopping facilities at Newmarket. Applications for further shops which may arise will be considered on merit, and should have regard to the Planning Authority's normal standards for off street parking and unloading.

RECREATION

There is a centrally placed recreation ground ot 1.8 acres south of the crossroads. However, there are no playing pitches available here, and organised games have to be played on a pitch some distance from the village. Newmarket Rural District Council is acquiring some 4.5 acres of land on Station Road, adjacent to the proposed Primary School site, for new playing fields. This acquisition should satisfy the recreation needs of the village during the plan period.

OTHER FACILITIES

There is a Village Hall, Parish Church, Methodist Chapel and three Public Houses. A doctor from Newmarket holds a surgery once weekly, other-wise the nearest doctor and chemist's shops are at Newmarket. The mobile County Library calls fortnightly. There is a small area of privately owned allotments adjacent to the Recreation Ground.

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

It is considered that residential development could take place as follows:

1. By the Development of some 1,5 acres at Tea Kettle Lane. This site is partly screened by trees on its southern boundary, but would need further screening. The land - immediately west of this site has potential for a very limited expansion in the long term, and access to this area should be protected
2. By infill within the development stop lines. Individual sites have not been identified and planning applications will be considered on their merits.

Development Stop Lines have been shown on the map to define the limits to the outward extensions of the village: Development will not normally be permitted beyond these points. The above proposals provide for the construction of about 20 dwellings, off Eagle Lane) could accommodate about 130 persons at 3 persons per dwelling. The occupancy rate of the existing dwellings is likely to decline, hence the total population by 1981 may be about 650. The former maltings north of the church (presently used for storage), could, if redeveloped, provide an opportunity for a small, well designed housing scheme.

EMPLOYMENT

Agriculture is the only major source of local employment. Any proposals for further light industrial or commercial undertakings will be considered on individual merit.

CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE

It is proposed to designate a Conservation Area which will include the most attractive features of the village, both in terms of townscape and immediate landscape. The suggested boundary is shown on the map. Within this proposed Conservation Area are a number of buildings listed as being architectural or historic interest. 

The countryside  surrounding Dullingham, and indeed over much of the south eastern part of the County, has been defined in the County Development Plan as being of Great Landscape Value. As such, the Planning Authority is aware

of the need to maintain the quality of this landscape by ensuring that no development takes place which may be detrimental to that quality. The great quantity and quality of trees in Dullingham, particularly along Station Road, make a fundamental contribution to the village's beauty. It 1s proposed therefore that a Parish Tree Preservation Order be made.

There is one Tree Preservation Order in force, fronting the County Highways Depot on Brinkley Road. 

It is suggested that the Parish Council, with the co-operation of landowners and the County Council, should undertake tree planting in the areas shown on the map. 

There are certain frontages of open land within the stop lines where development would be considered detrimental to the rural character of those parts of the village. These frontages are shown symbolically on the map.

DULLINGHAM LEY

This is a group of about a dozen dwellings 1 mile south east of the village. It is isolated, and without mains drainage. It is dependent for its services on the main village. Development pressures here have been considerable, but have seen and will continue to be resisted. Such a policy will be consistent with the County Council's approved policies on settlement and development in countryside within an Area of Great Landscape Value,

SUMMARY OF MAJOR PROPOSALS

1. Population to grow from 530 to about 650 by 1981
2. Residential development proposed on a site at Tea Kettle Lane.
3. All other residential development to be infill within the Stop Lines, and to be considered on individual merit.
4. No development will normally be permitted beyond the Stop Lines.
5. Sites are proposed for a new Primary School and Playing Field on Station Road.
6. A Conservation Area is to be designated and a Parish Tree Preservation Order made.

PLANNING POLICY/IMPLEMENTATION

The proposals for limited additional residential development are in accordance with approved County Settlement policy, as applied to a village of Dullingham's size and visual quality, and are designed as far as possible to meet the wishes and needs of the local community. Estate development to meet general housing needs is not considered appropriate in Dullingham.

The frontage of special attraction, as shown on the map, is parkland very sensitive to development. It should be emphasised that this frontage lies beyond the stop lines and within the suggested Conservation Area boundary.

Any development here, whether or not it requires planning permission, and including agricultural buildings, needs particularly careful treatment. 

These proposals have been made following preliminary consultations with the appropriate County Council and Rural District Council departments, and after Officers of the County Planning Department had met members of Dullingham Parish Council on 23rd August 1978, to obtain their views on matters relevant to the Village Plan. This document should be regarded as an interim policy statement in so far as it could be subject to review before the end of the Plan period in 1981. The function of the Plan until then should be to form a background against which development is

controlled and promoted. Any new developments that may arise from the Plan will in the normal way be subject to the development control standards in operation at the time of the application for planning permission.

It must be emphasised that this is a DRAFT plan which is now published for further consultations purposes and is therefore subject to possible amendment. Anyone wishing to make comments should do so in writing to the County Planning Officer, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge, CB3OAP

November, 1973

County Planning Officer.

  

Eagle Lane Corner

 

At the west end of the village proudly stands Flint Cottage, on the corner of Eagle Lane and Station Road.  In modern times this junction is a staggered crossroad, but at the time this photograph was taken ca.1930, the entry to Balsham Road was directly opposite Eagle Lane.  

With the exception of the Balsham Road, it all looked much the same in 2003 and still does in the present day (2022).  The fir tree, Flint Cottage and the guard rail next to the brook remain in place, although the cottages to the right of Flint Cottage (in the older picture) no longer exist.

This 20 second clip goes back in time from 2002 to ca.1931.  The modern house was built in 1983 and now houses probably the finest archive of Dullingham photos and newspaper cuttings in the world.

Looking east along Station Road (away from the railway station) ca.1931

By 2012 Flint Cottage has had a few alterations, but is pretty much the same.  

And in winter months (2009).

Extreme Weather in the Village

This week (in July 22) the UK experienced some extreme weather with a record temperature of 40.3C. Back in 1968 the village had weather conditions of a different extreme.  This series of photos shows some floods which causes a few problems, but didn't dampen the spirits of the villagers.

The flood at the King's Head corner introduced a Continental approach to driving to navigate the floods.  The Austin is the Algar's milk van and the Morris 1000 Traveller is living up to its name. Note the King's Head had two entrances at this time.

The same view in 2022 when, remarkably, there appears to be less traffic.  A fast shutter speed was used on the camera.

Doug Baldwin helps school children from the original village school drive through the floods.

Meantime, down at the bottom of Dullingham Ley the floods made life difficult.

Source:

- Kevin McDonnell Collection 

Clare Farm over the years

This series of photos shows Clare Farm over the years taken from approximately the same position at the end of Church Lane.  The dates some of these were taken isn't known so any suggestions or clues would be gratefully received.

1. This photo - taken in 2021 - is displayed first purely to give some modern day context. The bushes to the right of the picture hide the fact that the buildings shown in the subsequent older pictures no longer exist. Historians and car buffs might observe the contrast between the modern day EV transport in the middle of this picture and the evidence of an earlier form of travel in the foreground.  

2. This is believed to be the earliest picture in the collection.  Of particular note is the brook which runs across the road.  In later years this was buried in a pipe under the road.  On the right children are playing on a bridge dressed in white pinafores.  At the end of Church Lane sits a 'traffic' island.

3. This picture appears to have been taken with the brook behind the photographer.  On the left there is a well in front of Brook Cottage.  The pollarded tree in front of Clare Farm shows that this photo wasn't taken at the same time as the previous one.

4. Taken ca.1950 the cottage in the centre has lost its dormer windows.  Brook cottage to the left is relatively unchanged.

4. Another undated photo shows the pollard tree is now full of branch and leaf.  Had the brook been buried under the road at this time?

5. 1974 and a close-up photo of Clare Farm House but now without its neighbouring cottage.

1982 and colour was invented.  Brook Cottage - with an extra couple of dormer windows - and Clare Farm now sit in front of a road with a white line down the middle.  However did people manage to drive before this? 

Source

- Kevin McDonnell Collection

Dullingham's Long History

This newspaper article from the Independent Press & Chronicle was published in September 1961.  Harold McMillan was Prime Minister,  Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became first human in space during a single-orbit flight, and "Barbie" met her new boyfriend "Ken".

Today Dullingham has an even longer history although not quite as peaceful due to volume of traffic.  The advert on this page was selling 12v car batteries from 139'6 which is (if I recall correctly) £6 19s 6d.  £7 in 1961 is, in 2022, is equivalent to £144.36.  With car batteries starting today at under £100 some things are cheaper these days!

Rather than strain your eyes the article has been scanned and included at the bottom of the page.  No expense spared for you dear reader.

DULLINGHAM, a large village with a comparatively small population, has little to raise it into a position of particular eminence in Cambridgeshire, and yet it is a village of considerable scenic attraction and one which is thought highly of by its inhabitants. 

One well-known writer on county villages, Mr. Arthur Mee, somewhat surprisingly makes no mention of many of the interesting features of the village which would occur to the visitor and resident alike, but instead he dwells on the merits of the very fine sycamore tree in the churchyard. True, this is of an attractive shape and stature, even though it hides most of the church from view, but one wonders that he found so little else to occupy his brief description of Dullingham. 

With such a spread out contingent of shops and houses-the postman’s round is some eight miles in length-the number of people living in the village is by no means large, and in fact is not much more than double what it was in the days of the Domesday Book. In the year 1085 the population stood at 275; at the time of the Poll Tax in 1377 it had dropped to 153, and at the time of the Hearth Tax in 1664, when 13 of the 61 house in Dullingham only had one hearth, it had risen slightly to-305. At the 1881 census the people numbered 838 and in 1951, 523, a figure which is at present just a little higher. 

To serve this population there are the three public houses, the Boot, the King's Head and the Royal Oak, a post 0ffice-cum-general store, a commercial store and another small food store. There is a garage and, of course, plenty of delivery vans to augment the basic requirements. 

Bridge Was Bombed 

As far as communications are concerned, Dullingham is adequately served by the railway, which runs through it, the bridge over which was bombed during the last war. Its bus service, however, is rather poor; on Tuesdays and Saturdays there are plenty of buses into Cambridge and Newmarket, but for the rest of the week, these are very sparse. 

Electricity and water are available to the residents and in the near future they are also to be provided with main sewerage. There is, however, no street lighting, an amenity which one feels should be installed as Dullingham is cut by two fairly busy roads. 

The school is of the primary county type and caters for children under the age of 11, after which they go to Bottisham Village College. In days gone by there was a Charity school in Dullingham, and as long ago as 1579 a school which evidently had a very irreverent school master. 

The story goes that this man, one Thomas Marriot by name, hid the bread at morning communion and in the afternoon contemptuously administered it to the parish youths. Today most of the villagers leave home to work in Cambridge or Newmarket. If they desire employment on the spot they can really only work on the land as there are no local industries, hurdle making having died out some time ago, and the premises where malt used to be made, having been taken over since 1956, for the purpose of grain storage. 

Memorial Hall 

Social activities include meetings of the Women's Institute and of a flourishing sports club. There is also a youth club and an occasional dance held in the Sidney Augustus Taylor Memorial Hall which was erected in 1945 by his six sons and four daughters. Football is played on a special field near the station, ‘leaving village green for a somewhat ) inadequate recreation ground. 

Building development in Dullingham is not particularly marked, although there are two Council estates, and a few new private dwellings. Bungalows at present in the course people of construction for elderly are, in the opinion Of the Vicar - (the Rev. H. Lloyd Jukes) too far away from the Post Office, where the inhabitants will have to draw their pensions. The distance they will have walk must be nearly a mile. 

As Dullingham is primarily a farming village—there is also one stud—it is unlikely that there will ever be any extensive development. It is a village in which residents take considerable pride and to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth Il, two chestnut trees were planted on the village green. Similar, to commemorate the Festival of Britain, wooden seats were placed at several convenient points. 

In 1957, Dullingham was the venue for the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Agricultural Show, this being held on land farmed by the late Mr. F. B. Taylor, of Dullingham House. 

17th Century House 

Mr. Taylor's widow still lives in the house, an attractive 17th century building which was altered by Humphrey Repton, who also designed the garden in 1800. Since then, Georgian parts of the house have been removed, although it still has 11 bedrooms. Mr, and Mrs. Fred Taylor bought it several years after the war from a Mrs. Harvey Leader, who was the niece of a previous owner, Mrs. C.W. Robinson. During the war troops were accommodated on the estate and it was prior to this that Mrs.Robinson, the lady of the manor lived in it. She was a descendant by marriage of the Jeaffreson family, had held Dullingham estate since the 17th century. 

Today Dullingham Estate Farms, Ltd., comprises some 1,000 acres. 

Mrs. Taylor's brother-in-law, Mr.W. J. Taylor, also lives in the village and is, known as the “father" of the Cambridgeshire County Council. 

For religious worship there are two chapels in 4 Dullingham and the fine early English church of St.Mary. The oldest part of this edifice is its chancel with its priests' door and early English piscina. Some of it is in the Perpendicular style of architecture and on the south side of the south aisle is a chapel (now used as a vestry) with the remains of a reredos on its east wall. 

Ancient Church 

While this church dates back to the 13th century it is probable that an even older one, stood on the same site. In any case Dullingham Church once belonged to the Abbey of St.Wendrill's in Normandy, It was restored in 1884-90 at a cost of £680 and 1899 its oak roof was repaired for a further £800. In the present day, the Vicar hopes to raise £1,000 for further repairs that are needed 

within the next five years. He is aiming at collecting £300 a year and is so far succeeding. The War Memorial in the churchyard is a copy of St.Martin's Cross, Iona. 

Going right back into the history of Dullingham, there is evidence of its existence as "Dullingham" in the days of Domesday, when it meant "the place of the people of Dulla”. It was almost certainly inhabited long before this in Roman and Saxon days. 

It was in the hundred of Radfield and was held by the Abbot of Wandregisilius, having at that time wood for 100 hogs and pasture for cattle. With monetary figures provided in the records it appears that the price of land decreased slightly with the arrival of William the Conqueror on these shores, two of his own knights into Dullingham, while another landowner in the village, Countess Judith is reputed to have been a relative of his. 

The Manor was held by the Abbott of Wendrill in Normandy and in the reign of Henry Ill, two of Dullingham's large halls, those of Poins—which was at one time inhabited by John Duke of Bedford— and Beechams, were described as "moieties of the manor of Dullingham in the Abbey of St. Wendrill.” 

Later history saw John Earl of Oxford having his Dullingham Manor taken away from him when he was attainted for high treason in the reign of Edward IV. Some years later, however, it was restored to him. 

Peasants' Revolt 

The Peasant's Revolt of 1381 seems to have had some effect on Dullingham, the three days of terror being recorded as June 15th, 16th and 17th. Information handed down, points out that on the "Sunday after Corpus Christi, Jomp Kempe, of Dullingham insurrected, and as a captain with others unknown, rode armed with banners displayed to Burwell, where they destroyed the house of  Dullingham 's Long History Thomas de Swaffham- there, and seized 40s, worth of goods.

Neither did Dullingham escape the iconoclast Dowsing, in the. 17th century. He visited the church, broke a number of "superstitious pictures," and had the steps of the altar levelled. 

In the early days of Dullingham, an interesting fact is that the Lords of the Manor claimed the right to a very large jurisdiction over local crime, extending even to capital cases. One, Robertus de Bello Campo,  claimed by inheritance, the right to "a gallows, pillory and ducking-stool, also infang-thief and the goods of felons and fugitives." (By right of infang-thief the local authorities could deal summarily with any robbers caught in their bounds.) 

Between 1595 and 1656, Dullingham was mostly in the hands of the Wingfields of Newmarket who, like the Beechams, originated from Somerset Col. John Jeaffreson bought the estate in 1666 and subsequently added to it. 

In 1808 Earl Grosenor took land in Hare Park but his house there is no longer in existence. Enclosure came two years earlier. 

Oaks for Shipbuilding 

A moated site in a clump of elms half way between the Church and Stetchworth has attracted some interest but no one knows a lot about it. The woods at Dullingham were once noted for their oak trees, which were cut down and used in shipbuilding.

Of the buildings in Dullingham only the Church, Dullingham House, and the Guildhouse are really of any significance. The latter, now two cottages, stands at the crossroads by the village green, and is almost in the same condition as it was in the reign of Henry VIII.

The Guild of St John was revived by the Vicar, Master Bretton, in 1517 and in many ways: was a forerunner of the modern friendly societies. Membership was 6d. a head and meals were provided for the poor, thus indicating a sense of welfare for the community even in those days. These Guilds undoubtedly did much good. 

The modern Dullingham, in some of its villagers' estimations, is losing its old character: Inevitably cottages are being demolished and road names such as "crescent" and "close," have appeared. But in spite of this there is something about the village which will always retain its associations with the -years gone by whatever happens in the future. It is a village of peace and calm and yet it is also a village of individualism and progression. 

Sources

- Kevin McDonnell Collection

- Independent Press & Chronicle 

The Maltings and the Tornado

 Details coming soon...

The Maltings at the Station

The Dullingham has had two "maltings" and both have had a rather dramatic end.  The maltings which stood next to the village pond was blown down by a tornado in November 1991.  The granary maltings which stood on next to the railway station was destroyed by fire in 1979.

The exact date that the station maltings was built is uncertain but they do appear on the First Edition Ordnance Survey plan so we know they existed in 1886.  

On 18 September 1979 the Maltings caught fire.  Newspapers reported:

"...thousands of pounds worth of malting barley was destroyed when a huge blaze gutted the storehouse. The maltings are owned by Clark and Butcher, a firm of Soham corn merchants, and leased to a Newmarket firm who said that top quality malting barley had been destroyed that would have been used to make whisky. Firemen had to travel more than a mile to obtain water because a nearby hydrant had dried out but further disaster was averted when they prevented a 1,500-gallon tank full of diesel from exploding. Two pensioners were evacuated from their homes and police set up road blocks when Station Road became impassable."

In the "now and then" photos below there is little evidence of the old Maltings in 2022.  The site is dominated by fir trees and there is little point in showing a "now" photo for some of the "then" photos.

View from the signal box ca.1961

Opposite the station entrance in 1974/5

More or less the same view in 2022

The Maltings dominate the view from Basin Bridge in 1974/75, 

In 2022 and now the adjacent cottages dominate the picture. 

View from the railway line in 1974/5

The Maltings in 1974/5

The Maltings and an Austin/Morris 1100 MkIII 

Firefighters tackle the blaze on 18 September 1979 

Fireman stands over Dullingham!

The roof sends up plumes of smoke in 1979

The wall on the bend is the only visual clue in 2022

Sources:

- Kevin McDonnell Collection

- Dullingham Scrapbook 1897 to 1990 - Mike Petty