The Story of No. 58 Black Street
This house is not as old as many in the village but has an interesting pedigree because, as its name implies, it was run for over fifty years as a bread bakery by William Arthur Rigg, who lived there with his wife Rosa and their three children.
No. 58 is only part of our story, as it forms a terrace with Nos. 60 and 62 Black Street, and they are joined in more ways than just bricks and mortar. Taking this into account, we should perhaps start long before they were all built.
The Woods Family and the Early Land
Before William Rigg came along, the land that 58, 60, and 62 were built on was owned by Martha Easter Woods (1818–1899), whose maiden name was Kirby. She had married Nicholas Woods (1807–1887) in 1840 at Tunstead, Norfolk.
The 1842 Martham Tithe Award lists Nicholas as the owner of plots 346 and 347. The listing describes plot 346 as a 'house & yard cultivated as arable' and 347 as a 'house as garden cultivated as pasture'. Despite the descriptions being at odds with the map, it is almost certain that the buildings there supported Nicholas Woods' work as a wheelwright.
In 1842, this land had been in the ownership of the Woods family for at least three generations. Nicholas's father, William (1764–1830), was a carpenter. In fact, William is listed in the 1812 Martham Inclosure Award as being the owner of the land that covers both our terrace and the adjacent land running up to the southern boundary of St Mary the Virgin church.
Nicholas Woods was born in Martham around 1807. He was baptised on 25th November 1807 at St Mary the Virgin. When he was 26, he married his first wife, Rachael Barber, on 26th November 1833. Rachel died in 1839 aged only 27. Nicholas married Martha Easter Kirby only a year later. Every census from 1851 to 1871 listed Nicholas and Martha as living at Black Street, where he was a wheelwright, although he was blind from 1863 onwards. He died on 5th December 1887. Nicholas did not have any children with either Rachel or Martha. Martha inherited his whole estate.
The Rigg Family and the Bakery
Some years later, Martha Woods agreed to sell the land to William Rigg on 9th September 1895. The deeds for No. 58 make it clear that Nos. 58, 60, and 62 had been built by 4th April 1899. It seems that William had borrowed £600 to help pay for the building costs.
William Arthur Rigg was born on 29th July 1858 in Norwich. He came from a fairly humble background; his parents were Samuel Rigg and Sarah (née Mountain). He grew up living with his parents at Bull Close in Norwich, where his father worked as a shawl clipper in the Norwich wool trade.
When he was 27, in 1885, he married Rosa Elizabeth Ann Bell at Great Yarmouth. By 1891, they already lived at Black Street, where he was a self-employed baker. At this stage, he had not yet purchased the land from Martha Woods, so presumably he lived and traded from elsewhere in Black Street.
All three of his houses, including the bakery, were built between 1895 and 1899. By that time, William and Rosa had twin girls named Ivy and Olive, born on 4th September 1893. Perhaps in celebration, they named No. 60 Black Street 'Ivy Cottage' and No. 62 'Olive Cottage'. Both houses retain the same names to this day.
A close look at the front of No. 58 shows that it once had a front door facing onto Black Street, like Nos. 60 and 62. The door was to the left of the bay window, but it was filled in, and by about 1915, a new door was built on the south side of the house.
William and Rosa also had a son called William Ewart Rigg, born on 8th January 1887. He became a chartered accountant and married Grace Marjorie Wadson in 1937. He served in the First World War and died in 1945.
William Rigg Snr. must have been particularly successful. As well as being a baker, he invested in land and houses. He acquired 225 feet of land from the south of No. 58 fronting Black Street and also owned a terrace of six houses numbered 63 to 68 Anson Road, Great Yarmouth, plus another six numbered 32 to 37 Wolesley Road in Southtown.
The Next Generation and Later Owners
Rosa Rigg died on 20th March 1939. This may have prompted William to make a will on 1st May 1939, leaving all his estate to his twins Ivy and Olive, and naming them as his executors. William lived to the good age of 96 and died on 25th June 1955. William and Rosa were buried together at St Mary the Virgin.
Following the death of their parents, Ivy and Olive continued to live at No. 58. They were both clerks at a Friendly Society in 1939 but also benefited from a private income from the houses in Great Yarmouth that were let. Olive died on 27th December 1959 at Northgate Hospital, Great Yarmouth, aged 66, leaving all her estate to her sister.
In 1965, Ivy sold 185 feet of the land fronting Black Street to Charles Munford Ltd. This land, on the east side of the street, now has a series of detached bungalows on what were once fields. Ivy Rigg also sold Nos. 58 and 60 Black Street to Burlingham Property Co. Ltd. of Lingwood for £1,900 and moved to a bungalow further down Black Street. Ivy died on 24th November 1985 at Annan House Residential Care Home, Norwich, aged 92. Ivy and Olive are buried together at St Mary the Virgin.
The Burlingham Property Company set about modernising No. 58 by improving the kitchen, bathroom, and a bedroom, as well as providing a garage and better access. In 1969, Norfolk County Council made improvements to the frontage of the properties, and on 9th June 1969, No. 58 was sold to John Harold Astley for £3,700. Sadly, John died on 19th October 1973. The Midland Bank administered his estate and sold the house to David and Tessa Theodore for £8,850 on 27th June 1974. They stayed in Martham for about seven years before selling the Old Bakery to Raymond and Pamela Phillips on 24th June 1981. Raymond and Pamela lived at No. 58 for 36 years until eventually selling the house to the present owners in March 2017.
A Charming Discovery
Raymond and Pamela Phillips had a son who, at the age of eleven, hid a note under the floorboards of his bedroom. This was found by the present owner during renovation work. The note read: "Lewis, aged 11. Old car in Old Bakery garden near manhole buried in the old well."
The new owners explored the garden and, sure enough, found the time capsule car near the former well. The note was written 35 years ago, and Lewis still lives in the village. The new owners plan to present him with the car and invite him round to see the extensive adaptations they have made to the house. The ground floor of the former bakehouse has been converted and is now part of a splendid full-width kitchen/lounge/diner, and the former bakery loft has been converted to provide an enlarged bedroom on the first floor. The former garage has been converted into a new entrance with modern toilet and storage facilities, all kept cosy with a new ground source warm air heating system.