Martham
Martham has been a large
village since Saxon times and long
before. The village, at the
northern end of the large Flegg
Island, owes its name to Saxon
settlers in 600 AD who were
farmers. They called the place
'Mearth' which means pine martin
and 'ham' which means settlement.
At that time the land was wooded
and the pine martens were a source
of rich fur much prized by
scribes. The village is
currently growing and now numbers
nearly 4,000 people. The
village church, built in about
1370 is a source of local
history. The knapped flint
and stonework is testament to
local wealth and power.
Who we are and what we
do
We are not
academic historians, but ordinary
people who are interested in
learning about and recording the
history and heritage of Martham, its
surrounding area and East
Anglia. This website is
essentially a series of short
reports on the talks, trips and
other events that have taken place
over the years, usually at the rate
of one each month. Some of our talks
have attracted audiences of over one
hundred and "ordinary" meetings are
now threatening to exceed the
capacity of the Methodist Church
whose excellent premises we are very
grateful to occupy. Go to the
'Reports and administration' page
for our detailed Aims.
One high
point came in June 2012, when
we staged a four day Jubilee
Exhibition to mark the changes
that have occurred in Martham during
the sixty years of the reign
of Queen Elizabeth II. Copies
of the accompanying booklet are
still available (contact Secretary).
Well over 400 local people visited,
and, along with members of the
Parish Church, we raised some £3,000
to help vital restoration work on
that Grade I listed building.
Then, in
2013, we worked alongside Media
Projects East, long-standing local
people and students from Martham's
Flegg High School to produce
"Martham Stories". Follow the link
on this page to 'Martham
stories' and discover a
fascinating record of life in
Martham two or three generations
ago.
A highlight
of 2014 was a coach trip to London
and Parliament which you can read
about in this website. In 2015 we
conducted another hugely successful
and heavily subscribed coach trip to
Constable Country, whilst in 2016 we
made a fascinating visit to Castle
Acre. Have a look at this
year's programme.
In 2017 we
funded and arranged our first
historical blue plaque in Martham,
to celebrate two of our famous
residents - a significant
missionary couple from the
nineteeth century. In 2018
we set up a study group to look at
the enclosures and their impact on
the village, followed by the tithe
map which is a record of who owned
every piece of land in the
parish. In 2019 we increased
our guided history walks and
improved our website. In
2020 we published a history
trail leaflet and researched
nineteenth century Martham during
the national health crisis.
In 2021 we developed this website
and our archive and held our first
online talks.
A note on copyright
Nothing
on this website may be copied or
published without the permission
of the Martham Local History
Group. This does not mean we
will not give permission, but you
do have to ask us. The
archive material has come from
many sources and there are many
copyright holders.
