Past Events

Carleton Rode History Group

A Step Back In Time

Sunday 29th of September 2002

Our first field walk at Lent Farm was a great success. The weather was glorious, but not ideal conditions for field
walking as our expert guests told us (its better when dull or wet!). Our finds ranges from early mediaeval pot shards
to modern Woolworths fragments. We now know enough about the basics to carry out our own field walks and
record our findings so that the information can be logged by the Archaeology unit at Gressenhall. Dr Andrew
Rogerson has kindly offered to look over finds from future walks to help us build up a picture of life in Carleton
Rode.

Peter Day, our local experienced
fieldwalker brought along part of
his extensive collection of artefacts
as examples. This enabled us to
hold a training walk on fields at
Lent Farm.

We asked people to bring along anything to do with
Carleton Rode, Bunwell and the surrounding area.

Many people came bringing, deeds, sales documents, old
maps and 'mystery' objects for identification.

Mr Peter Day was on hand to help and identify objects,
give dates and advice.

We are now raising funds for our second book. Profits from these events and the sale of our
current book will be used to raise the profile of our local history with a view to publishing a
written history of Carleton Rode.

Anyone with information, documents, photographs or ideas for the book should contact us.

(follow the link from our home page)

Pat Ramm brought his collection of finds from
WW2 military aircraft that have crashed
around the village and surrounding area.

The display included just a few of his
photographs of the planes and people that
were based on the local RAF & USAF
airfields during the war.

On the 22nd of June 2003, Jenny Maughan gave a talk on the techniques for dating ancient
hedgerows by calculating the number of different hardwood species within a given distance.

Alison & John Laurie kindly hosted the talk and the walk that followed around the hedges of
Old Hall Farm. The weather was really kind to us with glorious sunshine, some of us even
got distracted from the hedges and got in a bit of practice on our field walking!

More field walks are to come- see future events for details.

On Sunday 12/10/03 the Hiastory Group members and vistors met at Primrose
Farm before the field walk at Old Hall Farm. We had a very sucessful afternoon, the
weather was kind to us and we found finds ranging over 500 years (mainly
fragments of pottery). The walk was our first carried out to a more formal layout with
pairs of people assigned to walk a set grid marked out by posts.

The star find of the day was a silver coin. Initial investigations by Norwich Castle
Museum indicate it to be a late 16th early 17th century groat, unfotunatrely it was so
well worn exact identification may be impossible

Bernard Ambrose gave a facinating talk explaining the history & use of the Shutter Telegraph signalling
system.

Telegraph Farm Carleton Rode was the site or a relay station constructed by the British Admiralty from
London to Great Yarmouth, constructed in 1808.

London was also linked to Sheerness, Deal, Portsmouth & Plmoth.

The model above is of Nunhead station with similar relay stations on average every 8 miles along the length
of the chain