Denton a village in South Norfolk, England

Denton's Buildings

The purpose of this page is to provide information about the history of some of the more significant buildings in Denton. Some of the information has been obtained from the Denton Ledger assembled during the 2000 Millenium celebrations in the village, some from a variety of other sources.

There are currently 34 Listed Buildings in the village. These are marked "LB" followed by an IoE reference number in the entries below. It is sometimes difficult to understand why some properties are listed and others in the village are not.
A full list of 42 buildings is available from Historic England.
Further information and in many cases photograhs can be found at the Images of England website.

Another valuable source is the Norfolk Heritage Explorer Website, where further information about the buildings identified with an "*" can be found.

The buildings are listed in road order. In some cases the names used for listing purposes have since been changed by their owners. Current names are provided in brackets.

NB Some of the entries are incomplete but will be expanded in due course, hopefully with more photographs.

Chapel Corner

Believed to be have been called "Well Corner" before the Chapel was built.

The Chapel*
LB 225212


Denton Chapel built in 1821

Denton's United Reformed Chapel dates back to 1653. It was the first non-conformist establishment in the area. The current building dates from 1821.

It takes the form of a red brick rectangular block with a low pitched hipped slate roof. The south front incorporates two doorways with porches supported by slender columns.

The interior still has the original box pews with a gallery on 3 sides supported on slim iron columns.

More details are provided in the History Section.

The vestry at the rear is now used to house the Village Post Office on Thursday mornings.

Details of the War Memorial, which also covers Alburgh men, can be found elsewhere in the History Section.

Chapel Cottage (Now The Old Post Office)*
LB 225210
A 16th century two storeyed timber framed house with a screens passage plan partly burnt down about 1860 and replaced with brick building.
Formerly linked to the village shop to the south but this was converted to a residence when the shop closed in the 1980s.
A picture of Chapel Corner appears on the Old Photographs page.
The age of the old shop is not known but early in 1904 the EDP reported a fire at the premises:
"The owner of the shop when the fire broke out was a Mr Pawson. Harry Fairhead (Geoffrey Fairhead's grandfather) the village blacksmith, who lived on Chapel Corner, was the messenger who drove his pony and trap to Harleston to report the fire. The horses belonged to Moy's Coal Merchants, and had to be caught and harnessed to the fire engine before they could bring it to Denton to put out the fire. By this time the shop was severely burnt."

Chapelfields

A row of nineteen detached and semi-detached bungalows on Norwich Road built in the 1970s.

Chapel Hill

Chapel Farmhouse
Early 20th c. brick house covered with black pantiles with an early form of cavity wall construction and a modern extension.

Chapel Farm was originally part of the Earsham Hall Estate, the only property in Denton to be so. On 28th August 1928 the whole of the estate was put up for sale at auction and Chapel Farm was one of the few properties that were sold. The relevant page from the Sale Catalogue together with a map showing the extent of the holding is available. Clearly several roadside plots, on Trunch Hill, were subsequently sold for housing. The house and remaining land were sold again in 1991 when most of the fields were incorporated into other farm holdings. At that point some of the farm outbuildings were demolished and the house itself extended and modernised.

Some OS maps show another local Chapel Farm at the top of the village to the West of Webstill Wood. The building was demolished some time ago but, although it is, just, in Topcroft, like this Chapel Farm, it seems it was associated with Denton's Chapel.

Fairhead's Farm

This was originally called Haggard's Farm and was part of the Ditchingham Hall estate owned by the Rider Haggard family. The farmhouse, now demolished, stood on Chapel Hill opposite the rear entrance to Chapel Farm.
It is mentioned in Henry Rider Haggard's book "A Farmer's Year" written in 1898.
A picture of the house appears on the Old Photographs page.

Chapel Hill Farmhouse
LB 225213
17/18th c. timber-frame house, plastered.

Church Hill

Denton House*
The house dates back to the 18th c. but has been much altered. Its staircase is "reputed" to have come from Leeds Castle, Kent.
It is the only non-ecclesiastical property in the village that gets a mention in the Norfolk volume of Pesvner's "Buildings of England". This is due not the house itself but to the Grotto in the garden. Built mainly of flint with pointed arches it bears the date of 1770 above its entrance. The walls inside are decorated with shells, reputedly brought back from Captain Cook's voyage to New Zealand in the Endeavour in 1771. A sham ruin structure, also listed, which reuses a Perpendicular style window from a church, stands nearby.
Grotto LB 225218
Sham Ruin LB 225219

The House and estate was sold by a Mr Gwyn Etheridge in 1831.
The Notice includes a number of intersting facts. It refers to two farms that were included in the estate; presumably Home Farm and Low Farm. However, perhaps the best is the reference to a daily coach service, the railway was not due here for another 30 years, horse-drawn of course, along what is now Low Road, linking London to Great Yarmouth.

The details appear below - B1

The house was used as a convalscent home for injured servicemen during the second world war. Noted former owners include: the Lee-Warner family, Gervase Steele, solicitor and local district councillor, who founded the now Norfolk-wide firm of solicitors, Steele & Co., and Lady Beecham, widow of the famous conductor, the creator of the Promenade Concerts, Sir Thomas Beecham.

Danacre Road

The lower section of this road, which extends into Earsham, was once part of the old main road from Yarmouth to Bury St Edmunds, the A143.

Denton Lodge
LB 225222
An 18th c. house in colour-washed brick. A black glazed pantile roof with coped gable ends. Modillion eaves. Two storeys. Five bays. Sashes with glazing bars and louvred shutters. Central doorway with Tuscan pilastered doorcase with open pediment with semi-circular fanlight and fielded panel door. End chimney stacks. Lower 2 storey wing with hipped pantile roof on north-west.

Its stable block, also 18th c. is a brick building with colour-washed front. Black pantile hipped roof. Cupola over centre with wrought iron weathervane. Brick dentil eaves course. Two storeys. Central segmental headed carriageway. Round-headed doorways left and right. It is listed separately as LB 225223.

St Mary's Church*
LB 225220

Denton Church Tower

The church includes the remains of a Norman round tower so was certainly there in the 12th century but probably has older, Saxon, origins.

Details of the building itself are available on the Church Building page.

While aspects of its history are covered on the Church History page.

The Rectory
LB 225221
Large brick and tile house, colour-washed. Rebuilt in 1718 and extended c. 1839 though later parts were demolished. Recently extended again with the addition of an east wing. An interesting early, nineteenth century, photograph of the building can be found on the Norfolk CC Pictures Website.

The house is now a private dwelling; the current Rector lives in Earsham.

Rectory Cottage
This building was constructed as the stable block for the rectory (and is thus presumably of a similar age) but has now been imaginatively converted into a substantial residence.

Darrow Green Road

Mill House
It is unclear where the owner of the nearby mill actually lived. An architect has suggested that this house was originally probably two cottages with a central uncovered walkway. The cottages could have been used by journeymen millers.
Information on the former windmill is provided on another page.

Mill Farm
Belived to be early Victorian in age with later extensions.

Mutts Farm
LB 225226
17th c. timber-frame house, plastered.

Oak Lodge
This is a modern barn conversion which stands immediately to the west of the former site of Moat Farm. The latter, which was probably a 17th c. building, was demolished in the 1950s. The deeds, going back to 1745, are still in existence.

Ivy Farmhouse
LB 225216
17th c. timber-frame house encased in brick (painted) in 19th c.

Pear Tree Farmhouse*
LB 225215
A rendered timber framed house which began life as a medieval two cell raised aisled hall, but was significantly changed around 1600 when it was converted into a three cell two storey house. During restoration in the 1970s a hoard of Elizabeth I sixpences was found in the roof.

Darrow Green Farmhouse
LB 225214
17th c. timber-frame house, encased in brick.

Darrow Farm
Details: to follow.

Globe Close

A group of six bungalows and two semi-detached houses on Norwich Road built by Depwade RDC in 1952.

Low Road

Until by-passed by the new road built on the old railway line in the 1980's, this was the main road from Bury St Edmunds to Great Yarmouth, the A143.

Further information is avaialble on the Communications Page.

The Round House
This building, on the old Yarmouth Road, gives every appearance of being a turnpike toll-house. However the Yarmouth to Bury Road was never turned into a turnpike so the building can never have been used for this purpose.

It is shown, and named, on Bryant's map of 1826 but not on Faden's of 1797.

Low Farmhouse
LB 225242
Probably 17th c., faced in red brick in 18th and 19th c.

Manor Farm Road

Manor Farmhouse
LB 225227
17th c. timber-frame house, faced in red brick in 19th c.

Manor Farm Cottage (Now Meadow Cottage)
LB 225229
17th/18th c. timber-frame cottage, plastered.

Walnut Tree Farmhouse
LB 225228
Small 17th c. timber-frame house fronted in red brick in 19th c.

Middle Road

Grove Farmhouse (Now Kingsland Farm)
LB 225230
18th c. house, brick, former colour-wash removed.

Like so many other houses in the village, parts of this building are much older than they appear but the Georgian frontage was constructed in 1758.

Grove Cottages (Now Grove Cottage)
LB 225231
17/18th c. house divided into 2 cottages and encased in red brick in l9th c. Now re-converted to a single dwelling.

Hall Cottages (Now Hall Farm)
LB 225231
17th c. timber-frame house, divided into 2 dwellings, encased in brick in late 19th c. Now re-converted to a single dwelling.

Lodge Farmhouse (Now East Hall)*
LB 225233
Perhaps the most interesting building in Denton.

A Farmhouse, originally 14th c., located inside a medieval moat. Remodelled in the late 16th and early-mid 19th centuries and then extended in late 20th c. when its history was established.

Timber frame, encased and partly rebuilt in painted brick, the latter dated to 1838. The medieval house probably had a classic 3-room and through passage plan with a raised aisle hall, parlour and solar. The raised aisle truss roof is one of only two known in the county. The wonders of dendrochronology have revealed that the trees that provided the timbers for the hall were felled between 1355 and 1360.

Twin Cottage
As the name implies a single residence formed from two old semi-detached cottages. Pantiled roof with a distictive pattern.

Norwich Road

(Some of it at least, formerly called "Windmill Way")

Wood Farm
Details: to follow.

The Old King's Head*
LB 225225
A timber framed hall house dates to the late to middle 16th century. An upper floor and stack and a three storey parlour end were added in the 17th century. It is now clad in 19th C. red brick with blue brick headers.

Shown as an inn both on Faden's map of 1797 and Bryant's 1826 map. First known owner - the Harleston Brewery, first known licensee - James Buck in 1836. Originally a beerhouse it obtained a full licence by 1932. Closed 1984. Now a private house.

For further interesting details, including a list of licencees, visit the Norfolk Public Houses website.

Stonycroft
A modern bungalow built on the site of the former "Sunnyside Cottages".

Glebe Farmhouse
LB 225224
17th c. timber-frame house fronted in brick in 20th c. The "Glebe" in this case is not that of Denton's Parish Church. The farm used to belong to St Andrew's Church in Norwich until it was sold to the Skinner family, who have remained there ever since, in 1910.

Jasmine Cottage
Formerly a butchers shop.

Bungalows – Risedale to Overdale
These replaced a group of four old cottages demolished in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

The Village Hall
Based on the original structure erected in 1923 but since extended and modernised to provide a bar, games room and further facilities.

In the 70's a garage was erected to the south of the Hall to house the former local Community Bus but it has now been demolished. It also acted as the changing-room for DVC productions. Now it has been replaced with a further extension to the Hall which provides more comfortable accommodation for the thespians and can also be put to other uses.

OLd VH

The original Hall.

Globe House
LB 225237
Early 19th c. house. Red brick front and with plastered sides. Recently extended to the rear.

It is variously referred to as The Laurels and Laurels Cottage on old maps, although by 1894 seems to have become Globe House. The "lean-to" referred to in Images of England is in fact the back half of an older cottage (probably 18th c). The Georgian frontage is really a "gentrification" of the older cottage. The lean-to is now incorporated in the new rear extension.

The Old Smithy
Now a residence, this building was formerly used by a blacksmith and a wheelwright. It had been part of the Globe House estate since before 1894. The reasons for this association are unclear as the blacksmith does not appear to have lived in Globe House. Two forges were situated in the north end of the building, horses were shod in the middle and the southern end was used by the wheelwright. The two businesses seem to have been run separately.

The Coal House
A red brick building erected by Rector George Sandby around the turn of the eighteenth century for the storage of "poors coals". Now used to store scenery etc used by the DVC.

Frater House
Formerly known as "The Patch", Denton's most "modern" house was finally completed in 2016. The planning application attracted considerable controversy when it was first submitted in 1991 and was only approved following an appeal. Many local residents thought its design was totally out of keeping with the locality and impacted too much on neighbouring properties.
With time these views have mellowed.

Street Farmouse
LB 225211
18th/early 19th c. red brick house. Recently extended.

Paynes Hill

Paynes Hill Farm
LB 225234
The barn at Paynes Hill Farm is listed separately.
LB 225235
17th c. timber-frame house, faced in red brick in 19th c.

Pockthorpe Lane

Pockthorpe Cottage
LB 225236
17th c. timber-frame cottage, altered in 19th c., and recently modernised and extended with rendered walls.

Round House Hill

Home Farm*
LB 225217
An early 17th century three cell and stack house, two storeys and attic, timber framed, plastered. The later brick south cross wing bears the date 1837 but recent research has indicated that it is probably rather later. A turn of the century photograph held by the current owners show these iron date figures on the former brick gable end added to the original house presumably in that year. The cross wing must thus have been added after the photograph was taken.

Denton Cottage*
An early 19th century building, with a circular dining room added in the 1930s which is thought to stand on the polygonal base of a former postmill.

Skinners' Meadow

A set of six "affordable homes" some rented, some shared equity, built by Saffron Housing on land provided by the Skinner family and opened in 2011.

The history of their development is recorded elsewhere in the 2011 Archive.

Trunch Hill

This includes a row of four pairs of semi-detached houses built by Depwade RDC in 1937.

The Watch House
LB 225209
17th c. timber-frame house encased in red brick in 19th c. Not shown as an inn on either of the 1797 or 1826 maps. A Bullards/Watney Mann house. Not mentioned in Hunt's County Directoryy of 1850 but the first known licensee, Maria Gray, is listed in White's of 1854.

Always a simple beerhouse. Closed 1962. The last licencee was Clarence Fairhead, owner of Haggard's/Fairhead's Farm on Chapel Hill. Now a private house.

For further details including a list of licencees visit the Norfolk Public Houses website.

Hill View (Now Sawyers)
LB 225241
17th c. timber-frame house encased in red brick in early 19th c.

Vale Farmhouse
LB 225240
17th c. timber-frame house encased in red brick in 19th c. Originally part of the church estate.
Unfortunately the house and the farm buildings are in a poor state of repair and they are on Norfolk County Council's "Buildings at Risk" register.

Beck Farm
Details: to follow.

Beck Cottage
LB 225239
17/18th c. timber-frame cottage, plastered and partly encased in later brick, painted. Formerly a hire centre.

Valley View (Now Trunch House)
LB 225238
17th c. timber-frame house, rendered.

The Old School
Built, as a National School, in 1840 replacing a primitive school run in the church. Closed in the 1960s when local primary pupils were transferred to the new joint school in Alburgh. Now a private residence.

The Old School House
This originally provided accomodation for the schoolteacher. Like the school itself, the site was formerly part of the church estate.

Upland Terrace

A row of four pairs of semi-detached houses on Norwich Road first built by Depwade RDC in 1938 and extended in 1948.

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