Tag: Anglo-Saxons

Downham Market

A photographic account of Downham Market, an old market town in Norfolk.

INTRODUCTION

As those of you who read the post I put up earlier today will know I spent part of Saturday in the town of Downham Market. These post showcases everything I saw there other than the Town Hall. 

THE STATION

This was my first visit to Downham Market, as opposed to passing through the station en route to further afield destinations. The pictures here were taken at two distinct periods, in the morning immediately post arrival, and in the afternoon when I had rather more time to kill than I would have wished. The only way across the tracks at Downham Market is by way of a level crossing, and the train from London to King’s Lynn arrives just before the one going the other way. The crossing gates close a couple of minutes before the King’s Lynn train arrives and stay closed until the London train has departed, which means that if you are looking to catch the King’s Lynn train, which departs from the far platform from the town centre and the crossing gates close you have missed it, and such was my fate on Saturday. For those affected this also explains both my later than usual arrival at the venue for Musical Keys and the fact that I was a tad breathless when I got there – I had stepped off a train at 15:20 at King’s Lynn and walked straight out to the Scout Hut in something of a hurry.

London ConnectionsRailway MapGNNGN

signal box
The signal box at Downham Market
Station building
The station building – very impressive, and I was to discover quite typical of 19th century Downham Market buildings in the use of Carr (the brown coloured stone).
Local Map
A handy little map for working out one’s route from the station.
Terrace
I reckon (though I am opne to correction) that this little terrace was built to accommodate railway workers.
Bennett & Son
This building is visible from the station platform.

Date stone

THE REST OF DOWNHAM MARKET

I start with two pictures to set the scene, a huge pictorial map which can be seen in the town centre and the information board about the railway:

Giant MapThe Railway 1

The ‘Downham’ part of Downham Market comes from Anglo-Saxon (afterall, we are in the lands of the North Folk of the East Angles) and literally means ‘homestead on a hill’, and indeed the market town that grew up around that homestead (it has been a market town since Anglo-Saxon times) is slightly elevated from the surrounding countryside, which in Norfolk constitutes being on a hill! These photos are presented in the order in which they were taken.Georgian housePedimentDoorShelley CottageSemi-detachedbirdStone shieldGarden CentreThe Railway 2Garden Centre 2Garden Centre 3sunclock 1sunclock 2The Railway close up 1Railway Close Up 2The Railway close up 37098Sculpture 1Sculpture 2Temple like buildingBlocked windowDate plaque 1Date plaque 2

Info signs
There will be more about Civray in the next section.

InfoGiant MapsignsShopClock 1FountainMP sculptedStone bird82 Bridge Street

CIVRAY

I realised that there could be only one explanation for a signpost in cengtral Downham Market giving the distance to the town of Civray, namely that the two towns are twinned. Civray for the record is pretty much exactly halfway between Poitiers and Angouleme, due east of La Rochelle. I include a map as well as a close up of the sign.

Civray 628Civray