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Hidden East Anglia: Landscape Legends of Norfolk & Suffolk
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Feltwell:
Secret tunnels In the eastern part of the parish stands Denton Lodge (TL750919). Not far away, on the opposite side of the Brandon to Stoke Ferry road, is Jackson's Hill (now a waterworks), named after a highwayman gibbeted there in the early 1800s. Where the road meets the main road to Feltwell is or was a triangular area (TL752918), formerly the site of an iron cage for offenders, and later of a single storey house. This house was believed to have been used by smugglers, who took their contraband there and conveyed it to the Lodge cellars by means of a subterranean passage.1 A house in Church Street, the former Rectory House of Feltwell St. Nicholas, is supposed to have a tunnel leading from it to St. Nicholas' church (TL715907).2 Sources: 1. www.feltwellnorfolk.freeserve.co.uk/written/feltwell_parish.htm 2. www.feltwellnorfolk.freeserve.co.uk/written/notes1.htm
Near a crossroads at the southern end of Oak Street stand the dying remains of the Feltwell Oak (TF718907). Both Charles II (who actually did visit nearby Methwold) and Oliver Cromwell are said to have sat under the tree, which is locally believed to be older than Domesday Book.
Source: www.feltwellnorfolk.freeserve.co.uk/written/feltwell_parish.htm
The base of a medieval cross sits on a brick plinth at the northern end of Oak Street, where Lodge Road and the Beck meet (TL718909). On the lower section of the modern plaque on the plinth is the inscription: "It is believed that this stone was the base of the settlement cross which stood on this site for many centuries and which was probably destroyed during the civil war. Legend has it that in time of pestilence the hollow in the stone was filled with vinegar so that travellers could disinfect their money." (See also other 'plague stones' at Bury St. Edmunds, Rickinghall Inferior and Stuston).
www.feltwellnorfolk.freeserve.co.uk/written/feltwell_parish.htm
The dole stone
Somewhere in
the many parishes that make up the ancient Hundred of Flegg in the
Norfolk Broadland (e.g. Caister, Mautby, Filby, Ormesby etc.) is said to be a 'dole stone' or boundary marker in a
hedgerow that goes down to drink from a nearby brook every night at midnight. W. A. Dutt: 'The Ancient Mark-Stones of East Anglia' (Flood & Sons, 1926), p.19.
The golden gates
There is a vague legend that the 'Golden Gates' are buried here somewhere. |
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