Illington:
Thieves' Pit
W. G. Clarke described three pits or hollows beside Peddar's Way on Roudham Heath, not far from
the hamlet of Illington. One was known as Thieves' Pit, "so called because it is alleged that when Illington Hall was robbed many years ago, the thieves left their horses, which had their shoes reversed, at this
spot".
Source:
W. G. Clarke: 'In Breckland Wilds' (Robert Scott, 1925), p.124.
Ingham:
Secret tunnel
Against the north side of the 14th century church of Holy Trinity was
once a small priory of 'St. Mary, the Holy Trinity, and St. Victor, for the redemption of captives from the
Turks'. Established in 1630 by Sir Miles Stapleton, negligible remains exist in the churchyard itself, the conventual buildings forming the nucleus of the nearby Swan Inn at the staggered crossroads. The story goes that when the church altar was taken down for repairs in the 1860s, not only were found 19 skeletons piled beneath it, but also the entrance to a tunnel that supposedly linked the priory with the Manor House
½ a mile away. Unfortunately this passage, never explored, was sealed up again.
Source:
Ernest R. Suffling: 'History & Legends of the Broad District' (Jarrolds, 1891), p.39-40.
Itteringham:
Druid's Stones
Some boulders in the Sanctuary at Mannington Hall (TG145322)
in this parish were once allegedly described as 'Druid's Stones'. At the beginning of the 20th century they were
portrayed by one observer as having "a polished surface and glaciated scratchings", and to be "reeking with the blood of
victims".
Source:
'Norfolk Archaeology', Vol.14 (1900-02), p.327.
Secret
tunnel
A large drain is almost certainly responsible for the legend of a tunnel from the moat around
15th century Mannington Hall (TG145322) to the 700 year old remains of the church, just across the road.
Source:
'Norfolk Archaeology', Vol.16 (1904-5), p.94.
