Draft:Wendling Carr.

Wendling Carr.

Wendling 1988.

The area of “Carr” would have been land that was always wet with large areas that would have been under water at different times of the year. This land would have been covered with wild grasses, scrub and areas of woodland. The best example of what the Carr was like, used to be next to Station Road, (between Station Road and Abbey close in the photograph above) but this has now sadly been ripped out. There is a field down Carr lane that belongs to one of the village charities and is registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, that was part of the Carr, This is a good representation of how the whole area of the carr was.

The Oaks Carr Lane Wendling.

Wendling Common.

Wendling Carr starts close to the old railway bridge on Beeston Road, Great Fransham, this follows a line to the south of the A47, down to what is known as Wendling Common, this is the privately owned land between the telephone exchange and the village hall, this would have had a greater area of scrub growing on it in the past, but still is of ecological importance. This absorbs rain water and is also supplied with water by natural springs, excess water now seeps through the ground until it reaches Wendling Drain, which can be found passing through the gardens of the properties in Station Road, then under Station Road, next to the chapel and then across the meadows until it reaches Wendling Beck. Personally after looking at the route this stream takes, it is most likely to be a man made drain and not a natural stream or brook. The land each side of Wendling Drain, where it runs from station road to Wendling Beck, was prominently wet grass land for many years but this have now been drained, north of this area of land was a mixture of scrub, wild grasses, reeds, wild flowers and orchids, this has been scrubbed out and planted with commercial grass for grazing. If you look at the direction the Drain was dug in you can see that it goes round something that is no longer there, at two points, firstly close to Church farm and secondly on the meadow beside the old A47 where there is now a couple of modern agricultural buildings, these were most likely Medieval settlements of some importance. I would expect Wendling drain to have been dug around the medieval period.

My research over the past years has brought me to the conclusion that an area such as Wendling Carr would have been populated form the time of the Romans and most likely well before that. Stephen Olley.

References

Book of Wendling Longham and Beeston With Bittering. My life Research. Archaeology and Historic Environment Unit, Gressenhall, Norfolk. A WETLAND FRAMEWORK FOR IMPACT ASSESSMENT AT STATUTORY SITES IN EASTERN ENGLAND, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b843fe5274a7202e17acb/sw6-068-tr2-e-e.pdf