Haveringland has now got its very own beautiful Village Sign, standing proudly on the Village Green beside the old stocks. The design by Keith Duncan from Norwich depicts the stocks framing the old Hall and St. Peter's Church with a Mosquito plane flying over it to remind us of the war-time role of Haveringland as an airfield. It was made by the inmates of Blundeston prison, and Mr. Graham King from Haveringland built the attractive brick plinth for the sturdy sign.

The "grand unveiling" by our parish clerk Anne Excell took place on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in November, followed by a jolly party of about 40 people with plenty of good food and drink in the field behind the stocks.

Haveringland has also come runner up (behind Garboldisham) in the Eastern Daily Press 2003 competition for Village of the Year for villages under 300 inhabitants.            

G.A.    From the Parish Magazine January 2004.

So on to the Stocks, well maintained and attractively sited on trimmed grass near the old well. How near they came to being moved to Norwich in the early '70's! The Stocks have five leg-holes. Did Haveringland have a one-legged "bad lad" in the "good old days"?

John Kett.

From the Parish magazine 1989

The original name was Haveringlanda, signifying land of watery meadows. From the earliest times a Lord of the Manor has dominated the village and the lives of the people.

The first known Lord was the powerful Godwin of Wessex, father of Harold who fought at Hastings, he held lands here before the conquest, but there are signs of fine Samian ware pottery which has been found with other coarser kinds, and this pottery was used only in the homes of the noblest Romans. But a clearer picture emerges after the conquest when William the Conqueror deposed Godwin, and a succession of Norman Knights held lands at Haveringland. One of these Knights; de Gyney or Guisnetto and his descendants founded the church the Mount joy Priory. In 1528 the priory lands were seized by William Hales at the dissolution, and were conveyed legally to Thomas Hurn Lord of Haveringland in 1583.

In the year 1942, when Lord de Ramsey, the last of the squires, sold the estate, it consisted of 4,288 acres, made up of fifteen arable farms, numerous. smallholdings, eighty cottages and two public houses, as well as the Hall and its grounds of 131 acres.

Haveringland Church Bells + History: Haveringland has only three bells, but what they lack in number they make up for in interest, for they are said to date from the fourteenth century. The original bells were recast in 1856 at the Whitechapel foundry, at the time of the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Church by Lord de Ramsey. The treble bell (5.5 cwt) bears the inscription - St. Peter: recast 1856; the second bell (6 .75 cwt? " St.William Martyr, pray for us" (in Latin); and the third (8 cwt) "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (also a Latin inscription). St. William, Martyr is of course "IittIe St. William of Norwich^”, who was baptised at Haveringland in the twelfth century, and ritually murdered in Thorpe Wood near Norwich when he was about twelve years old. This is believed to be the only church bell dedicated to him.

Bells have been used to call people to worship in English churches since the eighth century, and are a tradition at weddings and funerals. In some parishes a "pancake bell" was rung on Shrove Tuesday, and most of us have heard of the "Curfew Bell" which tolled "the knell of parting day" and was a signal for people to put out their fires, a necessary precaution at a time when most roofs were thatched.

Bells are made of bell-metal a special alloy of copper and tin; they are housed in the Belfry, and rung by a team in the "Ringing chamber" below. Windows high in the church tower have louvers instead of glass, so that the sound of the bells can travel more freely across the countryside.

England's three largest bells are Great Paul (St. Paul's London, l7tons), Great George (Liverpool l4 tons), and Big Ben (Westminster, l3 tons).

The world's largest bell is in Moscow; it is over 20 feet high, 22 feet in diameter, and weighs 198 tons. Unfortunately it has never been rung, having been damaged during a great fire at the Kremlin, and is now a tourist attraction, along with the portion which split from it during the fire.

HAVE YOU DISCOVERED HEYDON?

Heydon is an idyllic village where time stands still. You can take a walk in the park before relaxing in the delightful Tea Room or enjoying a drink in the Earle Arms.

The village is surrounded by quiet country lanes and is an ideal destination for a bicycle ride.

Heydon is one of less than a dozen privately owned villages in Great Britain. Consequently there has been no new building there since the 19^th century. The last construction project was the well to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. Heydon Hall was built in 1582 by Henry Dynne and the Heydon Estate was purchased in 1640 by Erasmus Earle whose descendants still own it.

Heydon Hall has been the setting for numerous television productions and films. Some of the best known being 'The Go Between', 'The Peppermint .Pig', 'Backs To The Land', 'The Woman In" White',  Love On A Branch Line', and The Moonstone' .

Heydon is situated 12 miles north of Norwich and 2 miles south of Saxthorpe just off the B 1149 Norwich to Holt road.

As found in an old publication

From the Parish Magazine Jan 2004