Brundall Village History - Brundall buildings

Stone, brick and thatch
Brundall and Braydeston buildings, their inhabitants and stories

Although the history of Brundall can be traced back 6,000 years, it wasn’t until the arrival of the railway in 1844 that it became a place of any significance.
By 1891 it had merged with neighbouring Braydeston, there having been a very tortuous boundary between the two villages. Even so the population was only 347. See below for some historic buildings, and click here for a walk through the village to see some interesting homes.

Historic buildings

There are only a handful of very old houses in Brundall and Braydeston, including the listed buildings, which are, apart from the churches, The Gables; the former Old Beams and Lavender House which is now an Italian restaurant; Manor House and Manor Garage; the thatched house on The Street opposite Station Road; and the signal box next to Brundall Station. For more about the signal box visit our railways page. There are other buildings of interest: some still evident, others lost...

Click the photos below to see a larger image and caption.

Built in 1540, the Old Beams was the original White Horse pub, situated in the centre of the village.
(Another White Horse pub was built much later near Blofield Road but has now been demolished. See below.)
This building has been much renovated during the last few years, and was recently a very well-known
restaurant called 'The Lavender House', whose chef/proprietor was the award-winning Richard Hughes.
The building became an Indian restaurant and takeaway, and is now an Italian restaurant.

The Manor House is on the east end of the village, opposite Blofield Road.
You can see the initials on the eastern gable of the earliest traced owner, Richard Baldwin,
who died in 1725. It was only ever a Manor House in name.

The Manor Garage was originally the barn to the Manor House and still has its
thatched roof. In the picture above taken in 1936 you can see two previous owners
of the garage, Bill Tidman on the right and Wesley Key on his left.

The Gables, no. 52 The Street (in the centre of the village), was built about 1690 with
Dutch style gables. It was previously known as Braydeston Villa. GradeTwo listed.

The Ram, The Street, Brundall: There has probably been an Inn on this site on The Street, nearly opposite the church, for about 500 years.
There was a wheelwright's and carpenter's yard at the eastern end where repairs would have been carried
out to the coaches that stopped at the Inn. In about 1890 Charles Broom, who later became the boat builder,
was the landlord. Later in 1962 Gordon Rope took over the Ram. He had been in the Royal Navy
and had sail making experience. In 1959 he started his own sail making business in Brundall
and carried on with this when he became landlord of the pub.

The White Horse Hotel in the 1910s. The baby in the carriage is George Spalding whose father and then his
mother were the landlords. By 1959 it was George's turn to continue the family tradition.
He is with his mother Viola, his father Harry is standing on the left and his two stepsisters
are sitting in the carriage. In the garden at the back of the hotel he had some chalets built
and transformed a Nissen hut into a Pavilion which he hired out for many a charitable function.
He brought in coachloads of tourists and established cabaret evenings for their entertainment.
In the 1970s the pavilion burnt down and George left The White Horse in 1976 to move into
and manage the Uplands Hotel, across the road.

Here you can see the position of the White Horse in the village. On the right is Station Road going down to the Railway
and the boatyards, with the former Post Office on the corner. Just past the hotel on the left is Blofield Road.
The former Post Office was for a time an Estate Agents. There is a Fish and Chip Shop
nearby. Note the bus and lorry!

To get to the Yare Hotel, go down Station Road and over the Railway crossing.
The hotel is on the right hand side. The dyke shown in this picture now belongs to Broom
Boats and is where they store some of their very large craft. It is now a popular public house
but on the 1881 census it was called 'Bleak House'. In 1888 it became the Yare Hotel. For a short
time in the 1970s it was called 'The Queen Elizabeth' but soon reverted back to being the Yare!

A more up to date photo of the Yare close to the river and station

An advert for the Yare dating from the late 19th century

Believe it or not, on 26th April 2013, our signal box at Brundall Station was given listed status because
of its special architectural and historic interest. It retains almost all of the original decoration to the
operating floor and the 1927 lever frame. The box was still in use until 2020 and is to go to a Norfolk heritage railway.

Copyright: Nothing on this website may be copied or published without the permission of the Brundall Local History Group. This does not mean we will not give permission, but you do have to ask us. The archive material has come from many sources and there are many copyright holders.

Stone, brick and thatchBrundall and Braydeston buildings, their inhabitants and stories

Historic buildings

Stone, brick and thatch
Brundall and Braydeston buildings, their inhabitants and stories