WHERE WE ARE
FLORDON today.... (left click on the 'hand' to move map around; click image bottom left to change view.
FLORDON around 1901
An extract from the ! inch to 1 mile Revised New Series of the Ordnance Survey - revised from the original 1st edition maps of the Ordnance Survey. This shows Flordon and neighbouring villages around 1901. The railway stands out - with the branch-line from near Tharston to Wymondham via Ashwellthorpe Station.
FLORDON around 1881.
'FLORDON is a scattered village, parish and station on the Great Eastern
railway, 7½ miles south-by-west from Norwich. 106 from London and 6 south-east from Wymondham,
in the Southern division of the county.... Sir Kenneth
H. Kemp bart. is lord of the manor of Flordon and chief landowner. The soil is
sand and flint; subsoil, various; The crops are of the usual kind. The area is
929 acres, rateable value,£1,803; the population in 1881 was 178.' (From Kelly's Directory, 1883)
Map, left, from OS 1:2,500 County Series (approx. 25 inches to 1 mile) 1881, courtesy of the Ordnance Survey.
FLORDON in 1845
FLORDON, 7½ miles S. by W. of Norwich, has in its parish 193 souls, and about 900A. of land, mostly belonging to Thos. Brightwell, Esq., and the Rev. Sir Wm. Robt. Kemp, Bart. The latter is lord of the manor, and patron and incumbent of the rectory, valued in the King's Book at £6. 13s. 4d., and now having 30A. of glebe, and a yearly rent of £285. 15s., awarded, in 1845, in lieu of tithes. The Church (St. Michael,) is a small antique fabric, with a belfry. The poor have the dividends of £173. 7s. 10d., new 3½ per cent. stock, purchased with £200, left by Thos. Clabburn, in 1815. They also have 20s. a year from T. Brightwell, Esq., as the rent of an acre of land. (White's Directory 1845)
FLORDON in 1797, on Faden's map of Norfolk.
Railways had not yet been invented, but the old Roman road through Newton Flotman to Norwich (now the A140) was a well-maintained route. What is now the B1113 through Bracon Ash is also a Turnpike road - labelled 'Iknneild Street' by Faden for some unknown reason....
This map emphasises the valleys and it is obvious why Flordon could have a mill.