businesses


Walsingham Shops and Businesses

There have been various businesses, shops and traders in the village

Listed below are some of those ......


Bridewell Street

Well Borers/plumbers - Barnham

C Bacon - Blacksmith

'Fourpence' Vincent - Veg Seller

H Scott - Wheelwright/Carpenter/Undertaker


Todd's Yard

G and P Hastings - Fish and Chips
Frying Weds lunch, Friday and Saturday evenings.
Previous to this his brother W Hastings had a
fish and chip shop in a wooden hut in St Peter's Road


G and P Hastings - Painter and Decorator

R Pegg - Painter and Decorator

] W Reddin - Cycle repairs

Knight Street

'Hopping Billy'Frary - Harness maker/part time barber

A Frary - Sold Sweets from her house

Misses Bloxham - Knight's Gate cafe

Dr Sturdy/Dr Little - Doctor's surgery


Wells Road

'Porky' Dawson - Butcher

Billy Hastings - Fish and chips

? Top Shop

S Woodcock - Coalman Stored coal at Station yard


Coker's Hill

Howell - Rockmaker


Common Place

Blunderfields - Hardware (Later Bunns)

The Bull - Public House

Shrine Shop - Gifts

Jimmy Bunn - Garage

Gurney - Estate Office

Summer Stall - Women's Institute

The Swan - Public House


Friday Market

Arthur Bond - Fish and Chip Shop

A Page - 'Intinerent' trader (No.4)
"He only had a tradesmans cycle, with a box extension on the sides,
front and rear. We used to call it an aeroplane. It was incredible how he balanced it"

"known as the Aoroplane Man because of the extended wooden flaps and orange boxes on his machine " Many of the items were supplied by Charlie Eade

Charlie Yaxley - Cobbler (Friday cottage)

Oxford Store - Public House

H Walker - Oxford Stores
Also had a coal business. The coal would arrive by train and the truck would
be unloaded into the coal yard at the side of the goods yard.
When Charlie Eade moved into the High Street Walker purchased his petrol pump.
Ran a 'taxi' service and owned a lorry for haulage.
Also repaired cars and vans


Black Lion - Hotel

Charles Eade - Hairdresser/cycles (Greyfriars)
Sold confectionary, cigarettes etc as well as bikes and petrol.
He was also a hairdresser/barber.
In the mid 30's Eade's moved to the High Street.
The Catholic Church later purchased the property.


Mrs Coggles - Piano and Violin lessons

W Brunton - Tailor
A fishmonger who cured his own bloaters was next door,
accessed by going through a gate to a shed in the yard behind


This house was demolished to built the Catholic Church,
WHICH has now been demolished for an even newer building


Walter Wright - Butcher (No 3, Friday Market)
Kept cows on meadows around the village

Miss L Smith - Piano lessons


Guild Street

A Lingwood - Baker

J Dagless - - Builder

Robin Hood - Public House

Styman's - Grocer


High Street

Albert (Lou) Newtown - Harness Maker

Abels - Cycle Shop

Arhur Bond - Guild Hotel

Bill Bailey - Tea Room

Miss Abraham - Post Office
R Anthony, F Brodie and G Howe were the postmen
Later Lingwood and Geoff Tuck were the postmen
George Howe was later the postmaster


Jacob Beckham - Hairdresser

Charles Eade - Newsagent

Fred Howe - Cycle Repair/Post office

Wool Shop - Miss Banson

Tom Purdy - Decorating/funeral
" Sold decorating materials
There were no emulsions at the time
so wall colouring was distemper in
powder form, walpaper etc"


"Pre war tolling of St Mary's bell was usually
once with a pause for a man, twice for women and
three times for a child.This practice was stopped
during WW2 and was not re-instated afterwards "

" For a funeral shops closed their doors,
mourners wore black clothes if they could afford them
if not they wore black arm bands. In Church Street doors would be closed and curtains drawn"


George Back - Grocers/furniture

Ossie Wells - Clothiers
"You could also order and be measured for a suit.
The items were of such a high quality that many were still in use decades after".

"At the rear of this was an area known as workhouse yard,
where families lived before Mount Plesant was built"


Mr & Mrs Hunter - Sweets (51 High Street)

J T Moore - Chemist

Kenneth Faircloth - Photographer

Len Whitmore - Electrician

'Nuddy' Howell - Hairdresser

Etta Lee - Confectionary
" She would come round selling sweets on a saturday night"

Massingham - Grocer

Polly Wright - Seamstress/Dressmaker

Sid Hayes - Painter and decorator

Also made ice cream which he would go round selling at local events,
mostly in the summer months


Faircloth - Butcher
Had two shops at 57 and 61 High Street

Miss Wrights (Earnest 'Sunny' Wright)- Baker
Later Bert Crouch
Ovens built by Dagless the builders
"The bread was very good.
"On saturday a varirty of special cakes would be made.
You could purchase corn and any type of feed if you kept rabbits, chickens etc
The room where the cakes were sold from was used by Barclays bank on Mondays
the staff coming over from Fakenham "


Bush - Grocer
"He also smoked herrings
Used a donkey and cart to deliver goods"


Sydney Curson - Grocer/ haberdasher
Taken over by the Co-op in the war

George Butcher - Coalman

Miss Struggles and Miss Cowdray - Fish and Chips

Great Walsingham

Nelson - Butcher
then later
George Ward - Fish and chips

G Howell - Bakers

Miss K Lewis - Sweet Shop

R Bardwell (Barber ?) - Tailor

V Standford - Blacksmith

W. Wright - Pig Breeder

Half Moon - Public House

Eddie/Elsie Rivett

Eddie also had a wood delivery business