Portrait of a Norfolk village – Churches, country houses and country life in Morley. This village has two churches and three manor houses. Want to know why?
Visit this exhibition which uses maps, photos and memories to illustrate village life over the centuries.
In 1732 the lady of the manor gave money to teach poor children in Morley to read. It got its first purpose built school in 1845, given by another lady, Miss Maria Morse of Norwich. Extracts from the school log back dating to the 1870s describe farming life, the weather, social life and serious illness.
Photos of the early 1900s taken by the Headmaster, a keen amateur photographer, portray school life before the national curriculum.
Follow the stories of the three country houses – Morley Old Hall with its Saxon origins, Morley manor whose owner Mr Hobart had fences he had put round common land, pulled down by peasantry at the start of Kett’s Rebellion, and the unique story of Morley Hall Estate and its sport loving owner with his bowling green, cricket pitch and golf club. The estate played its part on the international scene as a World War Two American army hospital, later a teachers training college and then a state boarding school.
Copies of the 1629 and 1845 maps will be available for viewing.
Admission is included in the museum's normal admission prices.