epw021450 ENGLAND (1928). The Town Centre, Thetford, 1928

Black Horse public house. Earliest ref I have found is 1770.

Former Fleece Inn closed 1880s.

Ely-Norwich railway line opened July 1845.

Glebe House built as a parsonage late 1870s.

Former White Hart Inn closed 1914.

The St Nicholas Stores public house better known locally as the London. Built and opened by Whitebreads c1900. Closed early 1930s.

Ivy Lodge.

Site of a blacksmith's shop. Advertised for sale early 20thC. Probably demolished soon afterwards.

Thetford Borough Council's Newtown estate built 1924-26.

Timber merchant George Nickerson's woodyard.

The Harbord Almshouses built late 17thC.

Magdalen Street formerly Great Magdalen Street.

The yard of Thomas Doran, steam roller contractor.

The Chequers Inn.

This building is believed to have been a toll house when the several bridges of Thetford were subject to tolls. The tolls were abolished in 1880. The toll house ans adjacent maltings were demolished in the mid-1960s to make way for the Riverside Walk development.

Vicarage Road. Most of the houses were built in the 1890s and early years of 20thC.

The Thetford-Bury St Edmunds branch line opened in 1876. Closed to passenger services in 1953 and goods in 1960.

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church. Built 1826.

When photographed this was the motor garage premises of Hanbury & Co. Probable site of a 19thC carriage works.

The Limes, for many years a private residence. I know very little of the history of this house but it probably deserves some attention from a local historian.

Boys' Grammar School founded by the Will of Sir Richard Fulmerston 1566/7. The original school hall was built early in 17thC and was partly rebuilt and altered in 1879. Ruins in the grounds of the school are the remains of a Dominican Priory founded in 14thC. Several other religious buildings once stood on the site, a pre-Conquest parish church (St Mary-the-Great) and a parish church dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

The Primitive Methodist Chapel built and opened in 1838 on the edge of Melford Common. Ceased as a chapel in 1860s when a new Prim. Chapel was built in Guildhall Street. The old Prim. Chapel then became the Temperance Hall a meeting place for Thetford's temperance reformers. In early 20thC it was converted into three private dwellings.

The original Wesleyan Chapel built c1803-4. It closed as a chapel when the new chapel was built in Tanners Lane in 1830. Later it became a British School and the lane south of the building is still called School Lane today. In the 1950s the building was purchased by the St John Ambulance organisation and was known for many years as the St John's Hall. Now in private ownership and used as the premises of a IT company. Known today as Nether Hall from the name of the road, Nether Row, where it stands.

The Wesleyan Chapel built and opened in 1830 on what once formed part of the Great Orchard.

The Tanner's or Tan House. The front of the house stands in Tanners Street once Tanners Lane and also there are references to it being called Chapel Lane.

The tan yard of the Thetford Tannery that closed about the time that this photograph was taken. It is likely that the tanner was trading from this site for many centuries. Local tanners noted in the 19thC are Francis Diggon and Edward Frost.

Behind these trees is the River Thet.

The Little Ouse. Just a few yards further on it meets the River Thet.

The Town Bridge once known as the Christopher Bridge, and the Great Bridge. Thetford's several bridges were subject to a toll into the 1880s. Present bridge was built in 1829 replacing a wooden bridge that was built in 1794. It is not known when a bridge was first built at this ancient river crossing.

Bridge House. From c1770-1814 it was the George Inn and before that the Wagon & Horses. Before the Dissolution of Thetford's Cluniac priory in 1540 it was the site of an inn known as the Angel and the property of the priory. Thomas Coke of Holkham Hall founded the Thetford Wool Fair at the George Inn in 1793. Another famous guest there in the 18thC was James Woodforde the parson of Weston Longville.

St Mary's Road, linking the Bury Road to the London Road.

St Mary's House the home of Charles Burrell 1817-1906.

Trowel & Hammer public house formerly Maids Head, Carpenter's Arms, Papermaker's Arms. Deeds of the site date back to 15thC known as Leaden Hall. Old Trowel demolished in the 1960s and a new public house with the same name built on the site.

St Mary-the-Less probably pre-Conquest foundation. Church greatly restored in 19thC. Chancel rebuilt early 19thC and porch. Numerous alterations also to the interior. Bells removed and part of the tower removed in the 1960s. The church was last used for religious worship in the 1980s. Now redundant and in private ownership.

Girls' Grammar School opened 1888.

The London Road and the main highway through the town on the route between Norwich, Thetford and Newmarket until 1968.

The Bury Road branch store of the Thetford Co-operative Soc. Newly built when opened in 1912.

Star Lane.

The Star public house seen from the rear. The Star is situated in Bury Road and dates back at least to the early 19thC. It was closed in 1971 and converted into two dwellings soon after.

St Mary's Row demolished in early 1960s to make way for a new residential development St Mary's Court.