06:30 15 October 2015
The Feathers Pub in North Walsham.
Picture: MARK BULLIMORE
Archant Norfolk 2015
Fingers are crossed that a North Walsham pub will re-open as a heritage centre in time to mark the anniversary of one of the most dramatic events in the town’s history.
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Monument to the Peasant’s revolt on Norwich Road just outside North Walsham.
Picture: MARK BULLIMORE
North Walsham Heritage Group has just been granted planning permission to convert The Feathers, on Market Street, into a centre where the town’s history could be told, and artefacts displayed.
Talks are under way with investors about buying the pub, allowing the heritage group to rent it from them.
Meanwhile work has already begun on a re-enactment next June of the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt which saw a battle on the edge of North Walsham and stories of a massacre of rebels by the Bishop of Norwich and his men in the parish church.
Rob Scammell, a founder of Regenerate North Walsham from which the heritage group has sprung, said he expected negotiations with two investors to last a further two to three weeks and was “fairly hopeful” that a deal would be clinched.
One of the chairs donated to North Walsham by Martin Mace, great grandson of North Walsham furniture maker Horace Mace. This carver has been given to the town together with four chairs without arms from the same set. They probably date from the 1890s. Picture SUBMITTED
One investor, from Sussex, was known to him. The other had been approached via an agent.
The pub, which is still open, is on sale for £275,000. Feathers owners, Oak Taverns, based in Thame, Oxfordshire, took it off the open market in the spring for three months to give the heritage group time to gain planning permission and funding.
Mr Scammell said Oak Taverns had agreed to extend the period.
“We are fairly well down the line,” he added. “A lot of work has been going on in the background. No-one has taken their foot off the accelerator. We’ve had sketch plans drawn up, a valuation and a full structural survey carried out.”
Grant applications were also being made to raise about £150,000 needed for restoration and conversion work at the grade two-listed pub which is thought to be more than 200 years old.
The project would include restoring two barns behind the building for use as income-generating workshops and a café, said Mr Scammell.
Other revenue to cover overheads would be raised through events such as history walks and talks.
A number of group members are currently researching the Peasants’ Revolt which will be the theme of next year’s North Walsham Festival. Members hope the heritage centre will be in use by then.
Group member Joe Ballard, director of Arts North Norfolk, will use the research findings to write a dramatic re-enactment planned to take place in episodes, on different days and at different venues in the town.
It would feature professional actors and members of the community, according to Mr Ballard.
Another member, Diana Velhagen, has begun collecting photographs and other artefacts for the centre and hopes people will contribute.
Retired surgeon Martin Mace, great grandson of North Walsham furniture maker Horace Mace, had recently donated some mahogany dining chairs and a bureau bookcase dating from the 1890s.
Ms Velhagen added: “We believe there are a great deal of artefacts still in the town – people just need to feel their mementoes will be cherished and valued”.
■ Contact the group via the Regenerate North Walsham Facebook page.