Official Guide to North Walsham 2023-2024

114 North Walsham Town Guide
Friday 15th May 1724 saw the town’s
Ascensiontide Fayre, and the bells were rung for
many hours. The ringing of the bells combined
with a rather windy day caused a vibration to
occur in the tower. This was noticed by the
verger when he ascended the tower in the
evening to wind the clock. He was so alarmed
by the distressed state of the tower that the
clock remained unwound as he fled to warn
people away.
The tower ruin in the mid twentieth century. Photo by Les Edwards
spire may have taken its height to around 180
feet. A heavy ring of six bells was hung in the
tower which also housed a chiming clock. These
bells caused a dispute in 1616 between the
townsfolk and the sexton whose duties caused
him to ring the Great Bell “... orderly and full out
one halfe hour at the least ...” every morning at
four o’clock!
Between nine and ten o’clock the following
morning, the doctor of the town was walking
through the churchyard, and to his horror,
one side of the steeple collapsed before him,
his only injury being a cut to his ankle from a
flying flint! In the years that followed, monies
were raised to reconstruct the tower, but the
weather was to weaken the ruin yet further, and
in 1835 more falls indicated the weakness of the
upper stonework. February 17th 1836 saw the
last major fall when heavy wintry gales brought
down the north side of the steeple with a crash
that sent earthquake-like tremors through the
town. The remaining east wall of the belfry stage
was then dismantled as a safety precaution.
In 1939 stabilisation work was carried out on
the tower, in the hope that one day rebuilding
might be possible. Plans have been drawn up to
this end, and one version of a new tower (minus
a spire), by the eminent architect Sir Charles
Nicholson, can be seen inside the north porch
of the Parish Church. The tower was stabilised
and renovated in 2014.
The Great Fire
In the year 1600, the town suffered a disastrous
fire, which began at around six o’clock in the
morning on the 25th June, in the house of a
“poor and lewd person” by the name of Dowle,
who on fleeing was apprehended and put
in gaol. One hundred and eighteen houses,
seventy shops, and countless other buildings
were razed to the ground. The Market with
its Cross and stalls were destroyed along with
their merchandise. Although reportedly fired
in five places at once the church escaped much
damage, and one imagines that it provided
temporary shelter to the townspeople for many