Little Cressingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the smaller settlement of Cressa's people.[1]
In the Domesday Book, Little Cressingham is listed as a settlement of 46 households in the hundred of South Greenhoe. In 1086, the village was divided between the East Anglian estates of Ralph de Tosny.[2]
In 2002, significant excavations were carried out by the Norfolk Archaeological Unit in the parish. They discovered Iron Age finds as well as significant Roman artefacts which demonstrate that Little Cressingham was once a significant site.[3] The Roman finds include items of gold which are currently held in Norwich Castle Museum.[4]
A mill has stood in Little Cressingham since the Norman Conquest which operated as both a water and wind mill. The mill closed after significant damage in 1916 and has been held by Norfolk Windmills Trust since 1981.[5]
The village pub, the White Horse, closed in 2004 but has a history dating back to the late-Eighteenth Century.[6]
Little Cressingham's church is dedicated to Saint Andrew and dates from the Fifteenth Century. St. Andrew's is located on Fairstead Lane and has been Grade I listed since 1960.[7] St. Andrew's is no longer open for Sunday service and is part of the Benefice of Cressingham.[8]
St. Andrew's was heavily re-built in the Eighteenth Century and holds a memorial from 1806 to William Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clermont, an Anglo-Irish peer and politician.[9]
Clermont Estate
The Clermont Estate in Threxton, hamlet near Little Cressingham, was created by the Irish peer William Henry Fortescue (1722–1806), Earl of Clermont, friend of the Prince of Wales.[10] He built Clermont Lodge as a shooting box and it was extended for his nephew and heir William Charles Fortescue (1764–1829), Viscount Clermont to designs by the architect William Pilkington. Pilkington was a pupil and assistant to Sir Robert Taylor (architect of the Bank of England).
Following Viscount Clermont's death without issue Clermont Estate was sold to Sir Francis Lyttleton Holyoake Goodricke in 1844 and in 1858 it was purchased by the 2nd Duke of Wellington. In 1863 he conveyed the Hilborough and Clermont Estates to John Remington Mills.[note 1] In 1869 Mills bought the Watton estate and an outlying farm at Tottenhill in Norfolk. His son Joseph Trueman Mills added the South Pickenham estate, Norfolk.
Clermont Hall
The last owner of Clermont Hall was Sir Richard Prince-Smith[note 2] who acquired the estate in 1966 and sold it in 1997. The estate, which originally extended to 2,734 acres (11.06km2), was broken up from 1977 onwards. Much of it is now owned by the UK Ministry of Defence.
Clermont House was built in 1971/2 in the walled garden of Clermont Hall as a replacement for Clermont Hall and as an agent's house. John Davies, Prince-Smith's resident land agent from 1971—1997, bought Clermont House in 1977. Davies added to the house in later years and in 1983 developed an arboretum extending 13 acres (53,000m2) which is open to public visitors.[11] In 1972 Clermont Hall was found to be riddled with dry rot but attempts to demolish were thwarted by the imposition of a preservation order. The hall was sold in 1973 to Philip Jones, an artist, who demolished the servants quarters and restored the main house in 19 acres (77,000m2) of land with cottages.
↑ John Remington Mills was one of two sons of Samuel Mills (d 1847) of Russell Square. Both sons bought country estates. Thomas Mills, barrister and MP, bought Tolmers in Hertfordshire (which his brother inherited) and John Remington Mills bought the Hilborough and Clermont Estates at Little Cressingham, retaining property and business interests in London and elsewhere.[citation needed]
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