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| Mattishall
Village Sign .... |
Transcript
by
Iris Coe
For more information there is a leaflet written
by
Iris Coe
which is available from All Saints Church |
| The village
sign is situated on Church plain ... |
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Erected in 1984,
the sign was designed by David Summers who is a practising
architect who used to live in Mattishall. The artist
was David Holgate who lives and works in the Norwich
area.
The Mattishall Society commissioned the work and a large
proportion of the cost was raised by a local resident,
Frank C. Jerome, (affectionately known as J.J.) who
collected unwanted furniture and other items which he
auctioned. "J.J." died before the sign became a reality.
Each of the four panels on the sign is headed with a
different spelling of the village name. |
| © Ray Taylor |
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| MATESHALA
is the spelling found in the Domesday Book of 1086.
This panel depicts a hoard of Roman coins found during
excavations for a new housing development in 1968. They
were in a pot which had obviously been buried. There
was 1100 coins which are now in the Castle Museum in
Norwich. As yet no evidence of Roman occupation has
been discovered in Mattishall. |
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MATESHAL
appears on documents in the Bodleian Library, Oxford,
the British Museum and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
Mattishall has had connections with the latter since
1370. Edmund Gonville endowed Gonville Hall with the
income from the Great Tithes of Mattishall Church and
with the Advowson (the right to appoint the vicar).
In 1575 the Coats of Arms of Caius and Gonville were
combined to form the Arms of the present college and
these appear on the second panel. Also represented on
this panel is the period when Mattishall had a large
number of wool dealers who bought from the west of the
county and sold through Norwich market. At least the
law abiding ones did, but a number of these brokers
actually bypassed Norwich, selling direct to clothiers
in Suffolk, a practice which often landed them in the
Norwich court where heavy fines were imposed. They were
known by the uncomplimentary title of "Mattishall wool
Broggers". |
| MATSALL
is engraved on the silver chalice dated 1567, which
belongs to All Saints' Church. The cleric shown on the
third panel is Matthew Parker, the first Archbishop
appointed by Elizabeth I. He was born in Norwich in
1504 and became a frequent visitor to Mattishall where
his friends the Harlestones had an estate. His wife,
Margaret Harlestone, was born in Mattishall and natives
of the village believe that the house behind the butcher's
shop was the Harlestone family home. It is not known
exactly what the house looked like in Margaret's day,
but it has been reproduced on the panel showing how
it would have appeared when refaced around 1700. Unfortunately,
no portrait of Margaret has survived. Matthew's likeness
was taken from a copy of his portrait which hangs in
and was loaned by Lambeth Palace. |
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MATTISHALL,
the present day spelling, completes the quartet. This
fourth panel shows a Dobbs Brothers' tumbril painted
in their particular colours. The Dobbs family lived
and worked in Mattishall for well over 100 years, manufacturing
tumbrils, carts and harrows. Through orders gained during
the Norfolk Agricultural Show, the work of Dobbs Brothers
became well known and their reputation spread to Suffolk
and other parts of East Anglia. The last tumbril was
sold in 1950. A number of reconditioned Dobbs carts
are to be found around the country, kept as show pieces. |
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