[Transcription © SA Whittle-Bruce 2003]

Fordham,Norfolk

Kelly's 1933 Directory

Fordham is a parish and small village, with a station (Ryston) on the Downham and Stoke Ferry branch of the London and North Eastern railway, 3 miles south from Downham, in the South Western division of the county, Clackclose hundred and petty sessional division, Downham rural district and county court district, rural deanery of Fincham, archdeaconry of Wisbech and diocese of Ely. The church of St. Mary is a small building of stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel and nave and a belfry containing one bell; the chancel appears to have been built in the 13th century; a marble tablet was erected on the north wall of the nave in November 1920, by the parishioners of Fordham, Roxham and Ryston, in memory of the men of those parishes who fell in the Great War, 1914-1918; their names are inscribed on the tablet: there are 120 sittings. The register dates from the year 1576. The living is a vicarage, united with Roxham to that of Ryston in 1877, joint net yearly value £350, with residence, in the gift of the Dean and chapter of Norwich, and held since 1931 by the Rev. Francis Henry Cecil Poffley L.Th. of Durham University.

Snore, or Snowre Hall, in this parish, is a manor house, built about 1651 by Sir Ralph Skipwith. King Charles I was probably received here, April 30th 1646, by Mr Skipwith, who was aiding his escape from Oxford before his surrender to the Scotch army at Newark, May 5th 1646. The house contains two secret chambers, or "Priest - holes" about six feet square. close to the large central chimney, one above the other and communicating by a trap door, the approach to the lowermost being by a narrow shaft from the east attic. The house is now(1933) unoccupied. Lt-Col Edward Roger M Pratt M.C.'D.L. who is lord of the manor, and Messrs H and H Martin are the principal landowners. The soil is of a varied description, one part being a strong mixed soil and the other light land. The chief crops are grass, wheat, barley and beans. the area is 2,213 acres, half of which is fen; the population in 1921 was 208.

Letters through Downham Market. The nearest M.O. & T. office is at Hilgay.