The Ouse Washes Websitean independent research and information projectderelict house on Bedford Bank East |
Welcome to my website on at |
view approaching from south most of the roof tiles have gone the house seen from the field on the west |
IntroductionI remember seeing this house in the early 1990s. It was built at the bottom of the river bank, a little over a 1¼ miles north of the Old Bedford Bridge at Welney. I recall that it appeared habitable but not occupied and assumed it had originally been a Victorian farm labourers cottage and was now an angler's holiday home, for that seemed the way of many small houses dotted along the fenland river banks.It was more than 15 years before I ventured here again, in June 2007, and found it in a dangerous state with much of the front wall and roof missing. from the river bank, June 2007. From the front of the house all that could be seen was the bank, but there were long open views at the back. There were signs that it had been modernised at some stage with 13-amp electrics and a tiled shower room and toilet. The visit was prompted by a chance meeting with a woman at a church fete the previous month. My wife and I had got in conversation with her and learned that she was Julie Morgan, a great-granddaughter of James Smart, the famous skater. She wondered if we knew Norway House, where her relative had lived. I thought I did, and promised to take some photos. |
above in 2007 below in 2010 |
|||||||||
|
Several years later I discovered that this was not Norway House after all, for that
house is a ½ mile further north along Bedford Bank - see link on right. |
|
|||||||||