{"id":34903,"date":"2026-07-24T15:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T14:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=34903"},"modified":"2026-07-27T16:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:31:13","slug":"bramble-cottage-23-somerton-road-martham","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=34903","title":{"rendered":"Bramble Cottage, 23 Somerton Road, Martham"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bramble Cottage, 23 Somerton Road, Martham<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Bramble Cottage in 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

House histories are normally compiled by going back in time and tracing changes as you move forward. Bramble Cottage poses particular problems in this respect because the house was not known under that name until after Jane Grimble married George Bramble in 1904 and continued to run the shop which was informally known as Bramble\u2019s. I will, however, refer to it under that name throughout this history for identification purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cottage is simply listed in most records as being at Somerton Road<\/a><\/em>, along with its neighbours. It is perhaps unusual because it was occupied by only two families for the first 135 odd years of its existence. They were the Braddock and Grimble families and they can best be traced by starting with local knowledge and memories of its key owner. He was a man called Wilfred Robert Grimble (1891-1975) known locally as \u2018Smo Grimble\u2019 \u2026\u2026 but more of him later.

The current owners have been good enough to share sight of their property deeds with me and they completely corroborate the genealogical evidence I have gathered to reveal the part the cottage and its past owners have played in the social and economic history of the village.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Building and its Site.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bramble Cottage was originally two semi-detached cottages built between 1838 and 1841<\/a><\/em> in the traditional local style of clay lump and thatch \u2013 see below. Both cottages had their own front door leading directly into one ground-floor room that had its own large fireplace. A door next to the fireplace led to a step set of stairs that wrapped around the chimney breast. Upstairs, there would probably have only been one room or perhaps two with a wattle and daub thin partition wall, one bedroom leading off the other.
Water came from a well in the back garden. The garden originally extended all the way to Staithe Road<\/a><\/em> but the rear of the garden was sold in 1975 and the well is now in the back garden of 54 Staithe Road \u2013 see below. There would probably have been one earth closet to the rear that was shared by both families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long ago as 1850 the cottage was extended to the rear with a single storey that locals would call a \u2018backus\u2019 (in the traditional Norfolk dialect). In pragmatic terms, it was a kitchen or bake-house as evidenced by a pump dated 1850 that is still outside the back door and was no doubt far more convenient than having to go down to the well. At some point early in the building\u2019s life the two cottages were merged into one which is most clearly evidenced by one of the front doors being blocked off, but with the remains of its original outline still visible in the walls. Internally, the now single ground-floor room has a significantly uneven surface where the original dividing wall once stood. The original chimney, fireplace and stairs to the west end were probably removed when the house was converted into one, leaving just one chimney, fireplace and set of stairs at the east end.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another large two-storey extension was added to the east end of the building and knocked through to the main house. It has its own front door but there is no evidence that this was ever a separate building (separate stairs or fireplace etc) and its main purpose was almost certainly to provide the shop business that the occupiers ran. In the mid 1980s another extension, that runs off the \u2018shop\u2019 extension, was added, along with a conservatory and provides a more modern single-story kitchen wing that extends north. Yet another single-story modern extension is evident on the west end of the main house, which has solar panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the extensions have pantiled roofs and a mixture of washed brick and flint walls, most of which have been rendered. The thatch lasts about 50 years if good-quality Norfolk reed is used and was last done in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bramble Cottage, 23 Somerton Road in 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And, in the beginning\u2026..<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is important to look at the history of the site before Bramble Cottage was built to fully understand the part it played in the social history of the village and the context of its owners and occupiers. One of the earliest records we can look at is the 1807 Martham Inclosure Act<\/a><\/em> and one of the maps associated with it. During the process of Inclosure under the 1807 “Act for Inclosing and Draining certain Lands, in the Parish of Martham”<\/a><\/em> a man called George Wilson claimed ownership of land and property totalling 13 acres, 3 roods & 37 perches(1).<\/sup> One of the plots he claimed ownership of was No211 that measured 1 acre and 2 perches and it covered the area that would eventually include both Bramble Cottage and East End Farm<\/a><\/em>, Somerton Road<\/a><\/em>, which was on the east side of it. He also owned another plot No298 which was the site of Brickfield Farm, Staithe Road <\/a><\/em>that is opposite plot No211 but he did not live there as his claim tells us that it was occupied by William Braddock (1777-1864); the claim said:- George Wilson claims \u201ca cottage and one acre of land in the said parish in the occupation of William Braddock\u201c. The plots are shown outlined in red on a copy of the General Commissioners’ map below. <\/p>\n\n\n

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This map is one produced by the General Commissioners under powers given in the 1807 Martham Inclosure Act. It was produced early in the Inclosure process to show land that owners\/occupiers had claimed. It is not the same as the actual 1812 Inclosure Award<\/a><\/em> map.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There were no buildings on plot No211 in 1807<\/a><\/em> or at the time of the actual Award in 1812<\/a><\/em>. What is the relevance of George Wilson, you may ask? Well, he married Elizabeth Hill of Martham on 30th<\/sup> December 1779 at St Mary the Virgin,<\/a><\/em> Martham and they went on to have a daughter in 1786, who was also called Elizabeth. She married the very same William Braddock (1777-1864), the tenant at Brickfield Farm<\/a><\/em>, at St Mary the Virgin<\/a><\/em>, Martham on 3rd<\/sup> April 1804. William was a thatcher and farmer and they continued to live at Brickfield Farm<\/a><\/em> where they had eight children between 1805 and 1825. Two of their sons who are key to our story, were:-<\/p>\n\n\n\n