History
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My sincere thanks to Michael Soanes for allowing me to use information from his Corton History Bulletins

Village Hall          Post Office          The Mill          White Horse          The Hut Hotel         

The Pit       War Memorial      Roman Signal Station    

Village Hall

The Village Hall was built in 1890 by the Colman family when the reading room at the Anchor Cafe could no longer accommodate all the many lectures, evening classes, teas suppers and entertainments.

The Village Room was let to the village at a nominal rent until 1934 when Alan Colman handed it, along with the Bowling Green, to the Parish Council who agreed to act as Trustees.  Since then it has been administered by a management committee.

Post Office

The Bungalow Stores (as it was known) was built in 1932.  It was kept by Mrs Hilda Weaving as a general store selling cooked meats, vegetables and groceries. 

In 1945 Mrs Weaving sold the Stores to Mr Sidney Chambers who became the postmaster.  The bungalow's front room was made into the post office.  It was open from Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 6 pm except Tuesday which was early closing. 

Mr Chambers died in 1956 and Bill and Joan Simpson took over the Stores and Post Office which they ran until Mr Simpson's death in 1977.  Mrs Simpson then sold the Stores to Mr Mike Watson who ran it until 1980 when it was taken over by David and Heather Habbin.

When the Post Office closed in 2003 it was the end of an era.

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               Photograph of Corton Post Office

The Mill

The Mill was built in 1837 and continued to work until 1906/07.  It was sold by the Colman Estate in 1921 for £450, the machinery was removed and finally dismantled in 1922.  Since that time it has been completely renovated and is still one of Corton's prominent landmarks. 

 

The Original Mill

The Mill (looking south from Church Lane)

The Original Mill from the Pit

 

The White Horse

The original White Horse was situated in the old main street, north of Baker's Score. Between the years of 1844 and 1862 the old building was abandoned and the new inn built at its present site.  Previous landlords include

1890s - 1920s     Mrs Elizabeth Smith

1920s -1930s     Fred Pye

1940s                William Dunn

1940s                   Donald Sandford

1950s                   Mr and Mrs Reece

1958 - 1968         Mr and Mrs Bullent

                   Mr and Mrs Hilland

 1990s         Mr and Mrs John Worrall

 Present       Mr Andrew Brighty

 

 
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The Hut

The Hut was built in 1924 with the first licensee being Mrs George.  By 1929 the hotel was owned by Charles Stokes followed by Mrs R Cribbens in the 1930s.  During and after the war the proprietors were Mr and Mrs Victor Jones who also owned the land behind it to the cliff edge.  Warners brought The Hut from Mr and Mrs Jones in 1956 and installed managers, Mr and Mrs Wilcox.  They had previously kept the Great Eastern Hotel in Lowestoft and Mr Wilcox was a former professional footballer.  Mr Williams was the next manager after the Jones' and he also managed the holiday camp.

In 1984 the house which stood next to the Hut (The Manse) was demolished followed by the garage being demolished four years later.  There has been considerable changes to the Hut since 1990.  A large function room has been added and the interior has been altered several times with new bars, restaurants and satellite television                                                                                                                     

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The Pit

The site was awarded to the Surveyor of Highways in the 1813 Enclosure and the gravel from the pit subsequently dug was used to maintain the local roads. By the end of the 19th Century it had reverted to a sort of public open space known as the Town Pit or Cockles Pit.  Jeremiah Colman provided children's swings and roundabouts for the area.  By 1911 the village was beginning to use the Pit as a refuse dump and the Parish Council complained about the plaque of rats emanating from it.  By the early 1960s the dumping of rubbish had totally spoiled the Pit which was now overgrown and it was infilled with more rubbish topped with soil.  The site was allowed to settle and levelled off in 1984.  The area was then grassed and turned into a children's play area.                                                                                                 

The Pit as it is today

                                      
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War Memorial

A plaque commemorating Corton men who died during World War 1 and World War II was fixed to the village sign and unveiled in a special ceremony on 9th September 2001.   This was the idea of Mr Harry Blowers  who organised most of the arrangements including fund raising.  The Roll of Honour website shows details of the men listed on the memorial. 

A second plaque was installed on 9th June 2002 commemorating Lt Cdr Roy Edwards DSO RN and Ensign John Howard USNR who were killed whilst defusing a booby trapped mine on Corton beach in 1942

A service is held every Remembrance Sunday around the memorial, or if wet, inside the village hall.

                                                                                                           

Mr Blowers at the memorial

Roman Signal Station

In 1814, a Roman Signal Station was discovered at Corton in an area which has now been lost to the sea.  The Signal Station inspired the design for the Village Sign which was erected in 1977 and now stands outside the Village Hall in The Street.

  

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More Links to information about Corton:
   Genuki     Roll of Honour