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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. |
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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. |
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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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to top 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 |