Dersingham Timeline Table

500000 to 40001 BC	A Palaeolithic flint object (possibly a hand axe) was found by a local schoolboy on a road somewhere in Dersingham. For a time this find was in the Dersingham School Museum, although its present whereabouts are unknown. (NHER 1564)
1086	Dersingham then Dersincham meaning a homestead of the family or followers of a man called Deorsige.
1091	Peter de Valognes, Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire, Lord of Orford was granted 20 manors including Dersingham.
1154	There was a small lordship called Snaring Hall off Shernborne Road.
1166	Robert de Valognes was granted the Prior of Binham, the Rectory of Dersingham with 80 acres of land with the tithe of all his Manor there.
1216	The family of Brokedish were lords of Brook Hall or Old Hal
1229	First known documentary evidence that a church existed before our present buliding.
1247	Richard le Butler had custody of lands here belonging to Stephen de Brokedish (Brook Hall)
1264	Sir Thomas de Gelham who held Gelham Manor under Valognes, was granted permission to build a Chantry chapel in Dersingham churchyard and to have his own chaplain.
1272	John de Gelham was Knighted
1306	Robert de Eggefeld appointed Vicar of Dersingham
1316	John de Gelham was made Lord of the Manor.
1320	The main parts of the St Nicholas were built adding to the Norman nave and and Chancel.
1338	Fishing protection granted to Martin and Adam Scott to fish in the port of Dersyngham.
1350	William de Gelham died in the reign of Edward III and seems to have been the last of that family. The estate was divided amongst family.
1370	Many improvement changes made to the Church and this continued into the 15th century.
1497	Thomas Zarley, probably the priest attached to the Chantry, by his will, wished to be buried in the chapel and left bequests for the benefit of St Nicholas. These bequests were confiscated by Henry VIII and the chapel of St Mary which stood SE of the church fell into ruin.
1516	Owner of Brook Hall, Sir William Capel, Lord Mayor of London died 8th November.
1524	Thirty two principal people in the village were listed for tax purposes.
1541	Sir Giles Capel conveyed Brook Hall to John Pell.
1542	The Advowson of the vicarage was transferred to Sir Thomas Paston
1544	John Pell bought lands in Dersingham including Brook Hall, settled in Norfolk shipping English wool to the Lowlands.
1546	The advowsen of the vicarage was tranferred to Robert Read, Gent
1553	John Pell builds a fine new house behind the church by the present Health Centre. Moated house in the pastures abandoned.
1557	The Rectory was granted to the See of Norwich and was farmed by Thomas Rede.
1560	John Pell (Benefactor) who lived at Dersingham Hall became Mayor of Lynn.
1561	Silver Chalice donated to the church with the inscription, "The Tovenshyp of Dasyngham"
1565	Records indicate a strong maritime interest in Dersingham, "There is pertayning to Dersingham one shippe caryeng coirne Northwarde and recayeng cols, as is afforesayd, whereofthe owners are John Bery and William Nevet"; also "one shippe called the William of the burden of xxx tonne"; " There are 3 maryners, 2 ffyshermen".
1571	John Pell with Thomas Grave were chosen to represent Lynn in Parliament.
1575	Advowson of the vicarage was transferred to Jeffrey Cobb.
1597	The Wardens reported "William Simpson for victuallinge in service tyme upon Sundays and holidays."
1600	Six sons on John Pell cared for and increased the manors at Dersingham, shipping wool from King's Lynn and their own port at Wolferton.
1601	The Pells had six ships named after John Pells six sons.
1606	The Wardens reported the Vicar, Henry Mayster, for preaching only once a quarter.
1606	Edgars was reported for "suffering them drunke and disorderly in his house"; either the 'Coach and Horses' or the 'Dun Cow'
1607	A flood is reported. The Creek leading to the sea is clearly shown on an old map by Saxton.
1608	Henry Beckham licensed "to teach grammar in Diocese".
1630	A bell bearing the inscription "Joh Draper made by me in 1630" was probably raised and secured in the Tower. Church Wardens in trouble because their, "great bell is rikody".
1636	Brass shield and brass inscription (Pell family) placed in west end of the north aisle.
1638	Silver plate bearing the name Katherine Pell was donated.
1641	Rev Noke buried in the chancel, the first of three past vicars of Dersingham at rest inside the church.
1650	Tidal water began to recede from the village.
1653	The oldest register dated 1653 told "conteyneth a true and pfect Register of all Publications, Births ... and Burialls ... within the parish of Dersingham". In the same year the vicar Henry Scrimger died and the church was without a permanent incumbent until William Houghton began to preach in August 1659.
1655	Reported that a certain Mr Stephens "sypplyeth the cure" whilst the church had no vicar.
1656	Vicarage noted, "as a small studded clay-house standing in the churchyard". Mr John Pell had it pulled down "because he objected to this ruin outside his front gate". This was possibly what is now the entrance to the Church Hall grounds.
1658/59	There were ten marriages taken by various priests prior to the arrival of a new vicar in 1659.
1660	Godfrey Dorr, who lived at Dersingham Hall, wrote at the time of the Restoration of the Monarch in Britain that he did not think there was anything belonging to the church that was worth removing to another church as many things of value were lost during the Commonwealth period.
1667	Dersingham, Mill Road post mill built
1671	West Hall Manor House built.
1671	Tithe Barn built by the West Gate and it is still in use.
1671	The Great Flood occured during the night of 12th September. John Chamberlaine desired that the 29th Psalm, verse 3 should be sung on this date every year.
1678	Assessment of Dersingham households determines that 73 are graded to pay Hearth Tax
1690	Poll tax introduced to halp pay for the French and Irish wars raised £21 from 173 villagers.
1721	Sir Robert Walpole, Norfolk squire inherited Pell Dersingham manors. The Pell name was now extinct in Norfolk
1726	Vicarage had fallen into disrepair, vicar Thomas Gill secured a faculty from the Bishop exonorating him or his successors from the cost of rebuilding the vicarage.
1732	Elizabeth Pell bequeathed money to purchase land; produce from it to be given to the poor in bread and coals.
1735	Another flood at Dersingham on 16th February.
c1745	Communicants for the Sacrament were between 15 and 30. There were about 66 houses in the parish, about 30 were pulled down possibly because of the small-pox epidemic.
1779	Dersingham Inclosure Act - The vicarage tithes were commuted for land; 160 acres and 457 acres enclosed in a ring fence for the use of the parish.
1798	The little spire on the tower was demolished.
1801	Dersingham's population now 457; 211 males and 246 females.
1803	Dersingham Heath was the haunt of the Great Bustard; a flock of eleven were seen near Sandringham.
1807	30 Dersingham men were liable to be enlisted for service in the Napoleonic wars.
1808	Windmill on the site of the present Hill House Sugar Lane blown down in a gale.
1811	Turnpike Road extended from Kings Lynn to The Dun Cow. There was not a toll house here as the Act of 1811 stated that no Tollgate should be erected or any toll collected on the road from Babingley Lane to The Dun Cow.
1829	St Nicholas had the lead stripped off the whole roof and was replaced with slates and a cost of £445; the sale of lead remaining fetched £175.
1841	Dersingham's population was 676
1845	John Bellamy and the Marques of Cholmondley are lords of the manors of West Hall, Pakenham, Gelham, Shouldham Priory and Brook Hall
1845	William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1845 published - Dersingham
1850	New Connexion Chapel, Dersingham, between the Feathers Hotel and the Coach and Horses pub, now a house in Manor Road, Wesleyan Methodist founded 1850 closed before 1913.
1854	The parish contained 165 houses and 812 souls
1857	Annual Inclosure Act including Dersingham
1862	Dersingham Station opened for first service on Kings Lynn to Hunstanton railway.
1870	Population 822 (John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales)
1875	Land gifted by the Prince of Wales for a school on the corner of Dodd's Hill for Religious and Secular Education under the management and control of the Vicar and Churchwardens of the Parish of Dersingham.
1877	Vicarage built
1878	Bethel Primitive Methodist Chapel, Chapel Road, opened; it closed in 1962
1881	Population 1014
1883	Kelly's Directory for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk, 1883, p.292. published - Dersingham
1887	White’s Directory 1890 records that in 1887 the church was relit with four handsome brass coronas. The date of 1897 in the Dersingham Chronicle must be incorrect. They were probably removed when acetelyne gas lights were installed in 1903 and checked as all present when an inventory was taken in 1992. But now (October 2018) only one can be found and that has has been restored and can be sen hanging in the Village Centre.
1891	Population 1186. Census surname list - Dersingham
1891	Chapel [now Wesleyan Methodist Church], Dersingham, Post Office Road, opened and continues [2017]
1891	The school was enlarged at a cost of £240
1893	Forester's Hall erected on the site in Manor Road given by the Prince of Wales. Opened by H.R.H. the Duke of York, December 11th, 1893
1901	Population 1316
1902	Church tower chime clock erected for the coronation of Edward VII. Officially started by the Prince of Wales 22nd December
1903	Wrought iron brackets fitted to columns to carry acetelylene gas lights at a cost of £165.
1904	School enlarged to hold 326 children
1907	Dersingham, Mill Road post mill demolished.
1911	Church Hall built on land given by King George V
1911	"Pageant of the Crown" performed by over 100 village children in the vicarage gardens. The theme emphasised the fact that the power behind the Crown is Christian religion.
1912	Working Men's Club opened on land given by George V. It is opposite Supermarket
1916	September Zeppelin drops bombs on village. Badly damages cottage in Doddshill. Resident dies from her injuries.
1917	Vicar reported "church now getting back to good shape following carelessness and neglect that reduced to a cold barn-like structure".
1919	The King signified his intention of presenting land in Dersingham adjacent to the Church Hall for use as a bowling green for the whole of the village, free from secretarial and sectional control.
1920	Bowling club members raised £20 for the laying of a new green.
1920	The War Memorial was dedicated in April.
1921	2 February 1921 The Duke of York unveiled at the Foresters Hall a War Memorial to the Members of the Court Motteux of the Ancient Order of Foresters who fell in the war.
1923	Dersingham Cottage Garden, Allotment and Smallholders Co-operative Society Limited (Reg. No. 8,160 R. Norfolk), held at Foresters Hall, Dersingham, ceased 28th November, 1923. [The London Gazette].
1925	A memorial chapel altar was erected to the fallen.
1929	Territorial Hall opened at the bottom of Doddshill at cost of £5000
1934	Electricity installed in the church
1936	King George V offered an acre of land to extend the churchyard, also carrstone to build a wall.
1938	H.M. gave land and money for a new school building, St George's
1940	Newly built St. George's School taken over by the military. Newfoundland troops billeted in the village at Dersingham Hall and Territorial Hall.
1946-51	Second Geodetic Levelling, England & Wales - Dersingham Flush Bracket OSBM G1257, 2 Manor Road, levelled with a height of 29.2900 feet [8.9276 metres] above mean sea level - refer for more here http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=70582341&page=1
1947	St. George's School opens
1951	Population 1732
1953	East Coast floods. Water reaches Dersingham Station.
1961	Population 2026
1967	Duke of Edinburgh opened the new sports pavilion.
1969	May. Dersingham Station closes after final train journey from Kings Lynn to Hunstanton
1971	Population 2597
1975	The headmaster reported that 170 children in the 7-11 age group now attended Junior Scool.
1976	Old vicarage building sold and a new one built in its grounds.
1977	Tithe barn renovated for use as a store by Norfolk County Council
1981	The Albert Victor pub closed for good on 26 October 1981.
1984	Buried treasure of a silver cup and 129 coins found on Old Hall site by a digger driver
1985	First new doctor's surgery opened.
1990	A149 Dersingham by-pass road built.
1991	St Celia's Roman Catholic Church, Dersingham, Mountbatten Road, opened 1991
1991	Church tower and clock restored.
1993	The Dun Cow pub ceased trading in September. Budgen supermarket was later built; this was taken over by the Coopertive Food chain in 2016.
2009	In February the Carole Brown Health Centre was open by HM Queen Elizabeth.
2009	The War Memorial was restored by public subscription and funding from the Dersingham and King's Lynn Borough Council. It was rededicated on May 9 2009.