Litcham
Litcham is mentioned in the Doomsday Book under the name Licham, Lecham or Leccham as 'a Market Town in the centre of Norfolk'. Other known spellings are Lucham, Lycham, Luychesham to mention but a few.
Edward I granted Litcham the right to hold a weekly market, but it did not thrive and had ceased by 1836. However it has left its mark on the layout of Litcham and is probably the reason why Church Street widens out so dramatically just below All Saints Church.
In Elizabethan times the village was the centre of the local tanning industry. The Collinson and Hallcott families made considerable fortunes and became country squires. The Hallcotts were local benefactors, building almshouses and paying for a church bell. Matthew Hallcott is shown on the village sign with his tanning equipment.
In 1831 its population reached 771, more than a third of these were agricultural workers.
In 1977 it was designated a conservation village and boasts eleven listed buildings plus a church and priory that date back to the 12th century. The village sits astride a major crossroads of country lanes, the most important of which is the B1145 which stretches between King's Lynn and Norwich and was once the King's Lynn – Norwich – Great Yarmouth stagecoach route. Horses would have been changed at the 17th-century Inn, which also served as the local law court until the late 18th century. On the green in front of the Inn there once stood a row of old cottages and a chapel, which were demolished in 1968. The route out of the village on the B1145 towards Mileham passes 'Fourways', a toll house until 1912 and now home to the village museum run by the Litcham Historical Society.
A Bronze Age burial mound or tumulus was discovered on the common and Roman settlements and roads have been found just outside the village. An extensive collection of coinage and artefacts is housed in the museum.
Litcham Common
Litcham Common is situated to the south of the village on the "Nar Valley Way",
a long distance footpath, which runs from Dereham to King's Lynn and offers a variety of scenery along the country lanes and tracks.
Norfolk County Council declared Litcham Common a Local Nature Reserve in 1984,
with the agreement of Lexham Hall Estate that owns the freehold of the common. Bylaws were established, and a Management Committee was set up to look after the new reserve. The common consists of 60 acres (28 hectares) of mixed woodland and lowland heath.
In the west the land can become quite boggy along its border with the river Nar. Visitors can stroll through secondary oak and birch woodland and across open grassy heathland dominated by purple moor-grass, with clumps of common heather, bell heather cross leaved heath and heath bedstraw. The grassland species include harebell, sweet vernal grass and crested dog's tail.
In June 2008 fencing was erected and Dartmoor ponies now graze the Common. Please DO NOT feed them as they are wild ponies.
During the Summer several species of butterfly can be seen, while bird species include greater and lesser spotted woodpeckers, cuckoos, barn owls and woodcock. Recently large birds of prey have also been seen in the area.
Adders
Adders favour heathlands and open woodland, so Litcham Common provides their ideal habitat. The snakes emerge from hibernation to mate once the temperature rises above 9°C which usually happens sometime in March.
Adders are a protected species and Britain's only poisonous snake but they will not actively seek to bite a person and bites in this country are rare, they usually occur while this very agile snake is being handled. So leave them alone! No-one has died from an adder bite in Britain for thirty years. However, in the unlikely event you are bitten then do not try to suck the poison out of the wound, keep the affected limb as high as possible and seek immediate medical attention.
Can be muddy
Thank you to Mr N Foster and Lexham Hall Estate for permission to place these caches.