Fens and family
Here you can find stories and photographs about the history, places and families around Upwell parish in the fens of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. These pages include links to my family history of Brighton, Burton, , Carnson, Copeman, Mott, Watson and many other families that came from that area – it includes Welsh, Australian, Irish, US and Canadian cousins.
If you are looking for something specific, try the search box. If you pick a tag, this will list everything that has that keyword. Otherwise, please click on the the site map at the top of the page to find a list of articles.
One of my main reasons for putting this site together was to share many of the stories and photographs that people have given me, rather than have them mouldering in a cupboard! I will also be adding links to anything I find useful for finding more information.
Feel free to add any comments, or any stories about the area, in the comments boxes. Please enjoy; I would love to hear from you.
I started building my first website after my Mum Audrey Carnson and her friend Rita Cuss organised four talks and a display on the local history of Three Holes. This was for a Millennium Year 2000 project for the local Acorn Club. In a rash moment, I volunteered to write it up (I imagined a page or two) if someone felt like taking notes. Somehow, this was translated as: “Anne is writing a book on Three Holes.”
The idea spread, and documents, photographs and amazing historical bits and pieces appeared for what turned out to be an event called Three Holes: portrait of a village. Over 100 people visited the displays in the afternoon and the same number in the evening. The Fens list on the internet brought in family historians from Wales, California and Australia. The couple of pages I was expecting turned out to be several large boxes, including tapes of the talks.
The village has no architecturally important buildings, no church, graveyard, village square or cinema. It has a bridge and a weed-infested dyke – all that remains of the Old Croft River – the original drainage channel through the swamp and a lively community with a strong feeling for the land. The number of households on the electoral role in 1999 was 81.
These pages now include links to our family history as well as families that came from that area – it includes Welsh, Australian, Irish, US and Canadian cousins, with more appearing daily!
Religious houses and ghosts of Upwell
According to a newspaper article in the Wisbech Standard, 7 Nov. 1980, Upwell used to have three religious houses. One was Meremound Priory where Marmont Priory Farm is now. The farm dates from the 18th century, but is said to still have signs of a small Gilbertine community founded in 1189/99. St Christopher’s Hermitage was…
Upwell and Outwell pubs
The area seems always to have had a huge number of pubs, although there are fewer now, and they are used as houses or shut or falling down. Pigot’s Directory of Cambridgeshire Index of Inns & Hotels, Taverns and Public Houses of 1839 lists the following landlords: Upwell: The Black Bull: James May The Black…
Audrey Watson goes to school
Mum remembers: moving to Three Holes “We moved to the house at the top of Mumby’s Drove, Three Holes, when I was 3 or 4. This was a step up for us as Mum and Dad were buying the property and when I look back I find it hard to believe they were able to…
Audrey Carnson remembers
My mum, Audrey Carnson wrote what she remembered of her childhood in Upwell. She was born Audrey Evelyn Watson on 2 Mar 1929 and died on 7 Jul 2004 in Kings Lynn. The 1930s When Anne first asked me to remember my early years and childhood, I had no idea that I was embarking on…
Timeline of fen history
The area around Three Holes and Upwell used to be a swamp, and would have looked a lot like Wicken Fen, near Soham in Cambridgeshire does today. Local people traveled on boats and fished for eels. They did not want the fens drained, as they would lose their fishing and trapping livelihood. The earliest reports…