ROW FIFTY
THREE ‑ BANK PAVED ROW*1
TURNER'S ROW*1
Turner's Bank
Row*2
Bank Paved
Row*2
Hall Quay
This row runs from
the Quay to Howard Street:
At the north‑west
corner*1 was a house similar to the Duke's Head, with a cut‑flint front. It was in the 18th Century the property
of John Gillam, and was purchased in 1807 for use as a Gentleman's Club. The old
front was then removed (what on earth for?)
and a new one of white brick built, and brought out close to the
pavement. For many years it was called
"The Coffee Rooms", but apparently no coffee was ever drunk
there! There is a drawing we are told of the original house by Winter, and the
house had an Elizabethan window with sixteen lights. Subsequently the
house became the subscription rooms which had 90 members elected by ballot, but
the numbers fell off, and the club was dissolved in 1840. From then until 1871, the site was occupied by the
Government as a Post‑Office.
To the north-east of
row 53 stood the Corn Hall, used more
recently as an auction room that was to be demolished in 1971‑ a
particularly bad time for Yarmouth. No‑one could condone this I feel,
since then the site remained vacant
until some three years ago when it officially was leased by the National Car
Parks, a very large firm, started in the sixties by some ex‑RAF para's,
who have done extremely well, although the firm was recently accused of
industrial espionage. TheCorn Hall had an attractive front as seen in the
photograph. It surely cannot have been more
profitable as a vacant
site, but no doubt greed
and the bureaucratic process had
led to this state of affairs.
Looking out to Hall
Quay.
At the south‑west
corner, fronting the Quay, and extending to Row 55, was Gurney's Bank, erected
in 1854 from a drawing by Salvin, then and remaining, one of the most
attractive and imposing buildings in the town,
sited directly opposite the bridge. The bank has become Barclay's Bank.
In the 17th. Century the house had been
an Elizabethan one, depicted on Corbridge's map. It had a large porch with
a room over it, and was enclosed by
high wooden palisades. Early in the
18th. century it was in the possession of Joshuah Smith, who was
said to have raised a great estate by the export of malt to Holland, and in
1722 purchased the Lordship of Thrigby
from Robert Castell, and had a grant of arms in 1722 depicting three handfuls of barley, each with five
ears, as many bees, and an eagle with a
crown. The house was pulled down
later in the same century, and another
more stately one erected by Thomas
Adkin, a man of property, and in the commission of the peace for Norfolk.
Thrigby Hall was purchased in 1977 from the Rose
family, and then 1977 converted into
a wildlife park, and the house to a tea room. This was not too
imposing. The Rose family owned he franchise for "Kentucky Fried
Chicken, with shops in Yarmouth, Gorleston and Peterborough. The Peterborough
shop in particular has done
exceedingly well. The Yarmouth shop has certainly been most successful. The whole franchise was sold two years ago
for a very handsome sum reputed to be
several millions. John Rose is sometimes to be seen on the Gorleston Golf links riding an electric golf cart, but
his greater love in recent years has been to dive in seas all over the world
for sunken treasure from ancient
ship wrecks. This has been most successful in retrieving
silver bullion and old cannon amongst other treasures. He has some cannon
displayed outside his house on Marine Parade Gorleston. His Brother Barry was
running a profitable travel
business in the Gorleston
High Street, but unfortunately this became insolvent in the
recent depression. John Rose is in 1992 converting the old
"Sandpiper" restaurant on Marine Parade into a very unusual themed
restaurant and diving museum, at
very great expense. It is to be hoped
that this will prove a great new attraction to the tourists.
The History of
Barclays Bank is related in full detail in a large work by P.W. Matthews and A.W. Tuke. On page 140 is a description of Gurney's
Yarmouth Bank. Dawson Turner was a
partner in 1774. Inglis
Palgrave was latterly a director prior to the takeover by Barclays. The
Bank house was last lived in as a residence by Henry Edmond Buxton ( until
1905). The Bank became Barclays and Co. in 1896. Palmer says that Gurney's Bank had been first established in Norwich as one of the first in the
Kingdom. The branch at Yarmouth was started in a house opposite the crane on the Quay. (No. 24 S. Quay) For a detailed account of the Turner family
of Yarmouth see Palmer's
Perlustration, vol. I, p. 308.
At the south‑east
corner of Row 53 was a flint built house, no. 58, having some
ornamental ironwork on the front.
Here now is David Ferrow's bookshop, a well established antiquarian bookshop where I have purchased many items
of great interest over the years including a copy of Palmer's work, a signed
copy of Frederick Danby Palmer's Yarmouth
Notes, and Ernest Cooper's copy
of Swinden's Book amongst others of especial note. David Ferrow's
Establishment is this year (1992) celebrating it's 30th anniversary. The building has been rebuilt
since Palmer's time and although
handsome and imposing, is clearly no longer the flint built house that Palmer
saw there. The present bank of Barclays at the south‑west corner was
built in 1854‑ the same year as
the bridge opposite, from Salvin's
design. The shop adjoining
to the south is by the same
architect.*2 The celebrated Dawson
Turner MA FRS FSA FLS., 1775‑1858,
was resident partner here and made his wonderful and valuable collection of literature, autographs and manuscripts, and Norfolk topographical works.
Row 53 was not
mentioned in the 1936 survey.
The Occupants,
Row Fifty Three, 1886
( from Hall Quay to Howard Street South)
Daviss, W., cab
proprietor
Petterson,
Mrs.H.
Church, Mrs.
The Occupants,
Row Fifty Three, 1913
( from Hall Quay to Howard Street South)
1. Petterson,
Mrs.
The Occupants,
Row Fifty Three, 1886
( from Hall Quay to Howard Street South)
1. Moore,
Arthur
The Occupants,
Row Fifty Three, 1936
( from Hall Quay to 77 Howard Street South)
No occupants
listed