Memories of Stoke Ash

Local historian, Dennis Cross from Diss, shares with us his fascinating collection of old postcards, focusing on a different village in every issue. This time, we take a walk down memory lane in Stoke Ash.

 The Baptist Chapel on Chapel Lane in 1920. Records shows that this handsome building dates back to the 1800s.  The interior of the Baptist Chapel, c1910. Gas lamps were used to light the building. Rev Abner Morling lived in the village manse on Chapel Lane. Today, it has been restored to retain the decorative carpentry, wall and pulpit.

 Shown here in the 1930s, Stoke Ash Parish Church is All Saints, and flint, with dressings in the Norman and Perpendicular styles, and a tower containing four bells. The rector at this time was the Rev Frederick Perkins, who lived in the rectory.  Stoke Ash Post Mill, in Mill Lane, c1920. It dates back to the early 1800s and was working until the late 1930s. Local vandals burned it down in 1959.

 The village Post Office in the 1930s. It was run by Henry Lummis, who also ran the Village Stores alongside. Today, the Post Office is a private house. The population at this time was 248.