Downham West

Coordinates: 52°36′09″N 0°20′26″E / 52.60242°N 0.34058°E / 52.60242; 0.34058
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Downham West
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDOWNHAM MARKET
Postcode districtPE38
Dialling code01366
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Norfolk
52°36′09″N 0°20′26″E / 52.60242°N 0.34058°E / 52.60242; 0.34058

Downham West is a

2001 census, has a population of 285, rising marginally to 286 at the Census 2011.[2] For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
.

Description

West Downham is a small Fenland parish in the west of the county of Norfolk. There is no village called West Downham within the parish, only a small hamlet which is called Salters Lode. The hamlet is strung out along the

Great Ouse river, and consist of a few isolated farms standing out in the Fen. The name of Downham comes from the Old English meaning 'homestead on a hill',[4] and West designation from the direction from nearby Downham Market
.

Salters Lode derives its name the Old English meaning 'place where salt is kept',[4] and 'watercourse or drainage channel'.

Salters Lode

The hamlet of Salters Lode is scattered around a lock at the end of the Well Creek navigation. Well Creek is part of the Middle-Level system and on the route that forms a navigation link between the river Nene and river Great Ouse.

History

During the period that the area was occupied by the Romans Salters Lode became an important part of the salt industry on the Fen edge. A Roman road called the Fen Causeway which ran through the Fens to Ermine Street at Peterborough, passed through the parish of Downham West on a strip of silt that rises above the level of the peat. With the proximity of this road, salt working became an important industry in this area and giving rise to the hamlet's name. In 1993 the Norfolk Archaeological Unit discovered the site of a Roman salt works in West Downham dating to the 3rd and the 4th centuries. The excavations revealed a series of enclosures, structures and turbaries along with a ditched Roman field system and what was once a Roman canal. The archaeologist also found Roman coins and pottery. This evidence has led to the conclusion that there had been Roman settlement and industrial activity of a substantial level in the area.

Salters Lode Lock

The lock is managed and owned by the

Denver complex which makes up the main gateway onto the Great Ouse navigation system from the tidal river. The Denver complex consists of a number of locks and sluices that are used for navigation access and management of water levels on the numerous waterways that characterise this part of The Fens
.

Salters Lode smockmill

The Ordnance Survey map of 1836

drainage mill built by Drainage Commissioners, but was converted into a corn mill around c.1850.[6] The mill had three pairs of stones which were driven by one pair of single-shuttered patent sails and one pair of common sails. The mill stood four-storeys high with the first being the base which was octagonal and constructed from brick. The main body of the mill was constructed of tarred vertical weatherboarding. At the top of the mill was a boat-shaped cap. There was no fantail and a tailpole with steps on each side was used to turn the mill into the wind. The mill ceased working in 1924[6] and was standing in a derelict state in 1949.[6]
Today there is no evidence of the mill to be seen.

References

  1. ISBN 0-319-23808-3
  2. ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  3. ISBN 978-1-84348-614-5
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-852758-9
  5. ^ Ordnance Survey. 1824-1836. Ordnance Survey First Edition 1 inch
  6. ^ a b c [1] Norfolkmills/Salters Lode Smockmill

External links

Media related to Downham West at Wikimedia Commons

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