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Horning riverfront and windmill photographed by George Christopher Davies in the1870s. The mill was demolished in 1879.

Looking upstream, towards Swan Corner at Horning c1890s. The building nearest the river, on the left, is the old flour mill which stands roughly where the Southern Comfort now moors. Opposite, is the original Swan Inn which was replaced by the current Swan Hotel in 1897.  The old Swan Inn was built in the 17th century, apparently using stone and rubble from St. Benets Abbey. Many fine stone carvings from the abbey were found when the Inn was demolished. The buildings in the foreground were the village Malthouse.

Another view of Horning c1890 showing the flour mill, the old Swan Inn and the Malthouse.

The Lock and lock keepers cottage at Coltishall c1890s. The lock was destroyed in the 1912 floods as water surged down the Bure.

Another photograph of Horning from the 1890s, this time looking downstream along the river front.

The following collection of images were taken by the photographer John Payne Jennings c1890.  In the mid 1880s, Payne Jennings was commissioned by the Great Eastern Railway Company to produce a series of photographs which were displayed on the carriage walls of their trains to promote rail travel to the Broadland area. In 1891 he published a set of 101 photographs of Broadland in a book entitled “Sun Pictures Of The Norfolk Broads”, printed by his own company in Ashtead, Surrey . The following selection are taken from that book. His images captured  picturesque scenes of the rivers and villages and helped to attract many holidaymakers to the area. The book was republished in the following year with the addition of descriptive text by the author Ernest Suffling who was already known for his “Land Of The Broads” tourist guide, the first edition of which had been published in 1885.  In 1897 Payne Jennings published a smaller collection of photographs of Broadland in the book “ Photo Pictures Of East Anglia”, and also produced photographs for other rail companies between the 1880s and early 1900s. Born in 1843, and having lived in both Dublin and London during his life, he moved to Ashtead in Surrey c1890 and lived there until his death in 1926.

The Church of St. Peter at Belaugh. In his accompanying text, Ernest Suffling said of the church; “It is commandingly on an eminence overhanging the Bure which is hereabouts very pretty. The river between Wroxham and Belaugh winds three parts of a circle, so that one if pulling in a dingy, is often led to wonder if he will ever reach the church, which by river is no less than four miles. The vicarage garden is in summer a very pretty sight, as it skirts the river for some distance.”

This view of Wroxham and Hoveton shows a very different scene to that which we know today. Photographed from what is now part of the Broads Tours yard and looking across to where the Hotel Wroxham now stands, the area was somewhat more industrial than it is today. This dyke became part of John Loynes yard in the 1880s when he moved his boat building and boat hire business from Norwich. Over the following 30 years, the area changed dramatically as boatyards including The Norfolk Broads Yachting Company, Robert Collins and subsequently his sons Ernest and Alfred, George Press and Jack Powles sprang up along the riverside as the interest in boating holidays on the Broads boomed. In Sun Pictures Of The Norfolk Broads, Suffling noted; “This is the favourite embarking and disembarking place for yachtsmen who make Wroxham their head-quarters, and it is no uncommon sight to see 30 or 40 yachts moored here at one time. As the village boasts of a butcher’s and two general shops, it is a good place to revictual or replenish failing stores when yachting.”

Another view of Wroxham Bridge. Suffling continued; “This bridge is the Ultima Thule of most yachts, as after passing Wroxham village the river rapidly narrows, and gets shallow also, but what it lacks in breadth it gains in beauty, and the next seven miles, to the pretty village of Coltishall, is exceptionally picturesque. No vessel drawing more than three feet of water should attempt to make the trip above bridge, or they will assuredly touch bottom in places and possibly cause a lot of trouble before the voyageurs can regain deep water. Beware of the sails and gear against the overhanging branches of the trees, which in many places grow quite at the water’s edge.”

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John Payne Jennings