Development
The village owes its origin to the meeting place of traders, farmers, huntsmen, robbers and pedlars. The name ‘Folkingham’ (or ‘Falkingham’, as the village was originally known) comes from the doomsday book being Folchingeham and is said to derive from the word Folch or Falx meaning a sickle.
The village lies on the A15 road. Within the village you'll find several historical buildings such as the House of Corrections. In the early 19th Century, Folkingham was part of Quarter Sessions, the higher court that dispensed justice for the area, which is why the House of Correction, or prison, was built. The present building dates back to 1808 and replaced an earlier one that stood in the village Market Place, and consists of the original 19th century gateway and governor's house.
It was taken over in recent years by the Landmark Trust. They transferred the House of Correction into a luxury holiday home with almost an acre of land that has become a desired stopping place with visitors.
Today the local economy is still mainly rurally-based, revolving around agriculture, but there are also important tourism activities such as the several public footpaths that pass through.
The Project
Taylor Developments has created a scheme to provide 10 luxury apartments incorporating and respecting the period features.
A major feature of the scheme is that there will be no change to the appearance of the main front elevation of the building which dominates the market square. The only visible works will be the repair of the Collyweston slate roof, the sash windows, the removal of the word ‘inn’ from the façade lettering, the removal of the pub sign and the very gentle cleaning of the stonework. All of these works will enhance the external appearance of the building.
The only other alterations to the building are extremely minor. Internally, great care has been taken to retain the key rooms without subdivision and to repair and retain features such as fireplaces, cornices, dados, historic staircases, window shutters and other features. Similar care has been taken to ensure that doors (of architectural interest) can be retained unaltered, or moved to less sensitive locations within the building.
Below you will see a collection of photographs taken around Folkingham, showing the character of the site and the surrounding village. Click on a picture to enlarge it.
