About us
44A (The Old Washhouse) is the home of Brian and Teri Watkin. We moved into this house in 2013, coming from Sheffield and we have been delighted to have made it our home.
When we first viewed the house the idea of using it for a B & B came to mind and we hope that, if you choose to stay with us, you will find that your stay brings you as much pleasure as we have received from our short time living here.
The Old Washhouse is a friendly, family run Bed & Breakfast offering attractive, comfortable accommodation and delicious home cooked breakfasts to set you up for your day ahead exploring the beautiful North Norfolk countryside with all that it has to offer. We aim to provide a relaxed atmosphere.
The bungalow was built in 1951 in the grounds of the “Big house” which was the old rectory. The walled garden of the big house is now the village bowling green and that is the boundary of our garden. On the corner of the walled garden was built the Old Washhouse which gives us the the name for the b&b. It originally had an entrance via the walled garden and another into the general garden. When we moved into the house this was a tumble down building . It still had the plumbing for the hand pump attached to the well just outside the building but it lacked a few vital bits like a roof and other incidentals. Over the years it had been converted to a coal house, workshop and garden shed. This has now been gutted and rebuilt and is used by Teri as a studio both for art and to meet her clients. The house has been extended, upgraded and generally changed over the years so that we now have it pretty much the way that we want it. The house was previously called “The Rowans”, but when we moved in there wasn’t a Rowan tree to be seen which is why we changed the name.
The garden is a very pleasant place to sit with a glass of something on a summers evening. It’s a work in progress, as are most gardens, due to the fact that Teri has a tendency to decide that plants need to move and sometimes whole beds need to relocate! However please feel free to enjoy it. Glasses are in the dresser in the breakfast room. The “something” that goes in them is down to you.
The village dates back to the 1600’s and in it’s time has had varying fortunes. In the first half of the 1900’s there were 4 shops and a couple of pubs in the village and a company who made and repaired farm equipment. This company has now gone and Foundry close is built where it used to be. There is now a business selling and servicing tractors and farm equipment and unfortunately no shops or pubs although we do have a bar / restaurant in the village, recently refurbished and renamed the Sculthorpe Aviator, serving bar snacks and drinks plus lunches and evening meals in the restaurant.
If you are interested in the history of the village we have a copy of “the Book of Sculthorpe” which you are very welcome to borrow whilst staying with us or just grab us for a chat.
