Hempstead_Hall_watermill is one of the lost mills of Norfolk and has completely disappeared except for some traces of brickwork. However, it was once there in a place known as Smokers_Hole, a smugglers' haunt and the two semi-detached single storey cottages next to it were called Mill Cottages. Sadly, the cottages have also disappeared save for some low walls of brick and flintwork. Earlier maps show the cottages as Mill House, which was split into two cottages at a later date.

Smokers_Hole, according to local historian Jane Hales, referred to a depot or rendezvous used by smugglers in the process of moving their contraband inland as fast as possible. In William Newman's book of 1728, three buildings are shown on the site, one of which could well have been a barn.

Good Friday

Dear Mother
I hope you sometimes remember
The happy week we spent with you last September
We arranged to leave the street called Great Titchfield
For a short time, and pay you a visit at Edgefield
Jenny Harriet Jack and I left London that wondrous City
Strange mixture of wealth and objects of pity.
We travelled to Norwich by the Great Eastern Rail
Very fast travelling compared with the old Mail.
We arrived at Norwich met Sarah at the Station
But missing our carpet bag put us in a consternation
We went back at 9.P.M. to see if they had recovered it
And were gratified to find that at Wymondham they had discovered it.
We found a lodging comfortable and clean
Near the Market Place at a house kept by Mr. Dean
Harriet slept at Mrs. Bennetts who kept a dairy
And she was very kindly treated her with the children of Mary.
An ancient City is Norwich and famous for manufacture of shawl
From London Street Norwich to London St Pauls
We went to see the Castle a building of great antiquity
From castle Hill you have a good view of the City
In days of yore the Castle height
Was the scene of many a gallant fight
We saw the statue of Nelson non more famed in English History
He was born at Thorpe and fell at Trafalgar board the Victory.
I saw Mr.Wyndham start for Cromer with Coach and Team
Some think him mad others that he is very green
But mad or green a good coachman is Wyndham
And the Coach and Team was a credit to the proprietor Mr. Bingham.
We visited the Cathedral and took tea with Sarah on Sunday
And got ready to start the first thing on the Monday.
When Gent had got his goods safe carted
We mounted inside all very light hearted.
At Nine we started in the cart of the carrier
Determined in Norwich no longer to tarry here
An odd collection there was in that three-horse van
With Gent the driver he was such a noisy man
How he shouted come you back to anyone ahead
And we had many a laugh at the funny things he said
Jack sat in the front with the driver close together
On the other side was a man with lots of leather
The rest of us inside on boxes quite snug
To soften the seat I used a railway rug.
An odder lot together one very seldom sees
Bacon and boxes and parcels of groceries
There were three youngsters without any cares
Three men three women on the top were some chairs

When Gent delivered his parcels we had some fun
For we whipped up his horses and made him run.
A pleasant ride we had there were lots to be seen
The country around looked beautiful and green
Comfortable farm houses meadows dotted with cows
And fine Norfolk horses drawing the ploughs
Fruit trees and hawthorn and fields of clover
While old oaks and elms the road arched over
In the corn stubble we heard the report of the gun
The September shooting had just begun
Some with the gun acquire great fame
But those gentlemen were only shooting for game
Dividing Copstone from Saxthorpe as a clear running brook
I guess the horses were pleased when the water they took
We stopped at Saxthorpe Castle to have some ale
And to do justice to the Governors hospitality we did not fail
The Carrier had brought us eighteen miles from Norwich
So he took his horses in the stable to give them some forage
When the horses were sated for home we were bent
So we bade aunt farewell and away we went
Oh well I remember when set down by Gent
And Harriet and Jack for the cart were sent
The rest of us stopped with our luggage at the top of the lane
And the first to meet us came Emma and Jane
Next Father who gave us a welcome so warm and so hearty
I felt happy that I was one of the party
Then back came Jack the young monkey
Up in the cart whipping up the poor donkey
We soon arrived at the home of Farmer Bacon
If it is not a happy one I am much mistaken
We reached the cottage about half past three
And Jenny soon got us a nice cup of tea
Tis a neat little Cottage with a blue tiled roof
From hail rain and snow may it long be proof
We had got over the journey so quick and so well
And the joy of the meeting is more than I can tell
As soon as I entered I began to look round
There was something to eat I very soon found
When I saw the table how I opened my eyes
Hungry we were so we soon eat up the pies
For me it was surprise and delight
To see the stairs so clean and so white
The cool little dairy so neat and so trim
And the pans with new milk filled to the brim
We had the run of the garden which did me just suit
For apples were plentiful and they are my favourite fruit
Tis pleasant in the morning to hear the song of the lark
Or form a circle round the fire after dark
Father looked happy as opposite you he sat
And mother you looked contented and fat

Then Sarah the little one nursing the baby so good
She looked quite motherly as she gave it some food
Next Harriet making us laugh with her double share of clack
The Jane and Emma of course between them sat Jack
Then Jenny a dutiful daughter the same
Although at Church she had altered her name
With my beloved wife at my side
Down the stream of life I hope smoothly to glide
What happiness once more to visit childhood's home
When destined so far from you to roam
Tired I was so I retired to rest soon
Up the white stairs to my little bedroom
For remember the proverb, Early to bed early to rise
Makes a man healthy wealthy and wise
On Tuesday I was woke up at early morn
By the steam engine thrashing Mr. Stratten's corn
Mr. Stratten is a fine specimen of an English Yeoman
With an army like him we could thrash any foeman
We went into see it for an engine is always an attraction
I hope the produce turned out to Mr. S's satisfaction
In the afternoon we went to see Cousin Hutton
And we had some fun bringing home the mutton
Cousin made us tea and with good things spread the table
We were all very merry for they made us comfortable
On Wednesday we went to Holt over the Hill
The remembrance of it is with me still
When we looked back how Harriet and I halloed
As up the hill she with you followed
On our return we called at Alcock's had a warm by the fire
It wa so cold out of doors I was loath to retire
Corner of Holt Heath we found Wright waiting in the fog
To guide us to Smokers Hole without getting in a bog
Mrs. Wright made us tea and gave us some mead
I wish I had some just now I do indeed
Thursday Morning I went in the backhouse to see you churning
When Mrs. Williamson called I kept the machine turning
We went for a ramble across the Green and through the Wood
Where Jenny had passed many days of childhood
We sat down for a rest upon a stile
And I from my love won many a smile
We talked of the well known Norfolk so sad
Of the Children so good and the Uncle so bad
Who to get them their money wanted them assassinated
I cannot vouch for the truth but so it is stated
Two ruffians took them to a wood one slew the other then the children did forsake
He promised to return and bring each a slice of cake
But he never went back but left them to their fate and so
They died in the wood and were buried by Robins and Co.
Back to dinner we had Norfolk dumplings so nice
And for breakfast next Morn we each had a slice

After did we went to Church with its Chancel so quaint
Can you tell me Mother if it's dedicated to a saint
The interior looked pretty with the floral decoration
To Mrs Marcon and Sister it must have been a gratification
To Mr Marcon the Rector we all did look
As he read the prayers from the Good Book
The Sermon was preached by the Vicar of Briston
While the congregation with attention did listen
He said the bountiful harvest was a source of congratulation
And if we put faith in the Lord we should ne'er be forsaken
After Church I walked to the Green with Jenny and Sarah
Tis a pretty Village Green I have seldom seen fairer
There was a pond for the ducks and a school in the centre
With a small Gothic door for the children to enter
We had a gossip with some of the old folk
And gathered in the evening round the fire to have a joke
About Jimmy the fat boy eating till no more he could cram
For his Granny had helped him so plentifully to bread and jam
And Jack riding the donkey till he could ride no more
A(t) the absence of a saddle he had got rather sore
We all ran away from the supper table
To see Jenny milk the cow in the stable
On Friday I went to the Sea-side at Cley
Avery pleasant walk it was all the way
Tis refreshing to ramble on the sand
To any one fresh from Cockney land I bought home some starfish I found on the beach
But not a vessel was there to be seen as far as the eye could reach
On my return I overtook Father and Jack
He looked a young keeper with the rabbits on his back
When we reached home he talked as we sat round the fire
About going out shooting with Alcock and the Squire
His tongue ran on and he seemed so merry
The Squire he told us had given him some sherry
Jane and Jack went to Broughtons who kept the White Horse
For at supper we wanted some ale of course
As they came back they thought they saw a phantom
For in the middle of the road Harriet had put a lantern
After supper I thought to set you all wondering
But the sharp eyes of Emma baffled my conjuring
Too soon came the time to return so we departed
One and all great and small very down hearted
We bade adieu to Norfolk famous for turkeys and punch
Meat and drink fit for a Prince for dinner and lunch
With sincere thanks to all friends for their kind hospitality
So agreeable because it was devoid of formality
I never enjoyed a trip in my life
As the one down home with my dear wife
For a trip down home if we have fine weather
Is a jolly sort of thing when we be all together
I finish by telling you we are all well in London
And with our united loves I remain your
Affectionate Son John

Jenny has just reminded me to say
We wish you many happy returns of the day

My mother mentioned I did not list Sarah and James' other children; Henry James born 1899, Arthur Clifford born 1904, Alfred William born 1907, William born 1909. I think William was the 'lovely little boy' my grandmother used to speak of who died as an infant. There seems to be a Florence Edith born 1910 and I'm wondering if the same thing happened with her as we had never heard of my grandmother having any full sisters.
Andrea Cooke - 23rd August 2020

'Long Sal' of Jane Hales fame was my father's maternal grandmother. Her name was Sarah Dagless, née Rice. She was married to James Dagless. We do not know quite when they moved from Edgefield to live in one of the Smokers' Hole cottages. My father often described the Sunday afternoon family visits there which took place when he was a child in the thirties.
Water was got from the stream but my father described it as coming out of a spring in the the bank and ablutions were performed outside.
James Dagless was a woodsman and carried out coppicing work and made hurdles. He died in 1939 and Sarah left some time during the war, probably when they started using the area for military purposes. My mother remembers talk of the family in the other cottage, the Thurgartons? Sarah drove a pony cart to visit her daughter's family at Baconsthorpe and would sometimes take her grandchildren to the seaside at Sheringham. She ended her days at Baconsthorpe.
My parents visited the cottage site when there were still walls existing that you could step inside. They said it was extremely small. When my grandparents were without a home they went to live at Smokers, with a young baby, and we think they stayed a few years, till after their second child was born. How they all fitted in is a mystery.
I never worked out exactly where Smokers was, but knew there was nothing much left to mark the place where my great-grandparents lived. Thanks to my grandmother and fathers' tales though, it has always been and always will remain in my imagination as a place quite magical.
Andrea Cooke - 9th July 2020

My husband's grandmother was born Emily Mary Dagless in Erpingham (1895 - 1982) her mother was Sarah Ann Rice (1868 - 1956) she married James Dagless from Saxthorpe. My husband can remember his great-grandmother as being very tall.
June Melvin - 10th July 2020

My late Granny, May Ellis lived nearby at Valley Farm. I was always told Long Sally was very tall and regularly drove her horse and cart along the lane (now a muddy path) up to the Norwich Road. Her house at Smokers Hole got taken over by the army in WWII and was used for target practice.
Sarah Hurry - 10th July 2020

In order to access Hempstead Hall Farm, which probably supplied the mill with corn, nother track was constructed that cut through the hill leaving a small southern hill area that became known as Split Hills. The track through what is now the wooded area is steep and any horse with a cart would have had a difficult time in either direction. Once up the hill and onto Mill House Lane, the track immediately levelled out before going down the more gentle slope to the Hall.
The footpath that connects Mill House Lane and Clamp Lane that leads directly into Hempstead was also used by horses and carts to access the village. Indeed, Long Sal would travel that way on occasions.

It is the Selbrigg_Pond that is the main source of the Glaven. It was made as a decoy in the opening years of the last century. Nearby, the great Hempstead woods were felled in the last war, and replanted by the Forestry Commission with dark conifers. They stretch along the Glaven valley to the first_mill by the Hempstead-Holt road. Below the mill, the stream flows through wet meadows, the boundary between Hempstead and Holt, to Smokers Hole, where there are the ruins of another very old mill house. In it lived Long Sall, all alone. She had to leave during the war because the explosions, made by the soldiers on the adjoining common of Holt Lows, threatened to tumble down her house.
Jane Hales, Looking at Norfolk - October 1971

Less than a mile and a half from the busy little town, which is thronged with people from the villages on a Saturday afternoon, and the sides of the Street are stiff with cars, is that secluded spot called Smokers Hole. Once there were two ways of approach - down the common land, by a bridge over the stream, or by a well-worn path, in a fold of heath, leading off the main Norwich road. Both paths brought one to the long meadow, sheltered on the north by the slopes of the Common, and on the south by rising woods and fields. Here was a cottage by the bridge. ln it lived a family of children, but the meadow was also a playground for many from the town. It was not strictly public property, but nobody was turned off. Men went there fishing, some tickled trout, children paddled or even bathed by the bridge. Boys from the Grammar School blocked the flow of the stream, and increased the depth, for their steeplchases.
Here, too, came sheep, to be dipped, each frightened animal being thrust in to emerge in a rush on the other side. The place was full of excitements. There were brown butterflies about ; one could gather water-cress or water-lilies, amid an overall scent of water-mint. Years before there had been a mill here ; even modern ordnance maps mark the cottage “Mill House” and show “Mill Lane”. Faden's map of 1798 calls the stream “The Hempstead Beck”, not the Glaven, by which name it is now dignified. Last century, Volunteers came to practice shooting here, and lay down in their scarlet and blue uniforms on the damp grass.
Later on the cottage was occupied by a widow called Long Sal. She had a dog which barked wildly when anybody was nigh, and a pony which she harnessed to a high cart, and drove up to the town once or twice a week.
“That may be a bit lonely, but that's home when you get back”, said Long Sal. She had also a gander, which had been a pet, and had been given to her so that it might live out its old age in that highly suitable spot. “When I go for a bit o' kindling, he come an' all”, said Sal, “and that's not a bit o' good hushin' him back, acause he don't pay no regard.” But some time after that, she was callous enough to contemplate making meal out of the bird. In this she was disappointed, for though she boiled the carcase for hours, the flesh remained tough as leather. Long Sal had a son who went away to serve as a soldier in the Great War, “Along way off, yin side o’ Norwich.”
At length total war penetrated even Smokers Hole. There were soldiers on the Common, practising with nefarious weapons. Loud explosions sounded in the valley ; the walls of the cottage trembled. Woods were falling flat, as trees were felled for the nation's need. There was sorry desolation side abroad.
Then, one November day Long Sal saw an officer approaching, with a paper in his hand. He told her it was no longer safe to stay in Smokers Hole, and she must go elsewhere. So the widow got together her few belongings, and someone “moved”' her to Baconsthorpe, where she had a good house in the village. But she was not happy there, she longed for the freedom and quiet of her old home, to which she never returned.

More than twenty years passed, and Smokers Hole was almost a forgotten place, no longer visited by company from the town. The path over the Common had disappeared in a tangle of birch thicket, and the opening to the path on the Norwich road was concealed by a growth of young conifers. Suspecting that the way to Smokers Hole was altogether grown over with bracken and heather, I put on my slush boots for protection against adders, and began struggling through trees and undergrowth. Suddenly the old well-worn path, along which Long Sal had driven her pony and cart, opened up before me. ln its old style, it ran downwards to the little wood at the bottom of the valley, where some cypresses had been planted, an incongruous sight in that well-remembered setting.
The gate beyond the wood was padlocked. Inside the meadow some electric pylons strode across the meadow. There had been cattle here, and someone had been cutting the rough herbage into swaithes. The stream flowed between clean cut banks ; there were no water-lilies, no water-cress, but a single brown butterfly was on the wing. The ruins of the cott age were almost hidden by undergrowth, and the fruit trees behind were naked and dead. Smokers Hole was no longer a home and a pleasure ground, but a place of sombre utility. It must not be idle longer, but made to take a part in the economic scheme. Change in the country is so often for the worse, but memory survives change ; shut the eyes, and there is the delicious meadow, full as ever with life and colour and enchantment.
Jane Hales, Looking at Norfolk - October 1971

Henry James Dagless joined the army and served overseas in the Norfolk Regiment.
He was enrolled on 9th November 1915 aged 16 and was discharged in 1919 aged 20 due to unspecified sickness, possibly malaria. In October 1918, Henry was moved from a hospital in Haifa to one in Alexandria before coming home.
Henry's war record states that he was 22 at the time of his discharge so it's possible that he lied about his age.

Walter Smith (1894 - 1971) lived in Baconsthorpe. During WWl he joined the 10th Essex Regiment. It was said that while in a trench on the Somme, a mortar bomb exploded next to him and he was buried alive except for his hand. Luckily someone saw his hand moving and he was rescued but very badly injured in the leg from shrapnel and walked with a limp for the rest of his life.

Walter Smith's brother Henry John Smith (1898 - 1917) also lived in Baconsthorpe. During WWl he joined the Duke of Cambridge Own Middlesex Regiment and was killed at Ypres, Flanders in 1917.

Sarah and James Dagless' daughter Emily Mary married Walter Smith in 1919 and they had seven children -
Henry James (b.1920), Edith Mary 'Mattie' (b.1924), Frederick Walter (b.1926)
Peter John 'Scrubby' (b.1928), Raymond Edwin 'Jimmy' (b.1932), Winifred May (b.1936) and Heather Anne (b.1938).

I believe Walter Smith began as a gardener.  After being badly injured in WW1 he was left with a limp as one leg was "dead". He was rehabilitated to do carpentry and I think this is what he mainly did thereafter. He worked on airfields where a lot of building went on for WW2
Andrea Cooke - 22nd July 2020

Walter Smith also worked as a carpenter and probably helped with the construction of Matlaske Airfield. After the war he worked at Greshams School in Holt.

Lots of the tales involved 'Granny's old pony'. It had a mind of its own and would sometimes bolt home before Sarah could get into the cart, from Baconsthorpe to Smokers. When she got home by some lift or other it would be waiting at the gate to its field, unable to get through. According to some who drove it, it always turned into The Feathers in Holt! It eventually kicked out the bottom of the cart and a new one was acquired. Eventually the pony was replaced too, and its successor proved just as intractable. Neither of them had a name.
Andrea Cooke - 26th August 2020

In the pony-cart are my father [Frederick] and two of his siblings. They are getting ready to go on a trip to Sheringham. The pony would be taken into the stable at the Robin Hood pub, my father told me. Their grandmother would tell them to stay where they were and go into the pub where they would see her at the bar.
Long Sal was very tall, reportedly six foot two and rather manly - but this may well be exaggeration. Her husband was a small man. My mother remembers visiting her in her old age and also recalls awaiting the return of the family after her funeral.
Sarah worked as a midwife who attended women in their own homes. She would also go to lay out the dead. She met James Dagless when she went to attend his first wife as midwife. The couple already had several children. Then when his wife died she married James and they had my grandmother Emily and several other children. 
Andrea Cooke - 14th July 2020

Henry James Smith served in the RAF during WWll and Frederick Walter Smith joined the army and saw active service during the latter stages of the war.

Sarah's son Arthur Clifford Dagless married Mary Ann Doy in 1925. Arthur Clifford was known as Cliffy and worked as a gamekeeper, living at Keeper's Cottage, Hillington, Norfolk. Mary Ann, known as Polly was born in Holt in 1900 and died in Wellingborough in 1987.

My Mum said the house wasn't destroyed by the army - it just fell down soon after the war. It was a wonder Long Sally wasn't killed though as she just drove her pony very close to the firing. Teddy Jones lived there after Long Sally.
Sarah Hurry - 10th July 2020

When my husband was about 4, he remembers that he and his twin brother went with their mother (Edith Mary Melvin) every morning to Long Sal's council bungalow with an electric kettle as, she didn't have one. Their mother made her tea and gave her breakfast. Then one morning she told the two boys to wait outside, because Long Sal had died!
June Melvin - 18th July 2020

My mother told me she had suddenly remembered very vividly seeing Sarah in her coffin! In the days before the funeral the coffin was laid in my grandparents' (Emily and Walter) front room and my grandmother assumed my mother would like to view her dead mother and remarked how lovely and peaceful she looked but my mother thought she just looked dead. She was not struck by the coffin looking extra long, apparently.
Emily and Walter lived in that demolished cottage! Hence the pony-cart is parked there just beside it. The cottage was very small. They moved to live in a big house down the other end of the road, probably in 1935.
Since happening upon your website I seem to have fallen ever deeper into the haunting spell of Smokers Hole!  It seems now such a simple and peaceful way of life. Then one remembers that they had the Great War to contend with and another equally terrible one before them. (Emily's husband was wounded at Ypres and one of his brothers killed, though I don't think Sarah's sons were old enough to be involved.)
Andrea Cooke - 15th July 2020

My gt grandmother, Blanch Dagless lived at Great Yard, Saxthorpe and she told my mother that there was a big turnout for Long Sal's funeral and a special long coffin was made for her.
Holly Thompson - 13th July 2020

IN
LOVING MEMORY OF
JAMES
BELOVED HUSBAND OF
SARAH ANN DAGLESS
DIED 26TH APRIL 1939,
AGED 78 YEARS
HE FOUGHT THE FIGHT, THE VICTORY WON,
NOW AT REST
ALSO OF
SARAH ANN
DIED 20TH JANY 1956,
AGED 87 YEARS.
PEACEFULLY SLEEPING

I only remember seeing Long Sally once. She was with another woman in her (Sally’s) pony trap coming up the Loke beside Church Farm from Smoker’s Hole.
I knew her residence, of course. This was before 1939.
Diana Spalton - 18th July 2020

Emily and Walters' house is opposite the junction where a road goes up in the direction of the old hall/castle. [Baconsthorpe Castle] It had no name when they lived there but the people who bought it afterwards called it Emily House after my grandmother. Behind there was a large garden, an orchard, a meadow and a yard surrounded by outbuildings;  huge barn and carpenters' shop with loft, stable, and much much more (though when I first knew it there was still no indoor toilet). It was built by a builder. He left his accounts book behind which made fascinating reading. It was a big step up for the family when they moved from what was always referred to as the "little house" to the big house.
Andrea Cooke - 22nd July 2020

The above photo was taken in Emily and Walter Smith's garden at Baconsthorpe, in about 1960. They are Long Sal's great grandsons, the Melvin boys. At the back John (left) and Peter (right) the twins Tom and Charlie at the front. Grannie Smith always called them both TommyCharlie as they were identical. My husband is one of the twins, but not sure which!
June Melvin - 28th July 2020

I have a family connection with Long Sal. She was stepmother to my great grandmother Thirza Amelia Dagless.
Shirley Strohm - 31st August 2020

Long Sal and James Dagless are the great grandparents of my husband, Tom Melvin. James Dagless had a lot of children with his first wife Harriet Chapman and then Sarah Ann Rice (Long Sal). There are a lot of their descendants still in Norfolk.
June Melvin - 31st August 2020

31st October 1868: Sarah Ann Rice born

Census 1871: Sarah Ann Rice living at Salhouse

Census 1881: Sarah Ann Rice living at Catfield

Census 1891: Sarah Ann Rice living at Briston

15th July 1894: Sarah Ann Rice married James Dagless

Census 1901: Sarah Ann Dagless living at Edgefield

Census 1891: Sarah Ann Dagless living at Edgefield

Census 1921: James & Sarah Dagless, Smokers Place

1932: James & Sarah (Long Sal) Dagless, Smokers Hole

26th April 1939: James Dagless died

Register of Electors 1939: Sarah A Daglass, Smokers Place Cottage

c.1943: Sarah Dagless left Smokers Hole on orders from the army, to live in Baconsthorpe

20th Jan 1956: Sarah Ann Dagless (Long Sal) died and was buried in Edgefield churchyard