Baylam Lane

Also spelt
Bylam Lane, Boylam Lane, Bileham Lane, Bylam Falgate, Bilam Falgat, Bylam Fulgate

Contents

Note

It has been assumed – for the time being – that all the variants of the name listed at the top of this page refer to the same thoroughfare. This assumption will require review as more data is collected.

Origin of the name

Bilam/Bylam

The “-ham” part of the name derives from the Old English hām = homestead, settlement or holding¹;
the Bila or Bala element would have been the family name so Bylam would be the homestead or land associated with a person called Bila/Bala (or something similar).
The variants in the spelling are in part due to the phonetic spelling rather than any fixed spellings.

Falgate

Falod / fald in Old English = fold or enclosure for animals;
–gate derives from the Old Norse gata = road, track, way²;
falgate would therefore be a drove road or enclosure-way associated with a fold or pasture.

Location

1813 Map of the estate belonging to Lord Wodehouse

The following extract shows the lane marked with an identifier of “40”. The accompanying index describes “40” as “Part of Baylam Lane”. (The whole of this map is available here.)

With thanks to Michael Allen for allowing sight of this map.

1814 Inclosures Map

1815 Survey

In the 1815 survey of Deopham there was still a stump of the Lane. On the map it is identified as “378” which in the text is described as Boylam Lane. It was recorded as being owned by Lord Wodehouse and occupied by Garrett Oddin Taylor.

1843 Tithe Map

By 1843 the stump of the old Baylam Lane was labelled “Driftway in the accompanying analysis. Lord Wodehouse is again shown as the owner.

1884 O.S. Map

By the time that the survey for this map was carried out, the fields along the old Baylam Lane had all been amalgamated into one single open area. The stump that continued to be necessary in 1843 was no longer necessary. Nevertheless, the line of the stump continued to be visible.

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

References to Baylam Lane

The lane is often used as a landmark by which to identify plots of land. The following is a selection of a few examples of references to Baylam Lane under its various spellings.

Context	Year	Links and examples
3 roods in Deopham between land of Martin Sedley, esquire, East & North, Bylam Lane, West, Henry Hynde, South.	1630	Court of the Manor of Shadwells otherwise Cockerells October 1630
1½ acres by Bylam Fulgate between land lately of Oliver Browne now Gregory Hynde, East, a Common Way from Bylam Fulgate to the Church of Deepham, West, abutts a common way from Westmore …, South,	1635	Court of the Manor of Shadwells otherwise Cockerells January 1635
1 rood of Copyhold land by Bilam Falgate in an inclosure called Deopham Close	1645	Court of the Manor of Deopham of the Dean & Chapter of Canterbury September 1645 There are two references to Bilam Falgate in this one transaction: and
1½ acres of inclosed land by Bylam falgate between land lately of Oliver Browne, now or lately of Henry Hinde, East, a way from Bylam falgate to the Church of Deopham, West.	1688	Court of the Manor of Shadwells otherwise Cockerells October 1688
3 acres & 3 roods of land Bileham Lane, East.	1690	Court of the Manor of Deopham of the Dean & Chapter of Canterbury 1690
Morley Pightle between land of Robert Ockley, William Sedley, South, Baylam Lane, West.	1715	Court of the Manor of Deopham of the Dean & Chapter of Canterbury December 1715
3 roods in Deopham between land late of Martin Sedley, Esquire, East, Bylam Lane, West, Martin Sedley, North, Henry Hind, South	1775	Court of the Manor of Shadwells otherwise Cockerells June 1775

Stopping up of Baylam Lane

The following announcement was placed by the Inclosure Commissioners in the Norfolk Chronicle published on February 27^th 1813 (see here for a copy of the original):

DEOPHAM INCLOSURE
Baylam Lane to be stopped up.
WE, the undersigned JOHN DUGMORE, WILLIAM UNTHANK, and JOHN MITCHELL, the Commissioners appointed to carry into execution the Act of Parliament entitled “An Act for Inclosing Lands in the parish of Deopham, in the county of Norfolk,” do hereby give notice that the road called Baylam Lane, which was set out and appointed by us, and published and described on our Map as the fifth public road, was at the Meeting appointed for the hearing of objections to the Public Roads in Deopham aforesaid, stopped up and directed to be discontinued, and that in consequence of such stopping up and discontinuance, the said road, called Baylam Lane, hath been allotted in severalty to certain Proprietors of Estates, in Deopham aforesaid, who are hereby authorised to take possession of the specific parts thereof, which are so allotted to them respectively on the eleventh day of October next.
Dated this 20th day of February, 1815³.
J. DUGMORE
WM. UNTHANK
JOHN MITCHELL
Commissioners.
GILMAN, Solicitor.

Footnotes

See also the name Deopham. ↩︎
See also Snalegate Lane, later called Town House Lane.. ↩︎
The announcement appears to read 1815 (see here) but this must be a misprint since the edition in which it appears is definitely dated February 27^th 1813. ↩︎

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Date	Change
30/4/26	Origins of the name
31/12/25	Published