as low as 368, when countryfolk were forced to seek work in the towns. Despite this the school had to be extended twice; the population was falling, but families were getting larger! Early 20th century In the early years of the century Tasburgh continued as a mainly agricultural community, only one villager worked in Norwich, one at Dunston Hall and two on the nearby railway; all the rest found their livelihood in the village. In addition to farmers, smallholders and farm workers, there was a rat and mole catcher and a hurdle maker. It was very much a self-contained community, with four publicans, a miller with two mill workers, two blacksmiths, a carpenter / wheelwright, two thatchers, a bricklayer, two carriers, two general dealers, two grocers, a pork butcher, a baker and three shoemakers. In the public service there was a schoolmistress, two parish roadmen and a policeman. There were also two dressmakers, two washerwomen and a lady who treated people for sores, burns and abscesses. In 1911 the population was 355. Tasburgh Lodge had been improved and renamed Tasburgh Hall by its owner P. Berney Ficklin. At Rainthorpe Hall, Sir Charles Harvey was spending considerable sums both on the hall and St Mary's Church. The rector from 1897 to 1922 was the Rev Walter Robert Hurd. Sons of these three gentlemen were to have distinguished careers. Horatio Berney Ficklin was a judge Advocate at the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals. Oliver Harvey became British Ambassador to France and was made Lord Harvey of Tasburgh. Richard Hurd was later Canon Hurd; he had a lasting love of Tasburgh and left a substantial bequest to the church on his death in 1975. Lord Harvey and Canon Hurd are both buried in the churchyard. The Cherry Tree in Church Road was a free house and the publican made horehound beer, which was reputed to be good for coughs. He also sold cider which was made from apples grown in the orchard at the back. The landlady of The Bird in Hand was appropriately named Mrs Alice Sparrow. The Quaker chapel off Fairstead Lane was active, while the primitive Methodist Chapel on what is now Church Hill and the parish church both had large congregations and thriving Sunday schools. William Moore, who spent much of his life in the village, tells us that his grandfather was estate bricklayer and chimney sweep for