The Legless Saxon
Pickenham Community Hub Bar
So who, or what is the Legless Saxon?
It all begins with Pica, the Saxon leader who settled in the area in the 5th century
‘Pickenham’ means the homestead of Pica.
Early in 2010 North Pickenham Parish Council decided that, due to the deterioration of the existing one, a new village sign was needed. Colin Yorke, a wood sculptor from Swaffham was approached to craft a sculpture that would represent a part of the village’s history. This was to be a wooden representation of a Saxon warrior.
South Pickenham Estates kindly donated a large tree trunk, which Colin and Pete (our Bingo caller) chose from the Estate. Wil Smith, of North Pickenham helped take the trunk to Colin’s place in Swaffham.
Over the next few months Colin, with Pete’s help, carved the very detailed and intricate statue of the Saxon Warrior. Wil helped to bring the finished item back to North Pickenham and, with Andrew Warner helping with his tractor, it was mounted on the plinth that the old sign had been on. So, in the Autumn of 2010 the MP for mid Norfolk, George Freeman, came to hold the unveiling ceremony.
All was well for the next 7 years or so. Then some movement in the structure was noted. For safety reasons, and for exploration purposes, the statue was removed from the plinth and taken over the road to Andrew’s barn. Colin and Pete set to work and discovered a nest of verge large grubs; each one being over an inch long and a quarter inch thick. It would seem that there was a small nest of them in the trunk from when it had been chosen at the Estate and they had been lucky enough to be missed during the sculpting process. They had quite happily been slowly eating away at the wood from the inside out for all those years.
The wood was tidied up and all the rot and grubs were removed from the sculpted Saxon. It was still a presentable and imposing figure and Pete went to the North Pickenham Parish Council meeting to see about reinstating it on the plinth. The Council decided instead to refurbish and reinstate the old village sign.
Our Saxon Warrior was taken into the care of Keith (our Carpet Bowls maestro), who treated the sculpture with creosote over a period of time, rescuing it from potential destruction. It was put in storage in the Pickenham Community Hub…until recently.
The Management Team of the Community Hub decided to bring the Saxon out and display him proudly in the Hub. In 2024 he now is residing in the new bar area and once a few cleaning and strengthening tasks have been performed on the Saxon, he will be a fixture guarding the doorway to bar.
However, his ordeal prior to the creosote treatment meant that his legs had to be removed, so we felt it fitting that as the guardian of the bar area, he would be named the Legless Saxon.
Please note: we encourage only responsible drinking!
Our Legless Saxon recently had a jet-wash and will soon undergo a varnish and some repair works to the base to give him a little more stability and a replacement weapon. Thanks to Steve and Pete for their work on this.
Pete (left) with our ‘legless’ Saxon warrior (right)
The story so far…
The current Management Team for the Community Hub took over in around July 2023. The Hub was in almost £7,000 of debt and was looking at potential closure.
Now, just 10 months later, the debt is reduced to just 11% of the original number with payment plans in place to clear the remainder up over the next few months. This is despite having to also manage huge running costs including repairs, energy costs and continually improving facilities throughout.
A big part of this success has been the ever-evolving bar; a place where members of the community can gather on a weekly basis, raising funds through buying drinks and supporting special events together.
The bar began behind the doors in the Saxon Hall; ideal for a function room, but didn’t provide the atmosphere of a cosy bar area.
The move was made to Maple, up the corridor on the left. The atmosphere was much more cosy, but still felt a bit like the school classroom it used to be.
The next stage has been to move to the end room (Willow) where volunteers have put together a functional bar area with high surfaces, mounted dart board, ambient lighting, and which opens out onto the patio area for the warmer months.
Work is still in progress; the plan is to redecorate, have barrels and taps fitted so we can pour a ‘proper pint’ and invest in more fitting bar furniture. But we are working a step at a time whilst the volunteer team is small and finances even smaller!
We aim to provide a fantastic friendly, cosy and safe space for the community to come out and enjoy their evening at The Legless Saxon!
