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In 1914 the British army began its expansion from small professional force to vast citizen army. The men who signed up to fight had to be trained at camps like Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. They lived in prefabricated huts which contained a stove and beds for up to 30 men.

At the end of the war most of these basic structures fell into disrepair or were taken down and harvested for materials. Colonel Edward Bulwer, owner of the Heydon Estate, had served in the Staffordshire Regiment during the war. At the end of the conflict he purchased one of the huts. He brought it to the small north Norfolk village of Heydon in 1922 to act as a community facility for the residents.

Extensive renovations have been carried out to the hut over the years. Most recently £29,000 was raised to install new heating and electrics to the hut. It is used by a range of village groups for meetings, parties and other social events.

Location: Heydon Parish Rooms, Heydon, Norwich, Norfolk NR11 6AD
Image: Heydon Hut, courtesy of Charles Shippam, trustee of Parish Rooms Committee