Leonard Saunders was the son of John and Charlotte Saunders who lived at Drellingore on the Alkham Valley
Road. He was in the 17 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery and he died on the 19th January 1943 at the age of 35. He is remembered with honour at
Medjez-El-Bab War Cemetery in Tunisia. Here is a link to
to see or his commemoration by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
There is a lovely Georgian style, late 17th century Rectory in
the village and also a Vicarage. The Vicarage was bought by the
church in 1864 and remained so up until 1978. Both properties
are now private residences. There were also two Wesleyan Chapels
in the village, one was pulled down and the other converted to a
private house in the 1960's
The Marquis of Granby, now known as Marquis, stands next to Forstall Cottage, which in the mid nineteenth century was a public house called the Fox and Goose.
The Marquis of Granby was owned privately when it was built in 1810 but in 1928 it was bought by Fremlins
Brewery. The pub also served as a shop and a meeting place in
its early years and was next door to the village well. The pub
passed into private ownership and in 2008 became a high class
hotel and restaurant
There was another pub
at South Alkham called the Carpenters Arms but this closed some years ago when it went
into the ownership of Whitbread.
Alkham Cricket Club is still in existence, having been formed over 150 years ago and home matches are played on village green. The latter is properly known as Vicarage Meadow as it was owned by the church but it was purchased by the parish council in 2003
In the 1980’s an Iron Age cremation bucket was found near the church in Alkham and it now resides in a London Museum.
The Alkham Valley Historical Research Group is carrying out further archaeological in the valley and if you would like to find out more details please access their web site
www.alkhamarchaeology.co.uk
