Local and social history
It’s not just guiding history that our collection illustrates – the ARC is a treasure chest of artefacts and documents which tell the story of the life and times of people in the Coltishall area. It also offers a fascinating glimpse into the changing social history of women and girls since 1910.
The ARC building stands on land which once belonged to the Great Hautbois estate and was gifted to Girlguiding Norfolk by its then owners, Beth and Philippa Patteson.
The house was originally built for a Victorian clergyman, the Revd John Colk Girling, who was a great philanthropist. He created a whole industry connected to the extraction of lime to provide work for the men and boys of his parish during an agricultural depression.
Revd Girling also set up a school in his coach house and paid for a school master to teach village children to read and write.
Hautbois House was sold to the Patteson family at the beginning of the twentieth century – and so began the long association with Girlguiding which endures today. Mrs Dorothy Patteson was the driving force of the family and she was inspired by the founding of the Girl Guides in 1910 to start the Coltishall Guide Company as an interest for her daughters Philippa and Beth.
The sisters believed that guiding gave girls and women the opportunity to explore and experience the outdoors and to challenge themselves. It became their wish that Great Hautbois House, and its estate should be given to the Girl Guides on their death and that it should be made into a residential training and activity centre.
The Girl Guides of Norfolk were apportioned some land on which they built Patteson Lodge and, in more recent times, the ARC. The collection includes many photographs and artefacts relating to the Patteson sisters.
We also have a wealth of documents and publications, including magazines, which show how life has changed for girls and women over the decades, from the type of clothing they wore to their health and future careers.
For more information on how the ARC can help with local and social research contact us