Our 19th Century Link with Holland

Hendrik Dijt (pronounced Dite) was a wealthy farmer on Texel Island in Holland. He was born in 1833, and in 1888 he sent one of his sons, Cornelis, to England to learn about agriculture. It is well documented that sheep breeders from Texel Island came to England in search of British breeds with which to improve the traditional long-tailed sheep in Holland. Cornelis had his instructions to look for suitable rams to buy and bring back to Texel to experiment with breeding.

Fortunately, Cornelis kept a diary of his visit to England, which is still in the hands of the Dijt family. In this diary he records that he stayed with the Gray family in East Norton. The Grays were wealthy graziers owning properties in East Norton and at Ashley, just over the border in Northamptonshire. They at one time lived in the house on Church Lane known as “Brookfield”, and probably built the house now known as “St Mary’s”, formerly “Birch Leys”. The diary also records details of the export of sheep to Holland, proof that East Norton played a major part in the development of the Texel breed of sheep that we know today.

In 1934 three female descendants of the Dijts travelled to England retracing the steps of Cornelis and took several photographs of Mr Gray and his house (Birch Leys). There are also photographs of the church and pub, The White Bull. The landlord, Robert Hector with his wife and dog are also featured. Some of these are reproduced here.

Mr Gray's House now known as St Mary's, formerly as Birch Leys