For more than 160 years it was a Bungay shop that fitted carpets, and sold drapery, floor coverings, beds, bed linen and lingerie to countless families in the town and further afield.

But after 163 years of business, the H Wightman & Son store closed its doors in Trinity Street for the last time in June.

However the famous name is to live on.

This week Wightman & Co Flooring announced they are set to open at the beginning of October in a building next to Ma Belle Bakery in Market Place.

James Wightman, Neville Howgate, and Tom Patrick are the owners of the new business.

Celebrations in Bungay Market Place for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, June 22nd, 1897 (Image: Newsquest Archives)

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In a notice on the former Wightmans building, it says the new premises will be “aiming to deliver the same quality services that have been carried out for the last 163 years at H. Wightman & Son”.

However, while the former business fitted carpets and sold drapery, floor coverings, beds, furniture and more, Wightman & Co Flooring will focus solely on “your flooring desires.”

H. Wightman & Son Ltd was Bungay's oldest family run business (Image: Denise Bradley)

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James Wightman, the son of the previous owner John Wightman, said in the new premises there “is no space for furniture or beds” but this is the only thing that is expected to change.

“It will be running the same just under Wightman & Co Flooring,” he added.

He expressed his excitement for the business to start running once again by saying: “It’s something to look forward to.”

Many have flooded to Facebook to express their delight over the new notice, wishing their best to the owners in the new venture.

The original business was established by Henry Wightman in 1861 and had seen many changes, survived a wartime Nazi bomb, and was run by six generations of the family.