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Introduction

Several snippets of information that have been used during researching. These snippets of information are listed here for various places.

Worcestershire Norfolk Suffolk Wiltshire
Great Malvern Breckles also spelt Breccles Hinderclay Ramsbury
  Cranworth Hoxne Littlecote
  Downham Market    
  Hilgay    
  Mattishall    
  Nordelph    
  Outwell    
  Postwick    
  Shipdham    
  Topcroft    
  Upwell    
Ramsbury, Wiltshire
A picturesque village on a wide stretch of the River Kennet. The river flows through the park of Ramsbury Manor, built in 1680 by; John Webb, the son-in-law of Indigo Jones. It was in this house that Cromwell laid his plans for the subjugation of Ireland. The town has many Jacobean and Georgian buildings, and an impressive parish church with Anglo-Saxon foundations.
Littlecote, nr. Ramsbury, Wiltshire
This house stands in its own grounds near Ramsbury and may well be where Edward Alexander was groom and Ann Edwards was a servant.
Hinderclay, Suffolk

HINDERCLAY is a parish and small village. 7 miles north-northwest from Finnington station on the Ipswich and Norwich section of the London and North Eastern railway and 11 north-west of Eye, in the Bury St. Edmunds division of the county, Blackburne hundred and petty sessional division, Stow union, Eye county court district, rural deanery of Blackburne, archdeaconry of Sudbury and diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich; the parish extends to the river Waveney and the county of Norfolk. The church of St. Mary, situated on an eminence, is an ancient edifice of flint, chiefly in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, and consisting of chancel, nave, large south aisle, wooden south porch and lofty embattled western tower containing 6 bells: the chancel was restored in 1881: the interior was reseated in 1848 and in 1904 the church was restored and underpinned, at a cost pf £600, and has 250 sittings.

The register dates from the year 1567. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £365, including 26 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of G.R.H. Wilson esq. J.P. and held since 1928 by the Rev. Leonard Armitage Gilbert M.A. of St. Catherine's College, Cambridge. There is a Primitive Methodist chapel here.

The fuel allotment of 29 acres of fen land is for the benefit of the poor of the parish; there are also 7 acres of land and one cottage, producing £15 yearly, which is expended in the repairs of the church. George R. Holt Wilson esq. J.P. is lord of the manor and principal landowner, but there are several small owners. During 1907-8 a number of Roman coins of the early Caesars were found here. Near Thelnetham church, but within the border of this parish, is a perennial spring, known as St. Mary's well; the water is said to possess healing qualities especially beneficial to weak eyes. The soil on the upper part of the parish is heavy, the lower part neing principally light; subsoil, clay, and on the lower part of the parish there is black sand ans some gravel. the chief crops are wheat, barley, beans, peas and clover. The area is 1,488 acres; the population in 1921 was 236.

From Kelly's Directory - Suffolk - 1929

Great Malvern, Worcestershire

The town began in the 11th Century with the foundation of a Benedictine priory. The fine Priory Church of Saint Mary and Saint Michael still stands although it was rebuilt by medieval craftsmen in 1460. The most dominant features are the magnificent stained-glass windows, the choir stalls, and the tiles on the floor, walls and apse. The discovery of a kiln suggests the tiles were made in situ.

In Priory Park is a fishpond which was used by the monks 400 years ago. Great Malvern grew in importance as a spa resort in the 19th Century. Malvern Water was first used medicinally 200 years ago by Dr. John Wall. A Pump Room and baths were built between 1815 and 1819 and hotels appeared on the grounds around the priory. Traces of the original spa can still be found in such establishments as the Georgian Mount Pleasant Hotel and the Regency Foley Arms Hotel. In the 19th Century Malvern became a traditional spa attraction when Dr. Wilson and Dr. Gully introduced hydrotherapy - the Water Cure - from Austria. Malvern Water can still be obtained from several wells, including two of the oldest - Holy Well, so called because its waters are said to have performed miraculous cures and St. Ann's Wells, above the priory church.

The opera singer Jenny Lind, the 'Swedish Nightingale', who settled in England, is buried in Great Malvern Cemetery. Great Malvern Railway Station is a magnificent Victorian building with fine wrought ironwork.

Shipdham, Norfolk

SHIPDHAM is a paish and a large and well built village 4 miles south-west from Yaxham station on the Wymondham and Dereham section of the Great Eastern railway and 5 south-by-west from Dereham, in the Mid division of the county, Mitford hundred, Mitford and Launditch petty sessional division and union, Dereham county court district, rural deanery of Hingham (Mitford division), archdeaconry of Norfolk and diocese of Norwich. The church of All Saints is a spacious edfifice of flint with stone facings in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower surmounted by a wooden cupola and spire, and containing a clock and 6 bells : over the porch is a parvise containing a collection of rare books, chiefly on theology, bequeathed by a former rector: this church possesses one of the finest original wooden lecterns in the county, of unusual design and great beauty: the shaft, which rises from a base of three members, resting on lions sejant, is triangular, and consists of three butresses, the angles between which are ornamented from the base, upwards with a series of quatre-foils: the desk is of a double form, very richly carved: there are two stained windows, one being a memorial to a former rector: the church was extensively altered in 1845, and in 1884-7 was thoroughly restored, new-roofed and entirley re-seated : in 1889 and 1890 the exterior of the church, with the exception of the tower, was carefully renovated: there are 580 sittings.

The register dates from the year 1558. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £650, including 42 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Rev. George Deanes Dundas Watt M.A. of 2 Park road, Forest hill, London S E, and held since 1885 by the Rev. George Augustus Quentin M.A. of St. John's College, Oxford. There are Congregational, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels. There is a public cemetery of 2 acres, with a chapel, opened in 1879, and now controlled by the Parish Council. A market was established here in the reign of Henry III, by one of the Bishops of Ely, who built a hall for the purpose; but the market has long been obsolete. The Town Hall, built in 1875, is now used as the Oddfellows' Hall.

The fuel allotments awarded in 1809 comprise about 126 acres, producing £75 15s, a year, which is distributed among the poor in coals; Mowling's charity of £2 5s, Rawling's of 10s, and Master's of £2, are given away in doles of 1s, each on St. Thomas' Day (21 Dec.) annually. The chief landowners are Eton College, King's College, Cambridge, and Lord Cranworth, of Letton Hall. The soil is loam and clay; subsoil, gravel and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley and turnips. This parish is of considerable extent, covering the space of 5 miles from north-east to south-west. The area is 4,623 acres of land and 11 of water; rateable value, £5,598; the population on 1891 was 1,471.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Breckles (also spelt Breccles), Norfolk
The church of St. Margaret is a building of building of flint, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a round western tower, with octagonal belfry stage, containing 2 bells, and was restored in 1862: the fine Norman font is ornamented on one side with figures of the four Evangelists, and there is also a good Norman arch; the chancel retains a piscina, and the doorway and steps to the rood loft are in good preservation: the chancel and nave are divided by a handsome carved oak screen, with an hour gla ss: the pulpit is of carved oak and the open oak benches have carved poppy heads: in the chancel is a memorial slab of black marble, with the arms of Webb impaling Richardson, to John Webb esq. ob. 1658, and Mary, his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Richardson kt. of Honingham, ob. 1626: there is also fastened, as it were, to this slab, by a strap and buckle, cut in the stone, a small oval of black marble with the words "Stat ut Vixit Erecta", which covers the grave of Ursula (Webb), wife of Sir William Hewyt kt. who was, by her own desire, buried in an upright position, ob. 1658: adjoining is a slab of black marble, with the arms and crest, to Sir William Hewyt kt. ob. 1667. The church affords about 130 sittings. The register dates from the year 1538. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £25, including 21 1/2 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Hon. Charles Bateman Hanbury, and held since 1850 by the Rev. William Smyth Thorpe B.A. of Wadham College, Oxford, who is also incumbent of Tompson and resides at Shropham Villa, Shropham, Thetford........

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Postwick, Norfolk

POSTWICK is a parish and village lying in a pretty vale, 2½ miles west from Brundall stations and 2 east from Whitlingham junction station, both on the Norwich and Yarmouth section of the Great Eastern railway and 4 east-by-south from Norwich, in the Eastern division of the county, Blofield and Walsham petty sessional division, Blofield hundred and union, Norwich county court district, rural deanery of Blofield and archdeaconry and diocese of Norwich. The navigable river Yare flows on the south of the parish. The church of All Saints, is an ancient building of flint and stone, in the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, and consists of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower of considerable height containing a clock and 3 bells : at the west end is a mural brass and a memorial window to Archibald John, fourth Earl of Robebery K.T., P.C., D.C.L. d. 4 March 1868 : the lych gate at the entrance to the churchyard was presented by Peter Hansell esq. in memory of a departed member of his family : the church was restored in 1866, when the nave was new-roofed, and a vestry and organ erected : in 1868 the nave was reseated with open benches : the chancel floored and the fittings rearranged in 1895 : the church now affords 130 sittings. The register dates from the year 1570. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £330, including about 52 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Rosebery K.G., K.T., P.C. and held since 1894 by the Rev. Edward Shuttleworth Medley B.A. of King’s College, Fredericton. A sum of £18 derived from land is distributed yearly to the poor in fuel. The Earl of Rosebery is lord of the manor and owner of nearly the whole parish. The soil is mixed. The chief crops are wheat, barley and turnips. The area is 1,813 acres of land, including a detached marsh near Yarmouth of 346 acres, and 32 of tidal water; the rateable value, £3,685; the population in 1891 was 301.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

For further reading:
POSTWICK - The Story of a Norfolk Village by Anne Carter published 1987, reprinted 1991 ISBN 1 873495 00 5
Hilgay, Norfolk

HILGAY is an extensive parish and large village, 3½ miles east from Hilgay Fen station on the Ely and Lynn section and 1 south from Ryston station on the Downham and Stoke Ferry branch of the Great Eastern railway, 4 south from Downham and 83½ from London, in the South Western division of the county, hundred and petty sessional district of Downham, rural deanery of Fincham (east division), archdeaconry of Lynn and diocese of Norwich. The river Wissey, a tributary of the Ouse, runs past the village, and the Ouse itself bisects the parish. An iron bridge crossing the Wissey was erected in 1899. The church of All Saints is a large building of freestone, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle and an embattled western tower of brick containing a clock and 8 bells, rehung in 1877, at cost of upwards of £200; the chancel and nave are Decorated and the south aisle Perpendicular : the organ was presented in 1881 by the rector : the church is approached by a long and fine avenue of trees, at each end of which is a handsome oak lych-gate, erected at a cost of £160 by Miss Beechey : the church has been restored, and contains 300 sittings. The register dates from the year 1583. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £700, including 85½ acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of Hertford College, Oxford, and held since 1900 by the Rev. Joseph Hooper Maude M.A. fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, and examining chaplain to the Bishop of St. Albans. A new rectory house is (1900) in course of erection, from plans by Mr. H. J. Green (Norwich). The district church of St. Mark, erected in 1847, is a plain edifice of brick, consisting of nave only and a turret containing one bell : there are 140 sittings. Adjoining is a burial ground of half an acre. Phineas Fletcher, author of the "Purple Island" (a poem in the style of Spenser) and other poems, was rector here from 1621 and probably till his death in 1650, but there is no trace of his burial in the register. There are two Wesleyan and two Primitive Methodist chapels, one being on the Ten Mile Bank. The Church of Temperance Institute contains a reading room and small library. A dole of 40 sixpenny loaves is distributed on St. Thomas’s day : 168 acres of land, yielding on an avergae £260 yearly, have been left for the poor; and, for the repairs of the church, 52 acres, producing a rental of about £120 yearly. A fair is held here on May 1st. Here is an ancient Hall, formerly one of the seats of the Abbots of Ramsey, to whom the estate belonged before the Dissolution of that monastery in 1537, when it was granted, by Henry VIII, together with the advowson of the living, to James Howe esq. whose daughter brought it in marriage to Sir John Willoughby knt. from whom it passed to the Wrays and Sandersons, and, in course of time, by sale, to Captain G. W. Manby F.R.S. inventor of the rocket, and other apparatus for saving life from shipwreck, and afterwards to William Jones, formerly marshal of the Queen’s Bench prison, in whose family it continued till 1878, when it was purchased by the late Major Mchael Stocks, of Woodhall (d. 1895), and is now the property of his son, Michael Stocks esq. of Woodhall. The pumping station and dam, constucted near Hunt’s sluice for the Feltwell and Methwold drainage commissioners, was opened in 1884 : from these works about 100 tons of water per minute can be pumped into the river Ouse. At Ten Mile Bank is an engine erected in 1842 for the Littleport and Downham drainage commissioners, working in connection with one nine miles distant, in the Isle of Ely : togther these drain 30,000 acres; the wheel is 43ft. 8in. in diameter and contains 50 ladles, with an average dip of 4ft. emptying the water into the river Ouse at the rate of about 130 tons a minute. Michael Stocks esq. of Woodhall and Upper Shibden Hall, Halifax, Yorks, who is lord of the manor; Edmund Peel esq. of Bryn-y-pys, near Ruabon, Flint; Sir Joseph Thellusson Rowley bart. of Tendering Hall, Suffolk, and William Henry Rose esq, are the principal landowners. The soil consists of upland and fen, the former a rich clay and gravel, the latter peat with good clay underlying. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and beans. The area is 6,750 acres, of which a large proportion is fen; there is also 66 of water; rateable value, £7,799; the population in 1891 was 1,491.

Ten Mile Bank, a hamlet on the Ouse, which is crossed by an iron bridge here, is about 2 miles south-west and one mile from Hilgay Fen station.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Downham Market , Norfolk

DOWNHAM (or Downham Market) is a market and union town, parish, and the head of a county court district, with a station on the Lynn and Ely section of the Great Eastern railway and a branch line to Stoke Ferry,88 miles from London 59¼ west from Norwich, 15¾ north from Ely and 11 south from Lynn, in the south Western division of the county, Clackclose hundred and petty sessional division, rural deanery of Fincham (eastern division), archdeaconry of Lynn and diocese of Norwich. By Order of the County Council, Downham was in 1896, divided into two parishes, the rural part called Downham West, and the urban, Downham Market. The town is seated on the eastern acclivity of the vale of the navigable river Ouse, over which and the neighbouring county is a fine uninterrupted view; the river is here crossed by an iron lattice girder bridge with two piers erected at a total cost of £3,500, from designs by Mr. David Oldfield C.E. and opened 9 Feb 1879.

Downham Market is governed, under the provisions of the "Local Government Act, 1894" (56 & 57 Vict. C. 73), in place of the board of Improvement Commissioners, constituted under 5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 52, amended by 39 & 40 Vict. 20, by an Urban District Council. The main streets and roads are well paved, and the town is lighted with oil lamps: the Downham Gas and Coke Company Limited, formed in 1840, have extensive works near the railway station. The church of St. Edmund is an ancient pile, originally Norman, but rebuilt in the Early English Period, and since extensively altered; it now consists of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a low embattled western tower of carr or rag stone, with buttresses and quoins of freestone, surmounted by a slender spire, which with the tower, was restored in 1896, at a cost of £340: in the tower are 8 bells, rehung in 1896: in 1884 a stone reredos was erected and the chancel floor relaid, and in 1886 a stone statuette of St. Edmund the Martyr was set in a niche over the entrance to the south porch and a brass lectern placed in the church, both at the cost of the late Mr. Henry Oakes : the stained east window was placed in 1873 by J. Wortley esq. of Skeyton, in memory of his wife's family, and there are several other memorial windows, and four stained windows, erected during the period 1896-9: during the building of the new organ chamber in 1873 an original Norman window was discovered, built up in the wall behind the chancel arch, on the north side: the figures of the saints and angels in the roof; which had been left in a mutilated state by Cromwell's soldiers, were restored in accordance with the original designs in 1899: in 1886 the arms of the ancient family of Bardolph and those of Ramsey Abbey, formerly on the church were carved in stone and replaced the arms of the sees of Canterbury and Norwich and those of Thomas Leigh Hare esq. J.P., D.L the present lord of the manor, being added: the curious old font has been repaired and re-set: the church was repaired in 1855 at a cost of £700 and affords 700 sittings. 200 being free. The register dates from the year 1551 The living is a discharged rectory, net yearly value £230, together with 29 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the trustees of the late Rev. Edward Robert Franks B.A. rector (1850-82), and held since 1894 by the Rev. William Beaufoy Stillman M.A. of Worcester College, Oxford, chaplain of Downham union, and surrogate. There are Wesleyan, Baptist, Strict Baptist and Primitive Methodist Chapels. Mount Tabor Free Methodist chapel, Bridge street, erected in 1859, will seat about 260 persons. The Wesleyan chapel, in Lynn road, was thoroughly repaired and two vestries built in 1864, and in 1876 a new organ loft was added: it has 450 sittings; the school-room was rebuilt in 1895: Zion chapel, in Parson's lane, was rebuilt in 1874, and seats 170 persons. A Cemetery of 2 acres, with two mortuary chapels, was formed in 1856, at a cost of about £1,600, and in 1884 was enlarged by the addition of 2½ acres, at a cost of £500: it is under the control of a joint committee appointed by the Urban District Council and the Parish Council for Downham West. The Town Hall, erected in 1887-8, at a cost of £1,730, occupies a site facing the Market place and Bridge street, and is a structure of white and moulded brick, relieved by brown carr-stone panels in the Renaissance style, from designs by Mr. J. J. Johnson A.R.I.B.A, architect, of London: it comprises a large hall, 74 by 33 feet, with a platform 12 feet wide, a corn exchange, reading, committee and retiring rooms, library, lavatories and offices: the hall will seat 500 persons, and has two ordinary entrances and special exit doors. The Literary Institute and Stanley Library now occupying rooms in the Town hall, was established in 1865, on the foundation of the Mechanics' Institute, dissolved in December, 1865, and provides in the reading-room most of the daily and weekly London papers, weekly local papers and the principal periodicals; the extensive and carefully selected library was formed from a nucleus of £50, given by the late Earl of Derby K.G. when member for King's Lynn (1848-69), and supplemented by subscriptions: the members number between 80 & 90: the subscription is merely nominal. The Conservative Club, opened 8 Aug. 1890, occupies premises in Bridge street, formerly tenanted by the Literary Institute: it is well supplied with most of the daily and weekly papers, and has about 200 members. Three large fairs for horses and cattle are held yearly, Winnold fair on or about March 1st and the three following days, and other fairs on the first Friday in May and the 2nd Friday in November; and Statute fairs for the hiring of servants are held on the Saturday fortnight before and the Saturday after Old Michaelmas Day, but they are now nothing more than pleasure fairs. The Downham Market Market Company Limited was formed in 1856. The market is held every Friday in the Market square, where stands a clock tower, presented to the town by James Scott esq. in 1878: it is in the Gothic style, from the designs of Mr. William Cunliffe, of London, and the main and lower portions being octagonal, with a rectangular clock chamber above, presenting four illuminated dials, lighted automatically: the roof of the tower is relieved by tracery and surmounted by a vane. The County Police Station, in Church road, has detention cells and a charge room; the deputy chief constable’s residence adjoins police station. There are three large brick yards here, where a superior class of white bricks and pantiles are made; an extensive roller flour mill owned by Messrs. F. and A. Bird; large malt-houses, belonging to T. H. Wenn and Co.; and a brewery. The American nurseries of Messrs. Bird and Vallance, near the railway station, cover 29 acres, well stocked with fruit forest and ornamental trees and American plants, ferns &c.: the inhabitants, by permission of the proprietors, are allowed to use the nurseries as a promenade during the summer months. In the town are two good hotels, the Crown hotel, in the market place, and the Castle hotel, High street, both old established and well-appointed houses. There are charities of about £86 yearly value, for distribution in fuel, clothing and provisions: this amount includes a sum of £66, being the proportion assigned to this parish from the Hundred Acres charity, the income derived from which is equally divided between the parishes of Wimbotsham, Stow and Downham; there is also a sum of about £20 from the Batchcroft charity, and consisting of the rent of land; and there are other estates, the produce of which is applied in keeping the church in repair and maintaining the bridge over the river Ouse. Thomas Leigh Hare esq. M.P. of Stow Hall, and Edward Roger Murray Pratt esq. of Ryston Hall, who are the lords of the several manors, J. Wortley esq. Thomas Lancelot Reed esq. of Crow Hall, Denver, and Messrs. Robert Haylett, sen., Edward Hyde, John Wortley, of Frettenham, Harry Wayman, William Pope, and the trustees of the late Joseph Kemp are the chief landowners. The area of Downham Market parish is 951 acres; rateable value, £10,809; the population in 1891 was 2,537, including 89 officers and inmates in the workhouse. The area of Downham West parish is 1,840 acres of land, 6 of water, 38 of tidal water and I7 of foreshore; rateable value, £2,382; the population in 1891 was 469.

Sexton, George Neal, Lynn road.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

 
Nordelph, Norfolk

NORDELPH, or Northdelph, is a hamlet, 4 miles west from Downham and about the same distance from Upwell village and is the converging point of five different parishes viz Dowoham, Denver, Upwell, Outwell and Stow Bardolplh: the hamlet is intersected by the Well creek, over which there is an iron bridge. Holy Trinity, church erected by the Rev. William Gale Townley M.A. in 1865, as a chapel of ease to the parish church is an edifice of brick, consisting of chancel, nave, vestry, south porch and turret containing one bell : the east window is stained, and there are also 250 sittings. The Rev. Edward James Teesdale M.A. of Oxford University, has been curate in charge since 1897. There are Wesleyan and Free Methodist chapels.

Three Holes lies west, and is 4 Miles (by road), and has a Primitive Methodist chapel, and Lake's End is 4 miles south, where there is also a Primitive Methodist chapel.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Hoxne, Suffolk

HOXNE is a large village and parish, situated on the south bank of the Waveney and on the borders of Norfolk, 5 miles south-east from Diss station on the Ipswich and Norwich section and 3 1/2 north-east from Eye terminal station on a branch of the London and North Eastern railway, in the Eye division of the county, hundred and petty sessional district of Hoxne, union of Hartismere, Eye county court district, rural deanery of Hoxne, archdeaconry of Suffolk and diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The church of SS. Peter and Paul is a handsome building of flint with stone dressings, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and a lofty embattled western tower, with crocketed pinnacles, containing a clock, erected in 1887, and 5 bells: on the north wall of the nave over the arcade are wall paintings of the second half of the 14th century; these fall into four groups of subjects, viz., St. Christopher carrying the Divine Child on his shoulder; the Seven Deadly Sins; The Seven Corporal Acts of Mercy; the Last Judgement: at the east end of the aisle is a marble monument with life-size figure to Thomas Maynard esq. d. 1742: on the south wall is a memorial of Caen stone to Gen. Sir Edward Kerrison bart. K.C.B., G.C.H. died 9 March, 1853; also to Sir Edward C. Kerrison bart. deceased 1886, and a marble tablet to Agnes Burrell, youngest daughter and co-heir to Gen. Sir Frederick Kerrison bart. G.C.H., K.C.B., who died 13th March, 1918: there is also a memorial to the men who fell in the Great War, 1914-18: a stained window has been erected to the memory of the former vicar, the Rev. J. H. Hodgson M.A. who died 1868: the east window and several others are filled with stained glass: a carved oak screen was erected across the tower arch in 1878: on the floor near the chancel are three brasses to members of the Thruston family, dated respectively, 1606, 1613 and 1640: in Sept. 1870, two flags which belonged to H.M.S. "Captain" lost in a heavy squall off Cape Finisterre on Sept. 7th, were picked up at sea near Finisterre by H.M.S. "Agincourt", and presented to Hoxne church by Evelyn Burgoyne: the chancel was extensively repaired in 1879, and altered and improved in 1906 by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners: in 1906 a new altar table was given by S. Hall Wood esq. and the old altar slab refixed, and in 1908 a new reredos, constructed in part of the remains of the old screen, was given by F.W. French esq.: there are 400 sittings.

The registers date from the year 1581. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £400, with 18 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Rev. W.F. Buttle A.K.C., M.A. and held since 1928 by the Rev. Claude de la Bere B.A. of University College, Durham who is also vicar of Denham. The Baptist chapel, erected in 1843, has been enlarged, and will seat 500. Adjoining the churchyard on the south-east are five almshouses, erected in 1844 by Gen. Sir Edward Kerrison bart. Here was anciently a Benedictine priory, founded by Herbert Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, in 1101, as a cell to Norwich, and dedicated to St. Edmund; at the Dissolution the revenues were valued at £18.

In the centre of a field near Abbey Farm is a stone cross, erected in 1879 to mark the spot where, according to tradition, stood the tree against which King Edmund was shot, Nov 20th, A.D. 870; the tree fell August, 1848, by its own weight. St. Edmund's Hall, a building of flint stone and red brick, was erected in 1879 by Sir E.C. Kerrison bart. as a reading room, and presented under trust for the parishioners in 1924 by Mr. and Mrs. Norton B. Garrard; the library consists of about 400 volumes; there is also a small collection of ancient implements of war &c. discovered in the parish. Many traces of palaeolithic times have been found here, including flint implements of remarkable quality and fossil bones of elephant, horse, deer and ox.

A bridge built by the late Sir E.C. Kerrison bart. crosses the Gold brook. Depperhaugh is a fine mansion commanding a beautiful view of the surrounding country; it is now the property and seat of major Harry Palgrave Raven M.A., J.P. Thorpe Hall, an old moated farmhouse, about 3 miles south-east from the church, is a fine specimen of red brick work and has excellent chimneys, and is owned and occupied by Caleb Last esq. Oak Lawn, half a mile distant, standing in its own grounds of about 8 acres, is the property of Mrs. Douglas Hamilton and residence of Sir Ernest Fletcher. Adolphus G. Maskell esq. is lord of the manor and Messrs, Philip Last, Edward John Saunders, James Henry Newton and James Lang are the principal landowners. The land is pf a mixed soil; subsoil, gravel and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans and peas. The area is 4,031 acres of land and 25 of water; the population in 1921 was 769.

CROSS STREET is a populous part of the parish, about 1 mile south from the church; other portions of the parish extend in a south- easterly direction for nearly 5 miles and run between Denham and Stradbroke. Hilton, under the "Divided Parishes Act", now forms part of Wilby. Heckfield Green is 1 mile south-east.

From Kelly's Directory - Suffolk - 1929
Mattishall, Norfolk

MATTISHALL is a parish and large village, 3 miles east from Yaxham Junction station on the Wymondham and Dereham section of the Great Eastern railway and 5 south-east from Dereham in the Mid division of the county, Mitford hundred, Mitford and Launditch petty sessional division and union, Dereham county court district, rural deanery of Hingham, Mitford division, archdeaconry of Norfolk and diocese of Norwich. The church of All Saints is a large building of flint in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel with side chapel, nave, aisles, north and south porches and an embattled tower containing a clock and 6 bells; the fine wooden lectern is a copy of that in Shipdham church: the church was partially restored, with the exception of the tower, in 1890-2, at a cost of about £2,700, and memorial windows erected to Mrs. George Taylor and to Mrs. C. Mowbray Donne: in June, 1895, a two-manual organ was erected, gift of Mr. James Bailey, of Shortgrove, Essex, M.P. who was born in this parish: there are 415 sittings. The register dates from the year 1656. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the rectory of Pattesley annexed, joint net yearly value £220, including 131 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of Caius College, Cambridge, and held since 1896 by the Rev. Edward Madoc Madoc-Jones M.A. of that college. There are Congregational and Primitive Methodist chapels, and the Society of Friends have a meeting house. A new Primitive Methodist chapel is now in course of erection, at an estimated cost of £700. The charities produce about £34 yearly for clothing, and there is a fuel allotment of 60 acres, let at £50 yearly. Mrs. Berney, of Morton Hall, near Norwich, is lady of the manor. The principal landowners are the Rev. Charles Edward Dunne M.A. vicar of Faversham, Kent, and Edward Bowyer Sparke esq. of Gunthorpe Hall. The soil is heavy; subsoil, clay and brick earth. The chief crops are wheat, barley, hay and roots. The area is 2,316 acres; rateable value, £2,233; the population in 1891 was 836.

The following is a summary of information from personal observations and references taken from 'Norfolk Villages' by David H. Kennett ISBN 0 7091 8129 0.

The parish register's earliest recording dates from 1656. Wool and its weaving was the trade of a small part of Norfolk, essentially a block of villages north of Norwich and the River Wensum, west of the Broads and going no further west than East Dereham. A few weavers' villages exist south of the river, around Mattishall on the River Tud, a tributary which flows into the River Wensum at Hellesdon. All Saints' Church shows the wealth of the men living in Mattishall, and how much they lavished on their faith. It is part and parcel of a more grand design, the virtual wholesale rebuilding of the church from the wealth of wool in the fifteenth century, All Saints' being rebuilt between 1413 and 1422 approximately. The church is dated by the arcades separating nave from aisles; polygonal projections without capitals facing inwards and outwards while the arches have semi-circular posts with capitals. There seems no sound reason why the church should not be contemporary with the remains of its rood screen to which a fourteenth-century date has been applied. Before the reformation the ceiling of the easternmost three bays of the hammer-beam roof was for the rood loft. Of the rood screen at Mattishall only the lower part, the dado, remains. The chalice and paten are dated 1567-8.

The wool broggers, the brokers between sheep farmers and weavers, met at Mattishall, south and west of most of the wool villages but despite its isolated position on the River Tud convenient for the exchange of fleeces. The enclosure of land benefited the farmers and tradesmen, especially the upper tradesmen. Eighteenth century society was the first to require an army of professional people and they acquired some of the tastes of those whom they served. Solicitors, physicians, veterinary surgeons, masters of academies, rectors, they built the elegant, small, eighteenth century houses in the village.

There was a village cooper in Mattishall in 1950, a necessary profession in a village of over a thousand people. At this point in time the manufacturing side of the village had been entirely replaced with a total support of agriculture. Malting and corn-grinding were two occupations and farming operations required the assistance of many others. Farming in the early Victorian years was largely un-mechanised and jobs such as sowing and harvesting, let alone weeding, required hands by the score. Above the labouring population there was a stratum of village skill: some recognised as individual trades, some less easily quantified. Baker, butcher, blacksmith, carpenter, corn miller, grocer, plumber and painter, saddler, shoemaker and wheelwright along with farrier, a veterinary surgeon and a tailor. In 1845 a watchmaker was resident and a surgeon in 1850. By the early Victorian years, the Anglicans were not the only resident clergy as there were also independent ministers. The advent of the railways saw a significant decline in the population between 1841 and 1901, from 1155 to 746. Mattishall is now largely a commuters village of the late twentieth century.

The council built houses between 1930-31, the choice of material, red brick, was good; it has weathered well and conveys the settled feel of central Norfolk in a most evocative way. Thus the village has the large church as its central point with houses emanating out from it reflecting the different periods of building. The graveyard has been extended from the church to a further plot within walking distance.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Topcroft, Norfolk

TOPCROFT is a parish and scattered village 6 miles south-east from Flordon station on the Ipswich and Norwich section of the Great Eastern railway, and 6 north-west from Bungay, in the Southern division of the county, Loddon hundred, Loddon and Lcavering petty sessional divisional and union, county court district of Beccles, rural deanery of Brooke, eastern division, archdeaconry and diocese of Norwich. The church of St. Margaret is an ancient edifice of flick and brick with stone dressings, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower, round at the base and octagaonal above, containing tree bells: in the south aisle a piscina, and there are the remains of stairs leading to the rood loft; outside the porch is a stoup; there are several marble tablets, with arms to the Smyth family, formerly owners of the Hall, 1743-1808; and other tablets to Thomas Cooke esq. d. 1747; Benjamin Frost M.A. formerly rector here, d.10 January 1764; and to Richard Wilton, d.1637: the church was rebuilt in 1712, and restored and reseated in 1861 at a cost of £750, and in 1876 the chancel was restored by a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty: there are 260 sittings.

The register dates from the year 1560. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £240, including 49 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Norwich, and held since 1897 by the rev. George Henry Sykes, of St. Aidan's. The father of Thomas Tenison, Bishop of Lincoln, 1691-4, and subsequently Archbishop of Canterbury, was some time rector here in the reign of Charles I, but was deprived of his living during the Protectorate and, dying in 1671, was buried in the chancel. The Delf Memorial Congregational chapel was built in 1898.

The poor's land, with 3 acres left by R. Goodwyn in 1659, consists of 4a. 1r. 21p. now (1900) let at £4 per year, which sum is distributed in coals to the poor. Henry Edwin Garrod esq. of Diss, is lord of the manor of Topcroft-cum-Denton, Alfred Massey esq., George Unwin esq., and Jeremiah Colman esq. of Gatton Park, Surrey, are the principal landowners. The soil is heavy, subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans and peas. The area is 1,874 a. 7p; rateable value, £1,379; the population in 1891, was 344. Parish clerk, George Moates.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Cranworth, Norfolk

CRANWORTH (or Cranworth-cum-Letton) is a village and parish 4 miles west from Hardingham station on the Dereham and Wymondham section of the Great Eastern railway, 7 north-east from Watton, and 6 1/2 south from Dereham, in the Mid division of the county, Mitford and Launditch petty sessional division, Mitford hundred and union, East Dereham county court district, rural deanery of Hingham, Mitford division, archdeaconry of Norfolk and diocese of Norwich.

The church of St. Mary the Virgin, erected about the middle of the 13th century, is a small building of flint and stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north porch and embattled western tower, with spire, containing 3 bells : in the church are several handsome monuments to various members of the Gurdon family, of Letton Hall, including Brampton Gurdon esq. M.P. for Sudbury, who commanded the Suffolk Horse at Naesby, June 14, 1645, and died 1669, and to Mary (Polsted), his wife f. 1679; and Thornhagh Gurdon, receiver-general of the county of Norfolk, d. 1733, and Elizabeth (Cooke), his wife, d. 1745 ; there is also a fine monument to Sir William Cooke bart. M.P. (Norf.), d. at Letton in 1708 : in the churchyard are buried Brampton Gurdon esq. M.P. (W. Norf.), d. 1881, and Henrietta Susanna, his wife, daughter of Lord Colborne, d. 1880; and also the Rev. Philip Gurdon, rector (1832-74) : the chancel retains a piscina and sedilia : there is a good oak screen and choir stalls of oak handsomely carved : the church was restored in 1852, and in 1899 the porch was rebuilt, in memory of the Rev. T. P. Garnier M.A. hon. canon of Norwich &c. for 21 years rector of the parish, and affords 250 sittings. The register dates from the year 1653. The living is a rectory, with the rectories of Letton and Southborough annexed, joint net yearly value £400, including 38 acres of glebe residence, in the gift of Lord Cranworth, and held since 1896 by the Rev. Arthur Tayler Hodgson B.A. of Queen's College, Cambridge.

Here is a Primitive Methodist chapel. On the church green still stand the village "stocks", and in good preservation. The poor have £12 yearly for fuel, derived from the land. Dr. Christopher Sutton, the celebrated author of "Disce Vivere," and "Disce Mori," and some time incumbent of Woodrising, was rector here in 1623. Robert Monsey Rolfe, son of the Rev. Edmund Rolfe, some time curate of Cranworth and rector of Cockley-Cley, was born in the rectory house here, December 18th, 1700 ; being afterwards appointed (December 28th, 1852) Lord High Chancellor of England, he was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Cranworth, after the name of his birthplace, but dying without issue, July 26th, 1868, the title became extinct. Lord Cranworth, of Letton Hall, is the lord of the manor and principal landowner.

The soil is mixed; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 1,138 acres; rateable value, £1,089; in 1891 the population was 237.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Outwell, Norfolk
OUTWELL is a village and parish partly in Cambridgeshire, but principally in Norfolk, the navigable river Nene passing through it, dividing the counties; it is 7 miles west from Downham station on the Ely and Lynn section of the Great Eastern railway, 51/2 south-sast from Wisbech, in the South Western division of the county, hundred and petty sessional division of Clackclose, union and county court district of Wisbech, rural deanery of Fincham western division), archdeaconry of Lynn and diocese of Norwich. The steam tramway from Wisbech to Upwell, belonging to the Great Eastern Railway Co has a station here. The church of St. Clement is a building of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, north porch and a western tower containing a clock and 6 bells: the interior has been repaired at a cost of £2,200 and a new clock with chimes was erected in 1887: the church affords 450 sittings. The register dates from about 1555. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £350, including 20 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Norwich, and held since 1894 by the Rev. Henry Venn Ellis, who is also a surrogate. Here are Wesleyan, Free Methodist and Primitive Methodist chapels. The charities consist of the Town lands and Town Fen lands (now amalgamated) and Lynne's charity, left in 1816: the Town Fen Lands, or Norfolk Side allotments of 12 acres, are let in half-acres to the most deserving poor, at rents of 30s. per half-acre: the Town Lands of nine acres are let upon the same terms as the Town Fen Lands: the remainder of the town lands consists of 26a. and 5p. producing a gross rental of £69. The income from these lands is disposed of in the following manner -£10 to the repair of the fabric of the parish church; a sum not exceeding £25 for general parochial purposes, and a sum sufficient to provide about 50 stone of bread, distributed annually on the 6th of January; by the trustees to the managers of the National and Infant schools. Lynne's charity of 9a. or. 7p. producing £23, is distributed in flour to poor persons resident in Outwell (Norfolk). A sum of £100, paid by the Great Eastern Company for 15 perches of land taken from the Isle Side allotments, for the purposes of their tramway from Wisbech to Upwell, has been re-invested in the purchase of 1a. 2r. 15p. of arable land in Upwell. All these charities are controlled by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners, which came into force on the 31st January, 1880. Near the church once stood a hermitage, dedicated to St Christopher. Outwell possesses a fire engine, which is manned by volunteers and supported by voluntary contributions; the keys of the engine house are kept by the Parish Council. The Rev. Charles Francis Townley M.A. rector of Christchurch, Upwell, Cambridge, who is lord of the manor, H. H. Allenby esq. Nathan Booth esq. H. Dawbarn, Arthur Wellesley Healey and Edward Fordham Newling esqrs. are chief landowners. The soil is loamy; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, oats, potatoes and fruit. The population in 1891 of the portion in Cambridgeshire was 351; acreage, 556; rateable value, £1,391; the portion in Norfolk, population, 882; acreage, 2,380; rateable value, £4,434.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

Upwell, Norfolk

UPWELL, formerly a market town, is now a large village and very extensive parish, situated con either side of the river Nene and partly in Cambridgeshire, with a terminal station on a steam tramway from Wishech opened in September, 1884, and is 4 miles south from Emneth station and 61/2 south-east from Wisbech station both on the Great Eastern railway, in the Sons Western division of the county, petty sessional division of Clackclose, partly in the hundred of Wisbech, in the Isle of Ely, a large portion being also in the hundred of Clackclose (Norfolk), union and county court district, of Wisbech, rural deanery of Fincham (East division archdeaconry of Lynn and diocese of Norwich. By the Divided Parishes Act detached portions of this parish were amalgamated with Welney in 1884, and at the same time a detached part of Welney was added to the parish. The following relates only to the portion in Norfolk : the Cambridgeshire portion of this parish is given in Kelly's Directory of that county, of which Christ Church, a separate ecclesiastical parish, form part. The church of St. Peter is a large building of stone in the Perpendicular style, with some traces of Early English, and consists of chancel, nave with clerestory, aisles, north porch and an embattled western tower, with octagonal belfry containing a clock, and bells: the fine oak roof is adorned with figures of angels carved in oak: in 1887 the chancel. which retains a piscina and sedilia, was restored and fitted with choir stalls : the east window is stained, and there is another at the west end, erected in 1898 at the cost of the rector: in the chancel wall is a brass dated 1621 with kneeling figures of eight males and five females to Jane (Coltropp) wife of Linulphus Bell esq. ob 15 February, 1621: another brass records the visitation of cholera in 1852, when 67 persons died of this malady. and there are also two brasses with figures of priests vested: the church affords 547 sittings. The register dates from the year 1650. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £1,500, including 3 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Rev. Charles Francis Townley M.A. rector of Christ Church, Upwell, Cambs, and held since 1870 by the Rev. John Beauvoir Dalison M.A. of Morton College, Oxford, and J.P. Isle of Ely. Here is a Baptist chapel, built in 1844, with 350 sittings; there are also Wesleyan and primitive Methodist chapels, each seating 150 persons. The Almshouses, erected by the late Mr. James Lee, in 1819, are for five poor widows. The Public Hall, erected by a limited company, will hold 500 persons: there is also an Odd Fellows' Lodge (Manchester Unity), the meetings of which are held fortnightly on Mondays. The Church Institute occupies the old National school. There is a fire engine, belonging to the joint parishes, and manned by volunteers. Fairs are held here on June 29th and 30th. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor of Wisbech Barton, which extends into this parish, and the Rev. Charles Francis Townley M.A. is lord of the manor of Beaupré Hall. The principal landowners are the Rev. C. F. Townley M.A. George Croft Huddleston esq. Tristram Frederick Croft Huddleston esq. of Cambridge, Jackson Hunt esq. of 23 Montagu square, London W, the trustees of the late Rev. John Fenwick, rector of Thorning (1858-90). Charles Elworthy seq. John Cabread Jones esq. of Colville House, Wishech, the trustees of the late Thomas Wright esq. Mrs. Gambier, James Gay esq. of New Hall, Aldborough, and Dr. Charles Orton. The soil is loamy, in many parts highly fertile, and the subsoil, clay. The crops are wheat, potatoes, peas, beans and oats, with other produce. The area of the Norfolk portion is 9,289 acres of land, 64 of water, 7 of tidal water and 4 of foreshore; rateable value of Norfolk part, £15,114; the population of the entire parish in 1891 was in Norfolk, 2,197; Cambridgeshire, 1,387.

From Kelly's Directory - Norfolk - 1900

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