Acle, Norfolk
Historical Description
Acle, a small town and a parish in Norfolk. The town stands near the river Bure, with a station on the Yarmouth, Acle, and Norwich line, 8¼ miles W from Yarmouth, and 11 E from Norwich. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Norwich, and was formerly a market-town, and had a fair on Midsummer day, now abolished. There are, however, weekly cattle sales on Thursdays. The parish lies chiefly around the town, but part of it is at some distance, in the Marshes. Acreage, 3534; population, 933. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich; yearly value, £580. The church, which dates from the 14th century, is a building of flint and stone, consisting of chancel, nave, N and S porches, and a circular embattled western tower. An Augustinian priory anciently stood at Acle.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Norfolk | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Acle St. Edmund | |
Hundred | Walsham | |
Poor Law union | Blofield |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
We have transcribed the Marriages at Acle St. Edmund, 1664-1837.
The parish register dates from the year 1664.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Norfolk Record Office, have images of the Parish Registers for Norfolk online.
Findmypast, in conjunction with Norfolk Record Office have the following parish records online for Acle:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1664-1883 | 1664-1883 | 1665-1836 | 1664-1868 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Edmund (parish church)
The church of St. Edmund, chiefly erected in the 14th century, is an edifice of flint and stone, consisting of chancel, nave, north and south porches and a circular embattled western tower, with octagonal belfry stage, containing 5 bells: the stained east window is a memorial to William Roberts Last esq. d. 1867, and there is a mural monument to Benjamin Heath Baker, d. 1872, erected by his family; in the chancel is a marble monument to the late Jeremiah Berry, gent. d. Oct. 31st, 1767; there are several brasses, including one in the chancel to the Rev. R. W. Kennion M.A. rector 1858-94, one to the late Rev. Thomas Stones, a former rector, d. January 19th, 1627, and another to John Swane, d. 1534 and William and Anne Gay, d. 1505: the font, which dates from 1410, must originally have been very handsome, four of the carved figures on it represent the four Evangelists, it also bears the following inscription, "Orate pro animabus qui hunc fontem in honore dei fecerunt, fecit A.D. MCCCCX"; the chalice and paten date from 1660, the former having the letters "T. C." and the words, "Acle Saynt Edmund, 1660," inscribed on it: there remains also an ancient screen: the south porch was restored in 1896 at a cost of £105: during 1904 and 1907 the church was restored at a cost of £1,000, and a new organ erected at a cost of £300, and a small vestry re-opened: in 1912 the interior was renovated at a cost of £500, and in the course of the work a piscina and a low side window were discovered in the south wall of the chancel; the church affords 320 sittings.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
The Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1883, had seating for 100 persons.
Wesleyan Chapel
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Acle from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Acle (St. Edmund))
- Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1912
Maps
Online maps of Acle are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Norfolk newspapers online:
- Norwich Mercury
- Norfolk Chronicle
- Diss Express
- Thetford & Watton Times and People's Weekly Journal
- Norfolk News
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitations of Norfolk 1563, 1589, and 1613 is available on the Heraldry page.