Merton, Norfolk
Historical Description
Merton, a parish in Norfolk, on the Bury St Edmunds, Thetford, and Swaffham section of the G.E.R., and 2 miles S of Watton station, and 10 NNE of Thetford. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Watton, under Thetford. Acreage, 1394; population, 180. The property and tha manor, with Merton Hall, belong to Lord Walsingham. The hall has been long the seat of the De Greys, was almost rebuilt in 1613, is a red brick edifice in the Tudor style, and stands in a finely-timbered park about 2 miles in length, and formerly contained an ancient oak which measured fully 23½ feet in girth at 6 feet from the ground. This noble tree fell in November, 1891, when the trunk was found to be quite hollow. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich; net value, £145 with residence. Patron, Lord Walsingham. The church stands in the park about 300 yards NE of the hall, is a cruciform building of flint chiefly in the Decorated style, with very beautiful windows, comprises nave, S aisle, and chancel, with early Norman circular tower, and contains a font with lofty carved oak canopy, a carved oak reredos, and some ancient memorials.
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 | Merton St. Peter | |
Hundred | Wayland | |
Poor Law union | Wayland |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Norfolk Record Office, have images of the Parish Registers for Norfolk online.
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 Merton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Merton (St. Peter))
Maps
Online maps of Merton 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.