Holkham, Norfolk
Historical Description
Holkham, a village and a parish in Norfolk. The village stands near the West Norfolk, Lynn, and Hunstanton branch of the G.E.R., on which it has a station, 1 mile from the-coast, and 2 miles W from Wells. It has a post office under Wells; money order and telegraph office, Wells. The parish comprises 4666 acres; population, '481. The Earl of Leicester is lord of the manor and sole landowner. John Coke, Esq., fourth son of Lord Chief-Justice Sir Edward Coke, purchased the property in 1659, and reclaimed 350 acres of salt marshes from the sea; and his successor, Thomas Coke, who became Viscount Holkham and Earl of Leicester, andi who died in 1759, reclaimed 400 more acres from the sea, converted a great extent of barren heath into fertile land, founded in 1734 the magnificent mansion of Holkham Hall,. and laid out around it a splendid park of fully 3200 acres. Holkham Hall was completed in 1760 by the Dowager-Countess; was constructed from designs by Lord Burlington and Kent; consists of a centre 345 feet long and 180 wide, with two fronts and four wings; has on the S front a bold, hexastyle Corinthian portico; includes an entrance-hall 46 feet by 70 and 43 high, with a gallery resting on 24 fluted; Ionic columns; shows high splendour and fine taste in the fittings and furnishings of the apartments; contains a rich collection of paintings, a sculpture gallery owning many works of acknowledged merit, and a library containing an almost priceless collection of manuscripts; and was visited in 1835 by the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria,. and in 1865 by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who have since been frequent visitors. A beautiful lake of about 20 acres and several charming vistas are in the grounds. " Coke of Norfolk," who succeeded to the estate in 1778, who is often called the Great Earl of Leicester, and who was one of the most distinguished agriculturists of his day, made vast additions to the previous land improvements, increased the value of the rental more than tenfold in forty years, and is commemorated by a Corinthian column erected in the grounds in 1852. The present Earl has continued the work of his predecessors, and has succeeded in reclaiming some 700 acres from the sea. An artificial mound, supposed to have been formed by the Saxons, and known to have been occupied as a Danish camp, is surmounted by the parish church. Traces of a small ancient camp are near Babbit farm, about three-quarters of a mile from the church. A slight indentation of the coast bears the name of Holkham Bay, and once had a small port. Bricks and tiles are made. There is a beautiful reading-room and library, erected in 1886 by the Earl of .Leicester for the workmen and labourers on the Holkham estate. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Norwich; ..gross value,, £156. Patron, the Earl of Leicester. The church consists of nave, chancel, and aisles, with lofty embattled tower, was repaired in 1767 at a cost of £1000 by the Dowager-Countess of Leicester, was restored and decorated at a cost of nearly £9000 by the Earl of Leicester in 1868-69, and is a landmark to mariners. There are alms-houses founded and endowed by the countess for three poor men and three poor women.
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 | Holkham St. Withiburga | |
Hundred | North Greenhoe | |
Poor Law union | Walsingham |
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.
Findmypast, in conjunction with Norfolk Record Office have the following parish records online for Holkham:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1543-1901 | 1543-1901 | 1545-1902 | 1542-1863 |
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Holkham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Holkham (St. Withiburga))
Maps
Online maps of Holkham 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.